Editorial - Steve Jobs Gave the Best Performance of His Life
TMO at Macworld - Editorial - Steve Jobs Gave the Best Performance of His Life
by , 5:20 PM EST, January 9th, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO -- There have been many, many keynote performances by Steve Jobs over the years at the various Macworlds and at WWDC. Some have been disappointing. Some have been very good. Some have had long winded iLife demos and various bloopers of some kind. I have been present for dozens.
In a recent keynote, several other Apple employees, Scott Forstall and Bertrand Serlet, joined Mr. Jobs on stage, but it seemed to detract rather than add to the presentation. In this keynote, aside from three other CEO partners, Mr. Jobs did it all.
Mr. Jobs gave the solo performance of his life. He was obviously feeling great. He was composed, articulate and passionate.
He spoke firmly and flawlessly about the iPhone, clearly a product that he felt, and we'll all come to agree, will be another seminal product from Apple. The iPhone is everything we hoped it would be and more.There was only one small snafu, when his clicker failed, and Mr. Jobs used the occasion to gracefully tell a humorous story from earlier days while the problem was fixed.
In my last Hidden Dimensions column, I remarked that this would be a very important keynote presentation with enormous stakes. In fact, Mr. Jobs exceeded our already stratospheric expectations, and that is a remarkable achievement. At the end of the keynote, Mr. Jobs paused for a few seconds, apparently overwhelmed by the poignancy of the moment and waxed philosophical about why Apple does the things it does.
It was perfect.
The iPod changed everything. And now the iPhone will too. The world will never be the same again. Thank you, Mr. Jobs. And everyone at Apple, Inc.
Observer Comments
Tue Jan 09, 2007 7:06 pm Subject: Zune (the shortest squirt in history) - Obselete.
Yes indeed that was a performance by SJ. Funny. well-paced. good timing on his jabs at microsoft. Perfect.
However, at the end of it, i got the overwhelming impression that he is set to announce his retirement fairly soon. Maybe that is another reason why his family was there. this may very well be his last HURRAH.
Wed Jan 10, 2007 4:07 am Subject: Options Thingy
Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:08 am Subject: Re: Options Thingy
QuoteWetcoastBob wrote:
However innocuous it seems at the moment the fact that the DOJ may become involved in the "Stock Options" thingy could escalate into some ugly press from those not so enamoured with the Apple philosophy.
For a more exhaustive discussion of these matters, see the finance board.
Things SJ said on post-keynote interviews that firmly deny all the garbage that journalists etc have been spewing:
“The truth of the matter is everything is fine,†he said during an interview after his presentation. “We’ve shared it all with the S.E.C.â€
“It’s raised questions,†he said, “but some of the journalism has been so off the mark. But I know the truth. It’s painful to read some of this stuff, but I know it’s kind of ridiculous and will pass.â€
"As long as the board and the shareholders want me, I want to keep doing this job."
CEO's only step down when its clear that staying at the helm of the company hurts the company more than if he stays. Even if he's procecuted, he will stay at Apple unless he's found guilty, and REQUIRED BY THE SEC to step down. Martha Stewart stayed until she was found guilty of obstruction of justice, and can no longer be the CEO of a publicly traded company.
Nope...Steve will stay as long as he makes money for everyone.
IMO perhaps this Keynote might have been better at the Consumer Electronics Show that is going on this week as well. This is the Macworld show yet I don't recall the keynote mentioning Macintosh computers even once. The iPhone and AppleTV are great products but not Macintosh. The data on the iPod sales was interesting but not Macintosh. The addition of Paramount to the iTS is good news but not Macintosh.
While I found the keynote interesting, I did not get any information on Apple's plans for the Macintosh, which was primarily what I tuned in for.
Quotegeoduck wrote:
IMO perhaps this Keynote might have been better at the Consumer Electronics Show that is going on this week as well. This is the Macworld show yet I don't recall the keynote mentioning Macintosh computers even once. The iPhone and AppleTV are great products but not Macintosh. The data on the iPod sales was interesting but not Macintosh. The addition of Paramount to the iTS is good news but not Macintosh.
While I found the keynote interesting, I did not get any information on Apple's plans for the Macintosh, which was primarily what I tuned in for.
Well, you did notice that apple changed its name to reflect its consumer electronics orientation. I believe that the expos no longer need to reflect the mac every instance. That's why the changed the name. Granted it would have bee nice to see something on Leopard or iLife. But this is far more exciting. I am dropping my carrier and switching to Cingular when this phone comes out.
However, I would not be surprised if Apple holds another event in the near future to enlighten us on the advancements of Leopard and the Mac.
Quotegeoduck wrote:
IMO perhaps this Keynote might have been better at the Consumer Electronics Show that is going on this week as well. This is the Macworld show yet I don't recall the keynote mentioning Macintosh computers even once. The iPhone and AppleTV are great products but not Macintosh. The data on the iPod sales was interesting but not Macintosh. The addition of Paramount to the iTS is good news but not Macintosh.
While I found the keynote interesting, I did not get any information on Apple's plans for the Macintosh, which was primarily what I tuned in for.
Geo, I think it's worth noting that the iPhone actually is a Mac, of the handheld variety. It's clearly not what you were looking for from the Keynote, but it's an important message nevertheless.
iPhone is MacOSX Lite on a handheld device, probably the first of many more variants on that theme, and the next piece of the Macintosh digital hub strategy.
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