On July 19, 2000, I had a chance to attend a Steve Jobs keynote address at the Macworld Expo in New York. It was a memorable presentation. Jobs gave an early sneak peek at the first version of Mac OS X, replaced the infamous round "hockey puck" mouse with an optical mouse, and for his "one more thing" introduced the G4 Cube -- a computer that was not a financial success, but was a design marvel and had devoted fans. Plus, Steve Jobs surprised all of us in the audience by telling us to look under our chairs to find a certificate we could use to get one of the new mice for free. Ever since that Macworld, I'm told that attendees always look under
their chairs before a keynote address just to see if that stunt is
repeated.
And while that show was memorable, the award for best Steve Jobs keynote ever has to go to the keynote address at Macworld San Francisco in January of 2007. That was when Jobs introduced the iPhone. It was Steve Jobs bravado at its finest:
This is a day I've been looking forward to for two and a half years. Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. And Apple has been, well, first of all, one is very fortunate if you get to work on just one of these in your career. Apple has been very fortunate. It has been able to introduce a few of these into the world. In 1984, we introduced the Macintosh. It didn't just change Apple, it changed the whole computer industry. In 2001, we introduced the first iPod. And it didn't just change the way we all listen to music, it changed the entire music industry.
Well, today, we're introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. [Crowd cheers] The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. [Crowd cheers even louder] And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device. So, three things. A widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough Internet communications device. An iPod, a phone and an Internet communicator. An iPod, a phone and an Internet communicator. [Crowd goes wild] Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.
Given the history of great Steve Jobs keynotes at Macworld conventions, it was a little sad to hear Apple announce this week that after the Macworld Expo being held in San Francisco in a few weeks, Apple will no longer participate in Macworld conventions. And to underscore that Apple would no longer be using the Macworld Expo to make great product introductions, Apple also announced that Steve Jobs will not give the keynote in a few weeks -- instead, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, will give the address.
A lot has been written about Apple's decision. While I understand why so many people are disappointed, Apple's decision makes sense for the future. First, now that Apple has Apple Stores in malls across the country, a customer no longer needs to attend a big Macworld Expo to get the full Apple experience. Also, I'm sure that Apple was frustrated with having to introduce new exciting products every January. That timing is horrible -- it is just days after the holiday buying season ends -- plus Apple would prefer to make big product announcements whenever big products are ready to announce.
There are dozens of articles analyzing Apple's decision, but these are some of the best:
- Glenn Fleishman and Adam Engst, TidBITS
- Jason Snell, Macworld.com
- Rob Griffiths, Macworld.com
- Ted Landau, The Mac Observer
- Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times
- John Siracusa, Ars Technica
(My views are closest to those of John Siracusa.)
While many are now thinking about what Apple's decision means for the future, this seems like an appropriate time to reflect on the past. Apple still has a page on their website on which you can watch the January 2007 iPhone introduction (or, if you want, the entire keynote). Even two years later, it is still a good show and I encourage you to watch it. I would love it if, just once in my life, I could channel that famous Steve Jobs charisma and enthusiasm as I am making a jury closing argument or giving a CLE presentation.
[UPDATE on 1/23/09: John Gruber has an excellent, poignant post reflecting on Macworld Expo.]
