"CUPERTINO, California-December 16, 2008-Apple® today announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year's Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple's last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco's Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.
Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple's Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.
Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone."
I really don't know what to say to this... I'm pretty surprised, stunned, shocked, and disappointed because without Apple, you can pretty much bet this will be the last Macworld, or at least the last one that really matters. With Apple having its special product announcement shows throughout the year, it really is becoming less necessary to have a Macworld event yearly. Just look at this year; Apple refreshed almost every product line well in advance of the January show making people wonder what they were even going to announce in San Francisco, if anything. And as much as I think Schiller is great and is the heir apparent to Jobs' desk, people aren't going to Macworld to see him; they're going to see a Stevenote.
It's a sad day for the Mac community.
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
I'm . . . . stunned. That Jobs isn't giving the keynote is troubling. Schiller is the wrong choice. That duty should go to Ives IMO
I've been back and forth on Ives vs. Schiller, and in the end I want Schiller singularly focused on devices and designing. Schiller is more the CEO / Corporate type and I think I'd be more confident with him representing the company both at keynotes and as a future CEO.
I actually think that's why he's giving the Keynote. A taste of what's to come.
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
I thought he (Ives) did a good job last time out and he alone seems to share the same vision as Jobs. Apple stock is going to nose dive on this news
I think Schiller is on the same page as Jobs, also. I don't see the major shakeup people are worried about if Steve walks away, but I do think investors might see it differently and panic in a post-Jobs world. I for one would be crushed; I think Steve is a genius, but we all have to move on at some point, right?
In the end, this is a good thing, though. The more I think about it, the more I think we'll see product announcements come more often rather than a bunch of them at once in January, June, and October. Honestly, all I'm hoping for at MWSF is a new version of iLife!
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
I bought my first Mac Mini in 2005 and have been a Mac user ever since (not counting the Apple //c I owned back in the day). I looked forward to seeing Steve onstage at both MacWorld and WWDC. I'm not real keen on Jobs as a person based on what I've read about him, but that man could sell snow to Eskimos and his keynotes have always been worth watching.
Now the rumour mill is going to be out of control - great.
I also suspect the MacWorld Expo is on its last legs now. Without Jobs and Apple how will it survive? Of course, I've never been to an Expo (I don't have that kind of money!) and the only thing that really interested me was the "Stevenote" so I don't really know what the value was to attendees. But one has to wonder if the MacWorld Expo really is going to survive and how much it will really matter if it doesn't.
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
In the end, this is a good thing, though. The more I think about it, the more I think we'll see product announcements come more often rather than a bunch of them at once in January, June, and October. Honestly, all I'm hoping for at MWSF is a new version of iLife!
Agreed and agreed - although I'm more interested in iWork updates than iLife updates.
I do hope the rumours of an updated Mini are true though - I've gone through three of them because I can afford to upgrade them when a new model comes out which is not true of the iMac or Macbook/Pro lines.
I'll watch the keynote anyway. Schiller isn't the showman that Jobs is, but he does a decent job.
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
I see this as most likely a simple financial decision. Why continue to release products immediately after Christmas, and why continue what has been reported as a troubled relationship with IDG.
If the stock is dropping based on this, that is simply because it is overpriced.
Apple Out of Macworld After This Year
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