More than two decades have passed since the first Macworld Expo, and the future doesn’t seem so bright anymore, with Apple leaving the scene, as they announced in mid-December. The event, which is scheduled to start off today in San Francisco, is in the spotlight as in every other year. However, this time, it seems to be more about one man, than about one miraculous gadget.
While computer fans expect to see a netbook being launched at Macworld, analysts focus more on one big issue that puts a bad omen on the event in general: Steve Jobs won’t be there to deliver his keynote, which is even more awkward considering this is the final Apple presence at the event.
We would have expected Jobs to deliver his final Macworld speech, but perhaps the rumors about his deteriorating health are not too far from reality, and we’re witnessing not only a lack of interest in the event itself from Apple, but also a shift of power from Steve Jobs to Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.
Apple announced last month that Schiller will be delivering the keynote this year, and that its decision to skip future Macworld events is due to a diminishing role of trade shows. According to the company, Apple is now able to reach customers to more ways than ever before, thanks to the increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores and the Apple website.
Apple’s attitude toward Macworld is the result of the scaling back they have been doing in recent years from trade shows such as NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo, and Apple Expo in Paris, the company argued in the December announcement.
Even if Apple doesn’t consider Macworld to serve its interests, the timing is rather odd. Apple pulling out from Macworld is a big deal, but Steve Jobs not holding the final keynote is an even bigger deal… and we had a very short time to chew on it.
Why is Jobs so suddenly out of the spotlight? The first thing that came to everyone’s mind was his health. As we all know it, just four years ago, Steve Jobs announced he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, however, he denied it being an aggressive form of cancer. He underwent surgery the same year, and Apple officials continued denying somber rumors about his health and a possible cancer recurrence.
The interest in Jobs’ health became even greater in 2008, when in addition to being reported ill, he was also reported dead by mistake. Last summer Bloomberg erroneously published his incomplete obituary, which forced Jobs to make a rare (and final) statement about his health the next month, saying the rumors about his death have been greatly exaggerated.
If the rumors about Steve Jobs’ reasons to skip Macworld this year are not true, then there’s only one thing that could make this a matter of Apple succession, and not a matter of death: Jobs’ appearance at the event.
