[Macworld]

Post your comments for Apple announces its last year at Macworld Expo, no Jobs keynote here

[kinless]

::sigh::

Sad day.

[DogHouseDub]

Dear Faithful customer,
Suck it.

your personal succubus,
Apple.

[DPG4450Guy]

My guess is, the Jobs no-show is health-related.
That said, if somehow the Expo could be televised live on MSNBC or something like that, it would be well worth it - and certainly alot more interesting than 100 talking heads arguing about which way the economy is going.

[John_Storm]

The conference track at Macworld Expo is great, but I have worked major trade shows in the tech industry for years. The exhibit halls are the pretty much the same thing year after year. Often times they even use the same layouts if the venue is the same! Same old customers, same old questions. Even before the economy started taking a downturn, most companies have done trade shows just to "prove they are still alive relevant in the industry". Now, there has been a paradigm shift in the tech industry and companies realize they can get away with not attending. The PR bloody nose they might receive as a consequence is worth the savings. Most trades shows cost far money to exhibit at than they are worth. The unfortunate side effect is that conference oriented shows such as Macworld Expo may not survive financially as companies continue to pull out due to the lost exhibit hall revenue required to maintain the show.

[EvilChick]

This is SO sad :~(

[Kyle_Varnell]

Wow this is sad news. Jobs' MWKP in 2007 among other reasons were one of the factors in me purchasing my first Apple Computer (15"MBP) in 2007 since my old Apple IIe.
I hope this isn't health related but I'm sure the rumormills will be abuzz with speculation.

[thedeveloper]

This is a poor move on Apple's part. And a temporary one most likely. I foresee that as Apple gains success in the market they will continue to disconnect from the people that implement their technology - the people who are the very conduit between the customer and company. Either they will lose touch with the community (development/administration) or their conference presence will shift only to WWDC.

[Cloudmover]

Steve Jobs health? WHAT are you talking about? Let's not jump to unfounded conclusions, okay.

In this economic climate, it sounds to me like Apple is smartly scaling back. Since there have been no credible rumors of Apple unveiling a major new product, I think it's understandable that Jobs' would pass on this event. What do you want him to do? Spend thirty minutes on the new MacMini update?

...and as someone who has exhibited at trade shows in the past, let me tell you these shows barely make economic sense in the best of times. If I was a company like Apple, that can call a press conference when it wants to call attention to a new product (and be assured of massive press coverage), I wouldn't go either.

[jamus]

It used to be broadcast on satellite and cable ops like ZDTV. Looked great. I would time my lunch hour so I could catch it live.

[MrPhotoEd]

I would of loved to of gone to one and It's sad to see it go, but it makes sense. No longer does Apple have to wait to January to announce big items, which has had to hurt the Xmas sales before the Expo. "Hey folks, we have this great new product that is coming out just after Christmas instead of October where the Xmas sales season would of helped us get more bucks because people would not of held back on their buying waiting for January. But hey, better late than never".
Just look at the recent report by Goldman Sachs. which down graded the stock to a hold because they believed Apple would not announce any new products and their stock dumped 4 or 5 bucks. The big losers will be the little guys hidden in the corners of the expo hall who will not get the chance to show their wares to a large audience.
The plus side is that now we will get products that are ready to come out when they are done and not rushed out to meet expo deadlines.

[DPG4450Guy]

Cloud, try a google on Job's personal history over the past few years. Then google on remission statistics.

[the__fox]

While I, like most everyone here, always look forward to the keynotes, who's to say they aren't going to re-emerge in a new form? Why spend the coin to participate in a trade show when Apple can just stream their own, private "keynote" a couple of times a year?

[carolax]

Wow, it's amazing how much we know about Steve Jobs' health and how to market computers. Apple does something that offends our sensibilities and wonder of wonders, they don't know squat about how to run their company.
Personally, I wonder if trade shows are a 20th-century marketing tool that have exhausted their worth, and Apple knows it.