MacWorld Conference 2009

Unless you have been stranded on a desert island without a MacBook and a satellite up-link, or you’ve just this moment awaken from a Windows induced coma, then you might know that Monday, January 5th is the start of the MacWorld Conference & Expo.

This is the yearly gathering of Mac fan-boys & girls taking a long deep hit from the fruit flavored technology bong that fuels their euphoric sensory overload of all things Apple. Plainly put, if you are a Mac user. This is the place to be!

I’ve been to a few MacWorlds throughout the years. I was there for the Steve Jobs keynote introduction of the ‘Lifesaver’ iMacs. It was one of those times when great things were happening in the Mac universe, and somehow by being there, you felt part of something big. Something magical. There was electricity in the air. You could feel it. So I do understand the goo-goo eyed fan-boy concept. I must admit. I’ve been a fan-boy ever since 1987 and buying my first Mac Plus.

But this year may be the beginning of the end of MacWorld. Or a least the beginning of the end of Apple’s participation in the San Francisco MacWorld. Steve Jobs dropped the bomb a few weeks ago, that Apple will be pulling out of MacWorld and he would not be giving the final keynote.

Now, you have to understand, a Steve Jobs MacWorld keynote speech, is the ‘stuff’ of myth, dreams and legend. Many an attendee has been mesmerized by the Steve Jobs ‘reality distortion field’. There is no other experience quite like it. Sadly, for the final Apple attended MacWorld and keynote, Steve will not take the stage. Phil Shiller, the senior vice president of Apple’s worldwide product marketing, will valiantly attempt to fill Steve’s iconic black T.

So many people are trying to read too much into Apple’s and Steve Jobs’ choices. In the long run it probably will be a good thing for Apple to not have to meet MacWorld deadlines to get out product. Plus, when something big is announced, it’s on Apple’s website and every news site or blog within minutes. So yeah. Why does Apple need events like MacWorld?

I don’t know if Apple might need them in a financial sence, but Apple has built more than a company. Yes, there are those who would argue that point, but they built a community of crazies. Those of us who were asked to ‘Think Different’ and embrace all that it entailed. For all the virtual meeting places there are in the virtual world called the Internet. I think there is still something to say about meeting face to face, and being hands on. There’s something to that thrill and excitement of seeing other in the flesh, and experiencing something together.

Only IDG can determine if MacWorld will contine past next year. Right now there is just a sence of unceetainty. That’s a hell of a way to leave things. But we all need to look forward. Yes. There will be a day that Steve will no longer wish to, or be able to run Apple. He too is just flesh and blood. We are still feeling the diminished effects of a weakened ‘reality distortion.’

Good luck Steve. Good luck Apple.

Category: Apple / Events / Macintosh