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.

One of them is a writer for MSNBC. Joe Hutsko … he’s getting lambasted in “comment hell” on his blog JOEyGADGET for writing a story about his failed iPhone and his experience getting a replacement. I wrote a little blurb yesterday about a client of mine that had ‘his precious’ overheat. Jilted Joe is a writer for a company that partners with Microsoft (MSNBC) and he wrote about his experience with AT&T and Apple support. No matter what this guy wrote short of slagging Steve Jobs or his mother personally … um … let’s cut Joey boy some slack!

Good press or bad press … this little phone that could is going to do just fine. Short of some MAJOR bonehead move on Apple’s or AT&T’s part … this is going to sell sell sell. The myth is too big. The hype too big. The momentum too big. So yeah … there are going to be folks who have a bad experience with this mythological creature. Just by the sheer numbers sold. And they might write something about it. It’s the way things work. But as Apple users if we are going to be all Pollyanna about our beloved company THAT CAN (and does) … then we are no better than those who cut Apple for no reason.

But Mr Hutsko did have a reason to tell his story, and a right to tell his story too. iPhone is too new. Those that do own it haven’t put it through its paces yet. Not in a six days time.

So let’s sit back and wait a bit. Lets sheath some of those vitriolic tongues and listen for the sweet marimba tones of your own working ringing iPhone. Or … embrace you inner curmudgeon and send everybody to voicemail! Damn them all!