MacDailyNews Take: Well, then, they’ll have to come up with new ways to try to sink the unsinkable or, failing that, spread rumors about “concern” over Steve Jobs’ health via “news” fronts set up by and run for the benefit of stock manipulators. This is precisely why Apple pulled out of Macworld Expo, by the way. Besides awful timing on the calendar (new products a week after Christmas?), the expectations have become simply totally unrealistic.
Madway and Lawsky continue, “Apple shares slid 0.7 percent.”
MacDailyNews Take: Ooh, that’s a HUGE disappointment, Madway and Lawsky, you hacks. Why not try reporting the news instead of making it up for a change? Are there any real journalists left?
Madway and Lawsky continue, “‘There were some innovative products, but no true blockbusters,’ said Robert Francello, head of equity trading for Apex Capital hedge fund in San Francisco. ‘People were bullish going into it, and now they’re kind of taking money off off the table.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Gee, a hedge fund talking down Apple. Imagine that.
Madway and Lawsky continue, “Tuesday’s event produced few surprises. Apple announced a $2,799 17-inch laptop that is the company’s lightest and slimmest ever, as well as tweaks to software for home movies and photographs.”
Full blah, blah, blah – Think Before You Click™ – here.
@MDN: thanks for the heads up.
I know that there were really no rumors for this keynote regarding an iphone rev, but I really wanted to see a 32gig, so I could have an iphone when I travel later this month…. darnit.
Oh well…
But getting back to the topic, yeah, that was a really bad – is bad too tough of a word here? – keynote. There was nothing to show… hence it’s the last show, I guess. Release in their own time!
I was only ‘real disappointed’ in the lack of an upgrade to the mini, despite all the rumours. It’s the only Mac that will currently fit my budget, and I’ll be darned if I’ll but the current model, as old as it is. Guess I’ll just return to waiting.
…er, ‘buy’ rather than ‘but…
Was really looking for a new mini…but your right NeverFade…Release in their own time! Something we’ll have too get use too.
Well, it was a bit of a let down. Not much excitment in the keynote. I guess we’ll wait a bit longer.
This “blah” keynote was AAPL’s ways of saying Good Riddance to Macworld. They don’t need one stage anymore to parade their wares. As Phil said in the keynote, acc’d to TUAW, the Apple Stores are equivalent to “100 Macworlds every week.”
That the Street only cares about blockbusters shows how short they are. Just like music and movies today, everyone has the attention span of a gnat with regards to legs. And Apple has legs. There will be a new mini. There will be Snow Leopard, and I’ll bet there will be a 32 GB iPhone, but these will happen on Apple’s terms, not IDG’s or the Street’s.
Viva Apple.
I think the appropriate response to today’s keynote is:
Where’s the beef?
With almost no hardware upgrades (except for the highest of high end portables), this was definitely a disappointment. I was hoping to get a co-worker I know to switch to Mac (her PC is dying) with the promise of a Mini upgrade (or even an iMac). When Phil started with the cool iLife demo, I think a lot of us thought this was going to build to something big.
“Tweaks”?
There is an old saying, “Don’t attribute to conspiracy what can be explained by incompetence.” But i find it hard to believe there are that many incompetents in the world. In some respects that would be scarier than conspiracies.
I agree Apple is leaving MacWorld because of the bad timing and because the press/market/public is never satisfied. Even before the keynote was over the usual chorus of “worst keynote ever” started up. We hear this every time someone’s personal fantasy isn’t fulfilled, and often when it is, too. There were some promising announcements in this keynote even if they were about things John Smith of 123 Main St, Anytown, USA isn’t interested in.
I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of the ‘missing’ items aren’t announced separately before the end of the month just to drive home the point that Apple is in charge of Apple’s release schedule.
@ 84 Mac Guy:
Wrong! Phil was right there on stage.
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I agree with MDN here. This event was almost indistinguishable from a Jobs keynote. The wording, the pauses, the content, etc. was exactly the same.
It was also an all good news event. Major updates to two software suites, online components for one, and a brand new laptop, probably the best in the world right now. They also f*cking removed the DRm form all music in the store for cripes sake! People have been begging, blogging, and talking about that for years and when it finally arrives there is a resounding “meh.”
This is why Apple is quitting Macworld. You can’t please anyone nowadays, and Apple (apparently) will be criticised no matter what they do.
New iPhoto with geotaging, new 17″ Laptop with 8 FREAKING HOURS of battery life.
Why so sad guys???
You know Mac OS X has a built in dictionary, don’t you?
rumor |ˈroōmər| ( Brit. rumour)
noun
a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth : they were investigating rumors of a massacre | rumor has it that he will take a year off.
verb ( be rumored)
be circulated as an unverified account : [with clause ] it’s rumored that he lives on a houseboat | [with infinitive ] she is rumored to have gone into hiding.
ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French rumur, from Latin rumor ‘noise.’
AAPL’s value isn’t based on what whiz bang product Apple introduces. It is based on how well (profits) those products sell.
These statements are meant to hold AAPL down while they load up. End of Story.
I think the mini and iMac are going to get really major upgrades and the wait will be worth it.
I’m hovering between a mini with a cinema display or an iMac (24-inch).
“Taking money off off the table”? That’s how my Newfy mother-in-law talks…
I think the DRM-free bit and new pricing at the iTunes Store were significant. Once the new pricing goes into effect, the only players left standing in the digital music download business will be Apple and Amazon. Apple, because Apple makes its profit from selling iPod not music. Amazon, because Amazon can use the little-profit digital music sales to direct customers at other profitable products they sell (such as iPods). Everyone else trying to actually make money selling digital downloads will be gone, unless they can figure out a way to tie selling the music to selling something else.
Suddenly, I have almost 200 previously purchased songs I can upgrade to iTunes Plus.
Actually, reading between the lines, we saw some major strategic statements from Apple:
1. Apple intends to keep dominating the music market. (“We plan to maintain or grow our music market share and our iPod share.”)
2. Apple intends to become dominant in the mobile music market. (“We plan to grow our mobile music market share and our iPhone share.”)
3. Apple intends to move into the cloud, though slowly over a series of small steps. (Note contrast to big vision statements by others.)
4. Apple intends to keep becoming greener in its products.
snoozefest.
The fact that the iTunes Store is now DRM-free should be huge news to the morons on Wall Street. If they think iTunes already has big marketshare now, they’ve seen absolutely nothing yet.
WTF?!?! What is it that I keep missing about the relationship between Apple and Wall Street? Microsoft has not offered an innovative product in, what amounts to, eons in the tech industry. (Innovative product? Heck, try even an innovative thought.) So, what’s with the double standard and completely outrageous expectations for Apple? Here we are, in the middle of a major recession and, once again, investors and brokers are behaving irresponsibly. Can we say self-fulfilling prophecy…
This roller-coster BS from analysts deserves some of the direct blame for the market instability. I swear these people are like gremlins, impishly running around upsetting everything that they can because they can.
When Phil introduced Tony Bennett, I know he will sing “I left my heart in San Francisco” – a perfect song to end the last show. This is cleverly planned.
@MacDailyNews
No, there are no real journalists left. Journalism died with the Election.
Even if there was no home run, there were six singles.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of the ‘missing’ items aren’t announced separately before the end of the month just to drive home the point that Apple is in charge of Apple’s release schedule.”
I agree.
Out went Apple with a whimper of a keynote.
Frankly, we’ve been spoiled for so long. IMAGINE the pressure on Apple to come up with some incredible, unknown product every year. Quite a feat to continue.
Now they can introduce new product when they want to, and have more marketing impact (i.e. surprise) when they do.
Apple – great company, and growing in a new direction which was prepared for years ago…..
I don’t know about you guys, but Phil was looking a little gaunt.
Sell.
no matter what, the fact is investors are disappointed with the most underwhelming macworld keynote ever: two software upgrades and a long overdue 17″ macbbok pro? you gotta be kidding me.
aapl is falling where all the other big techs are up 3-5 %. that’s almost a 5-7 % spread. apple is famous for making bold moves. but the last one was two years ago. where is the new mac mini, the new appletv, imac, 11″ macbook, 7″ mac touch, mac netbook, mobile me upgrade, the list goes on and on.
it seems to be apple has become very cautious and conservative in their approach to new products lately.
http://appsapp.blogspot.com/
I guess maybe I just had lower expectations than most, but I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. I’m very excited about the new iLife apps, and I think the news about higher quality, DRM-free music is great.
The expectations about MacWorld have gotten so high that I think it’s become impossible not to disappoint. Perhaps that’s another reason they decided to pull out.
The software upgrades are awesome. Why do ppl gripe when they could spend several months becoming proficient at these wonderful programs and learn so much with such enjoyment?
Spoiled brats.
Passerby’s lips move, whining…
“You know Mac OS X has a built in dictionary, don’t you?”
…Passerby’s skills at needlessly copying and pasting are truly phenomenal. The crowds were impressed with Passerby’s indepth knowledge of OS X.
Now Passerby can Pisserby off.
It was a snoozer…
and $2800 for a notebook….gulp. Out of my price range for the next 10 years.
With Jobs being sick, no big product decisions are being made.
Plus why bring out something new in a degrading worldwide economy???
Bye,
A snoozer?
What did you expect a week after Christmas? I’ve been complaining about that (on here and other places) for years!
The Mac’s 25th anniversary (January 24, 1984) is coming up later this month. I think we’ll see something from them about that. They didn’t treat 20 years as any big deal but 25? Come on!
That may be why we didn’t see anything about the Mac mini (even though rumored), the iMac (even though rumored), or the Mac Pro.
Anyway, Steve’s finally got his Apple secrecy back (and Christmas time with his family, too). Way to go, Apple! We’ll see if the stock price goes up with Apple announcing things on their OWN schedule throughout the year from now on.
We also shouldn’t see anymore half-baked products released before their time, like MobileMe was. Everything should be ready to rock ‘n’ roll when they announce it.
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
Apple could have announced the iCar, a 100% environmentally friendly car, that ran on a new form of power generation that did produce any waste and some short seller shill would have made news that touted that Wall Street was disappointed. Because it didn’t come with a matte paint finish body and gold mirror tinted windows.
MrMcLargeHuge-
Journalism died ten years ago.
There are a lot of spoiled brats on this site that need a punch in the face.
I guess some people just don’t understand. Apple’s stock has always fallen after the Keynote …every frickin year…the stock doesn’t go up because Apple is going to introduce something, It goes up because of the buzz and rumors associated with a keynote. As soon as the keynote starts the buzz is over and so is the climb in the stock prices, so smart people sell and take there profits. Want a quick 5% return on your money buy Apple at the end of Dec and sell 5 min before the keynote, works every time.
Sheila’s Sister-
If you thought the MacBook Pro price was an issue, you’re a complete moron. It’s the same price as the old one. They added features, stupid.
The new notebook you’d be interested in came out two and a half months ago.
Apple is a victim of its own success. I have been an investor for about 3 years now, and I’ve noticed the price dips after nearly every major announcement. I attribute this to the fact that the truth can NEVER live up to the hype.
The new Mac mini is coming. Steve will be the one to introduce it at a future Apple media event. I believe this will be the stand out new product for 2009 and the ultimate Windows switcher machine!
I repeat myself:
Apple could demo the cure for cancer at MacWorld and the M$ run press will poo poo Apple stock. Apple needs to make announcements on their own terms so this pre-MacWorld stock price reduction parade doesn’t have time to gather steam.
just my $0.02
The sad thing (and I am sure someone already said it) is that when wall street should have gotten it, they didn’t.
Now we know the real reason Steve didn’t give the keynote. He wasn’t going to be the one to go up onstage and announce variable iTunes pricing.
@Not steve either: LOL… and then… maybe you’re right.
Wall St selloff after a keynote is “dog bites man”.
In the real world, we need Apple to continually improve its products and not announce/ship things until they are ready.
And, of course, the stock is up like $10 in the last 3 days.
Next: Apple will announce record earnings and cash flow and Wall St will find a way to discount it and diss the stock. THEN, magically… it will start to rise.
internal struggle *steve jobs*
FULL STOP
I think its time to put all these whiny children to bed.
When has the stock price NOT dropped after a Keynote. I thought that was standard procedure for Apple. I don’t get it.
Even if I had a blockbuster product to introduce, I wouldn’t do it at MacWorld. Why would I reinforce the perception that the Expo drove my pipeline?
Even so, a 17 inch laptop with an 8 hour battery is a game changer.
The REAL reason that Apple dropped the Macworld conferences [now down to one], is that they’ve become moot in the face of a world full of spectacular Apple Stores. These conferences provide simply not enough bang (anymore) for the marketing bucks involved. The keynotes at the Apple Developer Conferences will now take center stage.
The REAL real reason that Apple has abandoned the Macworld Conferences (now down to one per year), is that these conferences have become moot in the face of a world full of spectacular Apple Stores. The conferences have been providing less and less bang for the marketing bucks involved; “nothing personal … it was just a business decision”. The Apple Developer Conference keynotes will no doubt take on a greater role now for product and software introductions.