Has Steve Jobs Lost His Magic? 432
TimAbdulla writes to mention a Wired article wondering if Steve Jobs has lost his magic? The keynote yesterday, author Leander Kahney says, was the most uninspiring he's yet seen out of the usually charismatic man. Accompanied by other folks from within the company, Kahney wonders what lackluster showings like this will mean for the company after Jobs steps down. From the article: "Looking very thin, almost gaunt, Jobs used the 90-minute presentation to introduce a new desktop Mac and preview the next version of Apple's operating system, code-named Leopard. The sneak preview of Leopard was underwhelming. For what seemed an interminable time, Jobs and Co. showed off one yawn after another. There's no way I can get excited about virtual desktops or a new service that turns highlighted text into a 'to do' item. Oooo."
Virtual desktops for teh win (Score:1, Interesting)
If you use Windows or a Mac and you are using some utility to get virtual desktops, what do you use and how well does it work?
Re:People should be ashamed (Score:5, Interesting)
Personally I did find his key-speech lacking, but I just think that they were being cautious because they are waiting to release the big guns next spring. I personally think it will have something to do with making sure Vista comes out stillborn, but that's just my take.
yeah, nice imagery huh.
One interesting thing... (Score:4, Interesting)
Etc... etc... Etc... Same thing with the PowerBook, the Cube, the switch to Intel, ad nauseam. I wish these people could stop writing that FUD, already! Apple will disappear when it will disappear, in the meantime, its financial position looks excellent.
I personally think Macintosh, and Ipods, and Mac OS X are very sexy beasts. They are much too expensive for my taste, they run expensive proprietary software, and everything Apple does is way too costly for me, but Gosh, aren't they sexy.
The fact is, Apple has survived. Every single "Apple is dying" has been proved wrong time and time again. They have top-notch engineers and designers and they will keep on making great products for the time being. Sure, the last WWDC may have been unexciting, but guess what? Even great companies won't release great (hardware) products every six or eight months. These things take time.
And dissing Steve Jobs for looking thin is simply disgusting. The guy recently survived cancer, for (bleep) sake! Give him a break: he is not going to look plump after chimio or whatever he had to do to overcome cancer! Sheeesh. Tech Journalists sound more and more like bottom feeder, these days.
Re:They're just learning from the pros (Score:5, Interesting)
And as far as Apple being "pricy designer stuff that does the same thing as cheap stuff", it is not. Yes, you can get the same functionality out of them, but you can also get the same functionality out of a luxury car and a bicycle. Mac OS X provides an intuitive interface that makes it easy to do what you want. Beyond that, the Jobs's claim about Dell being $1000 more is correct.
virtual desktops (Score:2, Interesting)
What I really want to see is the ability to run two displays on the computer, but each with a separate log-in and separate key/mouse set. We could then claim our lab had 20 seats even though we only had 10 computers, each with 2 displays, 2 chairs, 2 keyboards, 2 mice. When the lab is sitting mostly empty (most of the time) each user would have 2 displays.
Tadd
Re:I dont get why should we get 'excited' (Score:3, Interesting)
It's new enough that there aren't many user reviews, and yet I just bought one on the specs. Because I -must- have it. It's new, it's neat, and it's MINE!
It's the same with OS features. I switched to Linux for the features, not more than 6 months ago. I still keep WinXP for some of my recalcitrant games, but KDE is my desktop now. (Yay Kubuntu!) What features? The KIO Slaves, like Fish. That thing's awesome. And 1 killer app: Yakuake. Best. Console. EVAR.
So yeah, we exist.
It's all about the developers. (Score:5, Interesting)
Steve Jobs talked about the new version of the OS and new high end boxes. These are the products that will most directly impact the lives and work of those who develop software for Apple systems. This conference has never been about targetting consumers. It's all about things that matter to developers.
The next version of the iPod, the next revision of the iMac and laptops, as well as any other devices Apple has up its sleeve (iPhone, Tivo-esque Mac Mini settop box, tablet, etc.) are all consumer focused items. Anything Apple wants to release to consumers will be released a little closer to the holiday season, making it harder for imitators to be able to produce knockoffs in time for Christmas. Anyone who thought they'd see an iPhone, new iPod, or any other strictly consumer-centric item at WWDC has put their desire for new gadgets ahead of Apple's desire to maximize its profits. That said, stay tuned for a product announcement sometime before October with Apple's slate of holiday season offerings.
-JMP
Steve sharing the stage is a good thing (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm just thankful that Apple doesn't have anyone on their management team like Steve "Monkey Boy" Ballmer. I would feel far more comfortable in the Apple managment team leadership in Steve Jobs' absence than I do with MS.
Re:I dont get why should we get 'excited' (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes. Although, the drama is slowing down.
People's heartbeat rises when some new cars are introduced. Cars are pretty common and standard now, but there are still times when new models and/or features are introduced and people go nuts.
I used to go nuts when every beta release of Netscape came out. I would wake up early in the morning and download it from a california server from the east coast so I could get into the FTP server and to get a good transfer rate. Now, I just use the default browser that comes with my OS, and when an update or feature is added, and thats few and far between, I say, wow, thats nice, why did it take them so long?
Now, this slashdot drama about Steve Jobs is probably sensationalized a bit, but as far as desktop computing goes, Apple has it down. I've used kazillions of desktop GUI environments, and I will say that the OS X environment at least wins because it annoys me the least. I've used KDE, Gnome, OL(V)WM, CDE, Windows 3.1->XP, FVWM, TWM, Afterstep, Window Maker, Apple
Personally, I'm glad that reboots and crashes are not an integral part of computer usage. I see that the computer market may stagnate for a while, and then, like cars today, there may be a new uprising where there are other options available to fit ones personality and fashion interests, but for the most part, computers, like cars, are just tools. Pretty much a dime a dozen, but if you want to impress your friends and enemies, you can get a more fancy, newer, niche computer, and like a car, your friends will say, "Ooh, thats cool", and your enemies will say "He just got that to compensate for _____", and yeah, both will be right
Jobs looks bad, Leopard looks good (Score:3, Interesting)
I thought exactly the same thing yesterday when I watched the WWDC webcast. Steve Jobs looked, in my estimation, terrible. I'm pretty sure he's grown out his beard to hide how thin his face looks. And, it's also true that he didn't seem to have his usual blend of piss and organic vinegar that he generally shows off at these things.
(I do think I know where Steve's weight went, though: into Phil Schiller! That guy should take a page from the Steve Jobs cookbook. Man!)
But I thought that there were some great features in the Leopard preview they showed off. For example, Time Machine looks simply astounding. Maybe the sci-fi effects are a little over the top, but being able to look for a lost file by browsing through past versions of the folder in which it's contained is really cool.
I'm also really jazzed about the Web Clip service in Safari. I can think of lots of times when that would be handy. And, I will say that I really enjoyed the comparisons between a Windows Vista desktop and a Mac OS X Tiger desktop. Microsoft even stole the "lickable" aqua sphere!
It's entirely possible that Steve might be trying to take a step back from these keynotes. And it's also entirely possible that this was a sort of "test" for these three guys to see which one would have the ability to do these presentations in the future if Steve can't. However, the company itself is still the same as ever. Lines like, "Redmond, start your photocopiers" and "Mac OS X Leopard: Introducing Vista 2.0" are classic.
Let's also not forget that the new Mac Pro is pretty astounding: four cores, standard! And, let's also not forget that Steve did say that the best new features of Leopard are, as the slide said, "Top Secret". I think Apple really felt like they got burned by Microsoft when they copied, feature for feature, everything that was new and exciting about Tiger for Vista. My guess is that, since Leopard is slated for Spring, Apple wants Microsoft to release Vista, which is truly lackluster, and then release Leopard in rapid succession. Those, "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" ads might take on a whole new antagonistic dimension! For example:
(Cue cutesy music)
PC: I'm a PC
Mac: And I'm a Mac. Hear me roar.
PC: I can search every file on your hard drive instantly.
Mac: I've been doing that for two years now! And, I can search network servers, other Macs, and even tell you that the remote is lost between the second and third cushion on the couch. Take that!
PC: Well, I've got transparent windows!
Mac: Oh yeah, well MY windows are so transparent you can't even see them! Our computers don't even come with displays anymore. I just read your mind and do exactly what you were thinking. Kapow!
PC: Touche
Mac: See, you finally understand what that word means. And why? Because I teach you new words while you're sleeping. Ha!
(Cut to picture of new Mac Book, now without a display!)
Re:Translation (Score:3, Interesting)
I thought there was a chat API that you can incorporate into your apps? That would certainly be of interest to developers.
Re:I know Leander K. and you, sir, are no Leander (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:It's all about the developers. (Score:2, Interesting)
"Anyone who thought they'd see an iPhone, new iPod, or any other strictly consumer-centric item at WWDC has put their desire for new gadgets ahead of Apple's desire to maximize its profits. That said, stay tuned for a product announcement sometime before October with Apple's slate of holiday season offerings."
Absolutely correct. I read all the rumors sites talkign about iPhones and full-screen iPods and all that crap, but I only expected the announcement of the Mac Pro and a preview of Leopard. The Xserve was a nice addition.
Moreover, anyone who doesn't think TimeMachine was cool as hell for consumers is a fool.
I thought the integrated animation demonstration was mind-blowing.
Ah, but then tools to build applications only appeals to people who build applications, right?
Re:Just going to get worse, I think (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, although it is heresy for a Mac fan like me to say this: Apple has never really been about innovation.
Now, this fact is usually trotted out by people who want to bash Apple--but I'm actually citing it as proof of Apple's savvy. There's an old saying: "Pioneers get eaten. Settlers get rich." Apple has a real corporate talent for noticing when other people have come up with an intriguing innovation of a good idea, but haven't figured out how to combine that innovation with all the things that make a good end-user experience--interface, design, etc. This goes right back to the very beginnings of the company. Stevens Wozniak and Jobs weren't the first people to sell homebrew computers--they just did it better than anybody else around. Apple didn't invent the idea of whole window-based GUI with a mouse controller, Xerox Parc did. But Xerox didn't recognize how incredibly significant the invention was; Apple did. And, obviously, MP3 players were around before the iPod made them a must-have item
Like any human institution, Apple is imperfect. Sometimes they've gotten to the market too soon (as with the Newton). Other times (perhaps more rarely) they've trailed too far behind, as for example at certain points between System 7 and OSX. But they seem to get it right far more often than most companies.
How to identify someone who doesn't know design (Score:3, Interesting)
"It took you that long just to do that? Thats simple."
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They didn't show their best stuff because MS would copy them, if you did not notice they made sure to point that out to you
Many refinements were quite good-- virtual desktops is not new, but their way is the best UI for virtual desktops I have ever seen. Not every idea was mind blowing, but their UI design and cost (bundled free) can't be beat.
Time machine is the best version control UI I've seen. my mother could use that.
Jobs is phasing himself out of the limelight a bit more all the time making it so when he does go its not as much of a shock to the fans.
A bit of history- Kahney vs. Dvorak (Score:4, Interesting)
The guy is simply a more effeminate version of Dvorak. It's one of those minor trendy things amongst pseudo intellectuals (Boing Boing's rant on Apple because Apple hadn't released the sources to the x86 XNU kernel yet, for instance) to be mildly critical of Apple, YET STILL SPEND GOD KNOWS HOW MUCH TO GO AND WATCH A PRODUCT INTRODUCTION SPEECH! Apple must laugh itself to tears at morons like this who pay large amounts of cash to them for the privilege of being trendily critical of Apple.
Make no mistake, Apple is no saviour and there are many things that I personally prefer in Linux and Windows (Linux for its openess and configurability and Windows for its GUI responsiveness), but acting like a clueless consumer at a developer conference only makes you look dumber than you are, or, in this case, exactly as dumb as you are.