Apple

In an extremely rare move, an Apple executive has publicly commented on the App Store approval process as it relates to a controversial dictionary application.

Apple's Phil Schiller, seen here at Macworld in January, commented on the App Store approval process this week--a move that seems to be unprecedented.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Apple's Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing and last seen playing the role of Steve Jobs at Apple events this year, e-mailed John Gruber of Daring Fireball to comment on the approval process of Ninjawords, a dictionary application that was initially rejected from the App Store because it supplied the definition of several dirty words. Schiller blamed the snafu on poor timing, saying that Apple never directly censored the application but felt it deserved a 17+ rating, which wasn't formally available as an option until parental controls were released along with the iPhone 3.0 software in June.

Ninjawords draws on Wiktionary.com for its definitions, Schiller said, which means it offers up a few more choice words than the folks at the Oxford English Dictionary have gotten around to including. "Apple rejected the initial submission of Ninjawords for this reason, provided the Ninjawords developer with information about some of the vulgar terms, and suggested to the developer that they resubmit the application for approval once parental controls were implemented on the iPhone," Schiller told Gruber via e-mail.

The developer of Ninjawords isn't exactly mollified by Apple's reasoning. "Apple may slap a 17+ rating on our app and wash their hands, saying 'you're not required to censor your app', but at the same time, they're putting a great deal of pressure on us to do so. Who wants to be the only illicit dictionary on the App Store?" said Phil Crosby of Matchstick, which created the application. Crosby and Gruber noted that several other dictionaries in the App Store contain language that some may find objectionable yet are not required to carry the equivalent of an R movie rating.

But while the debate over Ninjawords will rage on, what's perhaps most significant is that Apple has directly commented on its decision-making process regarding the approval or rejection of a specific iPhone application. As far as I can tell, Apple has never done this in the year-plus history of the App Store, with the notable exception of Baby Shaker. But even then, Apple didn't explain the reasoning behind its decision to approve an application it eventually called "deeply offensive."

Perhaps now that the FCC is taking a closer look at the Google Voice debacle, Apple will now start to finally give developers and iPhone users some specific input on the criteria it uses to approve or deny iPhone applications. To this point, the process has been a black box, frustrating developers time and time again.

Gruber credited Apple with perhaps waking up to the reality that at some point, the App Store approval process went off the rails. "That Schiller was willing to respond in such detail and length, on the record, is the first proof I've seen that Apple's leadership is trying to make the course correction that many of us see as necessary for the long-term success of the platform. The improvement I consider most important is a significant focus on fairness, consistency, and common sense in the App Store review process," he wrote.

Tim Cook

Steve Jobs' medical leave puts the spotlight back on the other members of Apple's executive ranks, in particular Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, financial chief Peter Oppenheimer, and marketing chief Phil Schiller.

Tim Cook
A one-time Compaq executive, Cook has run much of Apple's operations for some time. He also was the man tapped by the board when Jobs previously went on leave for cancer treatment.

Much of Cook's career has been spent handling manufacturing and procurement duties, although he took over responsibility for sales at Apple, before adding the COO title in 2005. In addition to his work at Compaq, Cook also spent 12 years at IBM, where he ran manufacturing and operations for a large chunk of Big Blue's PC business.

Peter Oppenheimer
A longtime Apple finance guy, Oppenheimer started with Apple in 1996 serving as controller for the Americas and, eventually, as the company's overall controller, before taking over as chief financial officer upon the retirement of Fred Anderson.

Peter Oppenheimer

Prior to Apple, Oppenheimer was a divisional CFO at Automatic Data Processing (ADP).

Phil Schiller
Schiller has long served as Jobs' right-hand man when it comes to pitching Apple products to the public. A frequent guest in Jobs' keynote speeches, Schiller has also given some solo talks, most recently at this year's Macworld.

An avid sports fan, he coached an Apple hockey team that took on a team from Sun Microsystems, among other rivals. In addition to his work at Apple, Schiller served as a VP of product marketing for Macromedia.

While these three will be most visible during Jobs absence, others also play key roles. Design guru Jonathan Ive is known as Apple's strongest creative voice outside of Jobs, while former Target executive Ron Johnson is responsible for Apple's booming network of retail stores.

On the software front, chief software architect, Avie Tevanian, is no longer there, but several other software execs remain, including software engineering head Bertrand Serlet and applications chief, Sina Tamaddon.

Phil Schiller delivered the keynote address at Macworld 2009.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)

We're posting live updates from Macworld 2009 at San Francisco's Moscone Center, where Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller, is delivering the keynote speech.

Phil Schiller takes the stage to deliver the keynote speech at Macworld in San Francisco.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET Networks)

8:55 a.m. PST: We're live inside the Moscone Center for Macworld 2009, having braved the elbows of the friendly media hordes and the rather aggressive ushers. The room is fairly full, but the line outside this morning seemed a little smaller than usual, unless IDG did a better job of herding the masses in early. The pre-keynote music is skewing more current than usual before a Jobs keynote, with Death Cab for Cutie and the like, which maybe gives us an idea of what Phil Schiller uses to warm up.

9:03 a.m.: We just got the cell phone warning message, which probably gives us a five-minute window or so. They turned up the volume for Coldplay's "Life in Technicolor," and I'm assuming we're getting close.

9:04 a.m.: The lights dim as the song ends, and Apple's Phil Schiller takes the stage to start Macworld 2009. He appears to be rocking an all-denim ensemble. It's a little hard to tell from here. "I'm so personally excited to be the one delivering Macworld 2009 to you. I'd like to thank everybody for showing up," which gets a chuckle.

9:06 a.m.: Phil's first topic is the general state of Apple, talking about some of the new Apple stores that the company has opened overseas, such as Beijing and Sydney. He's gushing about some of the new store designs. "I can't imagine any other company delivering something like that." Every week, 3.4 million customers visit an Apple store around the world. "That's 100 Macworlds each and every week," a clear pointer to Apple's decision to make this its last Macworld.

9:07 a.m.: Phil's going to start with the Mac, and he seems to be hinting that's all we're going to talk about today. Last year was the best year for the Mac in Apple's history, he said, growing faster than the industry based on what Phil calls Apple's best product line ever. Phil has three new things he's going to cover.

If you're interested in live updates from tomorrow's Macworld keynote, we've got you covered.

We'll report live from San Francisco's Moscone Center as Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller gives the show's keynote address. That should kick off at 9 a.m. PST. You can get to the live blog here (link will be live as soon as the blog is live). Bowing to popular demand, we'll post those in order as they come in, rather than the reverse chronological order we've used on past live blogs.

Tuesday's Macworld should still be an interesting event even without CEO Steve Jobs making his usual address to the Macworld crowd. A new MacBook Pro, new Mac Minis, and a thorough discussion of the upcoming release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard are expected.

Later in the day we'll have tons of photos, lots of video, and the initial reactions of CNET Reviews staff--before they jet off to the desert for CES--to whatever new products Apple has on tap. So stick around all day; it's not like anybody's getting much work done the first week back from the holiday break anyway, right?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs' absence from Macworld 2009 could be a prelude to a new communications strategy.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Even though CEO Steve Jobs will not be playing his customary role, the last Macworld Expo with Apple's participation will still be interesting--for perhaps that exact reason.

Apple's decision to pull Jobs from Tuesday's Macworld keynote speech--and its announcement that 2009 would be its last year at the show--deflated much of the usual pre-Macworld speculation regarding the company's 2009 product plans. The show must go on, however; and Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller will likely have a few new products to show off, such as an iPhone Nano, a revamped 17-inch MacBook Pro, and a new operating system called Snow Leopard.

But Macworld 2009 will probably not be remembered for the products introduced there, unless Apple has quite the ace up its sleeve. Instead, Tuesday's 90-minute presentation will be scrutinized for signs that Apple is preparing to change an external communications strategy in which its founder has been its primary spokesman since his return to the company in 1997.

Officially, Apple said its decision to have Jobs skip the Macworld keynote address--perhaps the most widely followed annual presentation by any tech industry CEO--was linked to its decision to bail on Macworld entirely following this week's event. It's unclear what will happen to the conference following Apple's departure. The show's presenter, IDG World Expo, says the 2010 event is on. But it also plans to hold a "town meeting" during this week's show, where it will solicit ideas for the future. (Editors' note: See also Monday morning's news, "On eve of Macworld, Jobs talks health.")

It's hard to imagine a fate for Macworld any different than what happened to the East Coast show after Apple cut its ties, however. Since his return to the company, Jobs has always been Apple's primary voice, and whether it was held in Boston, New York, or San Francisco, the star attraction at Macworld.

Even though he's not giving the keynote, Jobs will still attract that sort of attention Tuesday, even if all he does is settle into a front-row seat to watch the presentation. Apple has not said whether or not Jobs will make an appearance during the keynote, but such an appearance could go a long way toward deflecting the latest round of rumors surrounding his health.

After all, the man is a legend. Arguably one of the most influential businesspeople of the last 30 years, Jobs personifies much of what people like to see in Apple, and much of the brand promise of the Mac: a brilliant iconoclast who takes no prisoners yet cares deeply about elegance.

There are signs, however, that Apple is entering a new era. It seems pretty clear that Apple chafed at the idea of having to introduce some of its best new products a few weeks after the close of the holiday selling season. Most consumer electronics companies like to make their big product introductions toward the end of the year, rather than the beginning, but the timing of Macworld forced Apple into a different schedule.

Also, while it's not unusual for Jobs to share the spotlight during his keynotes, Apple put together its deepest ensemble cast in recent memory for October's MacBook event. Jobs rolled out the company's latest notebooks accompanied by COO Tim Cook, Senior Vice President for Industrial Design Jonny Ive, and a video featuring executives off the radar of most Apple watchers, such as Vice President of Product Design Dan Riccio.

If anything, that event proved that few Apple executives--to be fair, few executives anywhere--have the stage presence and presentation skills that Jobs enjoys. So why would Apple change that role now, when the company is at the top of its game?

For one thing, there's a downside to Apple's strategy of putting its founder front-and-center before the public. Rumors regarding his health and appearance have played havoc with Apple's stock throughout 2008 and as recently as last week. Much of that speculation was unwarranted earlier in the year, but given that even up until mid-December Apple had led IDG to believe Jobs would be taking his usual place in Moscone Center, Apple practically invited this round of rumors about Jobs' health by announcing the decision as suddenly as it did.

Macworld has long been The Steve Jobs Show, but is he really the only person who can shepherd product development breakthroughs like the iPhone?

(Credit: Casimir Fornalski/CNET Networks)

But even if Jobs is merely sick of Macworld, rather than actually sick, Apple will live longer than he will.

To be clear, just because Jobs isn't giving the Macworld keynote does not necessarily mean that Apple is ready to lower his profile. The company hosts several of its own events every year, such as the June Worldwide Developers Conference and September music event, and may be planning for business-as-usual Stevenotes at those events later this year. Apple never seems to break up amicably with its partners, and Jobs' vanishing act from Macworld 2009 could just be a parting shot in an often-contentious relationship between Apple and IDG World Expo.

Still, at some point Apple will run into problems if Jobs is forever seen as the only person capable of running the company. Apple today is a much different company than the struggling corporation Jobs took over in 1997. It has 32,000 employees, three hit products that generate profits, and the world's largest music store.

Apple has sold the concept of Jobs as the single-most important factor in Apple's success so well that many outsiders don't understand that other brilliant, driven people at Apple come up with cool ideas from time to time. Steve Jobs is certainly more hands-on than the average tech executive when it comes to product design and execution, but he's not the only person capable of running Apple. As the saying goes, the graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Some day, Steve Jobs will decide he's ready for the next chapter of his life and Apple will need to have a replacement ready. Many have criticized Apple over the past year for seeming to lack a succession plan, but not discussing such a plan publicly and not discussing such a plan internally are two very different things.

Tuesday could be the first step in that plan. Phil Schiller is probably not going to be the man who leads Apple once Jobs moves on, but he might be the ideal person to guest-host Macworld as a parade of Apple executives hone their presentation skills and introduce themselves to the general public.

For all the accolades deservedly paid to Jobs' leadership and salesmanship skills, there is someone else out there who is capable of keeping Apple on track. Jobs has always struck me as a man with meticulous plans for the future, and it might soon be time for a little light to be shed on Apple 4.0.

Click here for more Macworld Expo coverage from CNET News.

The era of the Macworld Stevenote is over.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has given his last keynote address at Macworld in San Francisco.

The company announced on Tuesday afternoon that January's Macworld would mark its last year participating at the show, which is run by publishing company IDG. In addition, Apple said Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, will deliver the keynote, usually handled by Jobs.

Apple representative Steve Dowling declined to comment on Jobs' health, a prominent topic of discussion this year. Jobs' keynote addresses at Macworld have become almost legendary events, launch pads for some of the company's most important products and strategies. His absence from what many in the Apple community consider their Super Bowl will once again revive rumors that Jobs is ill.

"Phil is giving the keynote because this will be Apple's last year at the show," Dowling said. "It doesn't make sense for us to make a major investment in a trade show we will no longer be attending."

Apple seems to be declaring that it no longer needs industry events like Macworld to get its message out. The company has 250 retail stores around the world that draw millions of people a week, and its Web site is among the top 10 sites, in terms of traffic, on the Internet.