How does Apple's Macworld decision affect the faithful?
At Macworld 2008, Apple fans got their first hands-on look at the MacBook Air. Without participation by Apple at Macworld after 2009, scenes like this will be a thing of the past.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)Apple's decision to make January's Macworld its last offers fodder for endless speculation. But another big question is how this will go down with the Mac faithful who have flocked to this annual event through good times and bad.
To be sure, there will be official Apple events in the future, like the Worldwide Developers Conference. But most fans--the civilians--likely won't be able to gain access to such events, which are usually reserved for press, analysts, VIPs, and developers.
So, as one colleague of mine put it, Macworld has long been the public carnival for Mac fans, and Apple's decision to get out after the 2009 version doesn't bode well for Macworld's future or for the future of a single, mass event for the hardcore Mac community.
"It's a big disappointment," said Leander Kahney, the author of The Cult of Mac and Inside Steve's Brain. "A lot of Mac fans will be royally bummed. It's a huge part of being an Apple fan--looking forward to what Steve (Jobs) will unveil at Macworld. It's like Christmas for grownups."
For Mike Leeds, a Mac technician at a Portland, Ore., college, one of the biggest losses of an Apple-free Macworld will be the chance to hobnob with the company employees who staff the event.
"I got to wander around and talk to the Apple employees that are on duty manning the show," Leeds said. "With luck, you manage to find a particular employee that actually knows the particular issue that you might have, and can give you some background on a) what their plans are for addressing the issue or b) other ways of dealing with it. Half of the time I'm down there...I'm walking around and talking to Apple employees, and that's going to be gone."
For Leeds, then, not having Apple participate in Macworld means he likely won't make the annual trip to San Francisco for the event. And he's not alone.
"It matters a lot that people get to see Jobs," said Kahney. "This is the big show for Jobs' fans. People look forward to this all year. They camp out overnight and take a vacation to go to Macworld and travel from all over the world. It's the big gathering of the tribe."
Further, Kahney pointed out that for many Apple fans, Jobs' keynote speeches have provided a regular sense of spectacle, something worth traveling to San Francisco for, and which will be sorely missing both next month--when Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, gives the keynote speech--and in the future, when Apple doesn't participate.
"Jobs is hugely entertaining," Kahney noted. "There's nothing like it, in tech or anywhere else. It's marketing theater at its best. And with concerns about Jobs' health, people want to see him in the flesh--see if he's OK."
For its part, Apple had no comment related to Jobs' health.
Of course, Mac fans aren't the only ones who would be disappointed by an Apple-less Macworld.
"What a bummer for everyone," Kevin Mathieu, a Bay Area artist who has been going to Macworld for 17 years, said about the news. "From Mac fans to local union workers and local bars," which will undoubtedly lose business.
Still, Kahney pointed out that the faithful will still have places to congregate.
"Luckily, there's the local Apple stores," said Kahney, "which have a ton of community events. They're not just stores. They really are community gathering places, especially the flagship ones in New York and Los Angeles."
But to some, the end of Apple's involvement in Macworld spells trouble for the continuity of the cohesiveness of the Mac faithful community.
At Macworld, Kobi and Ron Shely, two Israeli filmmakers, will be debuting their documentary, MacHeads, which is about the Mac and Apple community. Kobi Shely said a big part of the movie is an exploration of just the issues raised by Apple's Tuesday announcement.
"Apple is on an ongoing process that started back in 1998 when the Internet started to take over," Shely said. "The Mac community was based on in-person meeting places such as the Mac users groups. What's holding it all together is the hundreds, if not thousands, of communities across the world spreading the passion and creating the myths. Their meeting place is Macworld."
But Shely added that while making MacHeads, he found that Apple and its community, while deeply connected, are indeed separate.
"And today I think...is the most significant sign (of) that relationship," Shely said. "The Internet has changed the community. Today the young generation doesn't need to get together in groups. They can get online. But at least they had Macworld. In my view, the Mac faithful will have difficulties continuing the fandom without that direct contact. I hope Macworld will continue to be the gathering place of 'Mac heads' and the shelter for Mac users all over the world."
Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel. 
Um, they're there to try out one machine at it's debut. I'm thinking they're not showing Xserves at the Macbook Air debut. And, um, half of them are Apple employees, hence the Apple shirts with Apple logos.
And, you posted this because you're a) a concerned Apple enthusiast, b) a repository of Apple data, c) a forensic accountant with access to current Apple accounting numbers, or d) a Vista troll.
Hmm, let's see...
Go get a life and/or a real personal computer and OS. Nyaa!
Right. You know everything about everyone and their intentions to posting. Especially since hey, he MUST love Vista.
So therefor, because he took a shot at your beloved Apple, he must get a life... and must get a real computer/OS... like a Mac and OSX right?
Phew, you Apple cornballs are hilarious!
Thansk
LeoSux's intent obviously does carry *some* anti-Apple sentiment, so therefore, yeah, you're so perceptive, I "know" everything. Like, I know you're a) readily irritable or b) LeoSux's Vista tech support.
@ DrtyDogg
You're obviously right.
@ ikramerica--2008
Try improving your reading comprehension skills before you 'get all' assumptive. What I was "saying" was rhetorical (sorry, four syllables).
And, FYI, Leo is a troll when he wakes up in the morning. Happy now?
"Mac sales went off a cliff last month."
I guess they don't make cliffs as big as the used to.
My apologies, I now see you're close acquaintances with LeoSux, since you apparently know him better than me. You must be proud. Then to come back with a smug comment about just how well you know him, well that's even better.
Although you THINK you analyze people well, I'm sorry to disappoint you in telling you that I'm 1) not very irritable, and am actually amused by your antics and 2) Do not use Vista often. Shocking? I suppose, since I MUST be a fan boy right?
Sorry to let you know, that not all people who have something negative to say about oozing fanboyism for Apple and Macs, are Vista users. Sometimes they're just people who generally think that kind of mentality is hm... pathetic?
Why is it that Apple comes into a market, even pre-existing ones, after Apple releases a form factor, the main competitors abandon their form factors and adopt Apple's? People put click wheels that don't click nor wheel on mp3 players and touch screen products that only some native apps use, the rest of the apps use a stylus or keypad. So yeah, guys lets be liberal here, give them their props when deserved.
My bet is, Apple will hold yet another press event to tell us that they have nothing new to show us, but just wanted to see if everyone would come anyway.
Alex
I know the title is long.... but so are most of your posts. Do you get paid by the word, or by the insult?
The news sites will give Apple all the coverage they need. The keynote isn't important, because the keynote would just be repeated across all sites. Apple doesn't need it's hardcore crowd anymore. Just like Nintendo isn't needing theirs either. With success, comes new customers, and with new customers comes the shaft for fanatics.
1. withhold product announcements until after christmas
-or-
2. suffer the wrath of the press when you don't have anything new to offer at the show
And neither of those situations is good for Apple, and both have occurred many times in the past.
The WDC, held in the summer, avoids all of that. It is meant to be about the software, and if there is a new product, cool. But often products are released before or after the event, in order to diminish the importance of the conference in terms of product announcements. And then Apple releases new products at special events whenever they choose.
I just don't know what is going on yet. Nobody does. And that is the sort of thing that investors do not like. All the rumors of Jobs' health are immediately put back on the table and Apple has a big challenge ahead to regain that confidence of consumer, fans, and investor alike.
Alex
Not technically true, and in both directions. The Mac version of CS4 is not 64-bit, for example but it (and CS3) provide 16-bit printing that the Windows version does not. One of the primary reasons for using Photoshop on a Mac is colour profiling, which Windows still hasn't got right, and that's damned important for photography if you if you expect your output to go beyond your own screen.
This is the truth, this is what Macs are generally known for and are geared for. This is one thing Apple has done very well.
Apple will survive just fine without you.
Apple will survive just fine without you."
I assume you are replying to the long post made by some without, or not visible, screen name. He, she, or it, has made the exact same post quite a few times today, kind of like a Cal Worthington TV ad. Since all we see in the header is the date I am thinking that he may be a Decembrist and I do not mean a member of the rock band. Either that or he is a bot.
(no need to laugh from here...)
Say it aint so !
Please?
- by AppleSuxLeo December 17, 2008 10:01 AM PST
- The Apple faithful are looking for the nearest iBridge to jump off of.
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