There was no iPhone, no announcement on the highly anticipated movie store, not even an update on the release of a new iPod. Steve Job's keynote speech at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference did address the next version of the company's OS X "Leopard" operating system, which is set to launch next spring. As expected the company also announced that its completing the move to Intel introducing a new desktops and server computers based on Intel's chip. The speech was definitely a letdown. In his past keynote speeches, Mr. Jobs seemed to announce the unexpected and reveal a new product or upgrade that wowed and wooed the audience.
This year was different as Job's stuck to the inevitable as investors, including myself, seemed unimpressed by the announcements. It showed in recent trading where Apple's stock was off $1.50, or 2.2%, to $66.81 yesterday. Maybe Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, was getting to Jobs as he seemed to knock Microsft any chance he got. "You know, our friends up north spend over $5 billion a year on R&D, and these days all they seem able to do is copy Google and Apple,'' Jobs said. Some called Leopard "Vista 2.0." Here is a round-up of the tepid reactions to Steve Jobs' keynote speech at WWDC:
- Macworld's Christopher Breen
- Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
- IGN's Gerry Block
- Wired News Leander Kahney
Matt Himler is a sophomore at
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-08-2006 @ 12:07PM
duncan said...
you newbies to the mac scene who bought stock because of the ipod need to get a grip, WWDC stands for world wide developer conference. apple rarely makes non-professional announcements at these events. seriously your lack of experience with apple, their marketing and believing rumors has an unnatural and negative effect on apple stocks and their shareholders.
if you found yesterday's keynote underwhelming then a) you're not a developer b) you don't understand what yesterday's announcements mean to you as an end user and c) the switch to intel is producing an apple that is leaner and meaner in the competitive space with beige box makers like dell and hp.
let's look back at the last few WWDC's and what hardware products were announced:
2005 - nothing
2004 - cinema displays (20", 23", 30" being the big guy)
2003 - g5, isight
2002 - nothing
2001 - cinema displays (15" 17", 22")
2000 -nothing (this is pre-shipping OS X days)
1999 - g4 desktop, g3 laptop
1998 - nothing
2006 was totally in line with previous WWDCs in announcing a new pro machine, a new server and focusing on features that developers want. anyone dropping their stock after yesterday's "lackluster" announcement is foolish.
8-08-2006 @ 4:21PM
Neal Caldwell said...
I agree with the post from Duncan, but I'd also like to add one thing to everyone who's jumping up and down 'cause Apple hasn't released a new iPod, as related to stock price and overall company value.
New quad intel cpu: $2500, average Nano ipod: $200. (prices are approximate).
8-09-2006 @ 3:10AM
an_observer said...
I second you, Duncan. The press (and Mr. Himler) missed this mark by a mile. They should look up what WWDC stands for before pumping out such crap piece.
My god, people are there to code, not buy.
Talk about being shamelessly ignorant.