COMMENT: Apple underwhelms at last Macworld keynote

6 January 2009 18:33 GMT / By Stuart Miles

With the company's talisman out of the picture, Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple, tried his best to put on a good show at this year's Macworld keynote.

While Schiller put in a flawless performance under the media spotlight, many journalists struggled to stay interested, at a lack of new and innovative products from the company to kick off the conference.

Maybe it was the lack of "booms" or Steve in his trademark black turtle neck but blogs, newspapers, websites and TV all moaned throughout the speech on Twitter or their blogs about the lack of interest.

"I'm not surprised this keynote is dull (so far) But surprised it is THIS dull. So far", said one. " gawd..twenty minutes on the new iphoto.....enough", said another.

Engadget, via its live blog commented: "So number two... we have a completely new version of iWork. Oh boy. Wake us up when this is over".

Other journalists offered to "Fedex coffee and supplies in" while some went as far as saying "So underwhelmed by these software tweaks. One or two cool new features but enough with the demos!"

One went as far as saying:

"Worst. Macworld keynote. Ever. There had better be something stunning at the end."

Apple used its keynote to launch two new software applications, a new 17-inch MacBook Pro and some updates to iTunes.

Perhaps feeling the need to make the keynote last 90 minutes, the company even focused for a good couple of minutes on a video talking to engineers about battery design for the new notebook with phrases like "advanced chemistry" and "making the dream possible". Apple really struggled to impress.

Apple failed to fulfill many of the rumours circling the web earlier this month, however did announce new pricing for iTunes music, iTunes Plus changes, and the ability to download tracks on the iPhone via a 3G network.

In an attempt to finish on a high, Apple literally rolled out Tony Bennett on a moving stage as the end of an era bowed out.

Full tags

Software, Hardware, Apple, Macworld2009, Comment