Looking at Engadget's coverage, the tone of Steve's closing seems very different from any past event I can recall. It's always about Apple and about the Product. Jobs is very focused and doesn't "accidentally" include information in his presentations that isn't deliberate.
Why then would he include that slide depicting the intersection of technology and liberal arts? Why bother using a product launch to make a mission statement: "This is worth repeating. It's in Apple's DNA that technology is not enough. It's tech married with the liberal arts and the humanities. Nowhere is that more true than in the post-PC products. Our competitors are looking at this like it's the next PC market. That is not the right approach to this. These are post-PC devices that need to be easier to use than a PC, more intuitive."
edit (Commenters have pointed out that the slide was used in the iPad launch as well. Sorry, chalk that up to fuzzy memory on my part.)
That doesn't sound like a product pitch to me. It sounds like a going-away message to Apple's employees. It's a public reminder of what Apple stands for, even without Jobs at the helm.
Jobs also highlighted very prominently the scope of apple beyond the stage presenters: "I'd like the teams that worked on this to stand up -- give them a round of applause. And as always, I'd like to thank everyone's families. They support us and let us do what we need to do. They make it possible for us to work our tails off."
Perhaps I'm reading more into this than necessary, but this change in tone appears to be significant. It's the first steps to mapping out a post-Jobs Apple. A public recognition that the success or failure doesn't hinge upon one man's presence, but instead the atmosphere and culture that was developed under his tenure.
I'd like to be wrong, but this may be of the last times we see Steve Jobs take the stage, and I think he knows it.
Good point. Somehow it didn't stick with me that it was used before. But, I think the tone is very different in this context. It's hard to pin it down, but the way he used it previously seemed less reflective and more promotional. Of course, the re-use could just be incidental, but I think its re-use may give it even more weight.
> Jobs also highlighted for the first time the scope of apple beyond the stage presenters: "I'd like the teams that worked on this to stand up -- give them a round of applause. And as always, I'd like to thank everyone's families. They support us and let us do what we need to do. They make it possible for us to work our tails off."
Looking at Engadget's coverage, the tone of Steve's closing seems very different from any past event I can recall. It's always about Apple and about the Product. Jobs is very focused and doesn't "accidentally" include information in his presentations that isn't deliberate.
Why then would he include that slide depicting the intersection of technology and liberal arts? Why bother using a product launch to make a mission statement: "This is worth repeating. It's in Apple's DNA that technology is not enough. It's tech married with the liberal arts and the humanities. Nowhere is that more true than in the post-PC products. Our competitors are looking at this like it's the next PC market. That is not the right approach to this. These are post-PC devices that need to be easier to use than a PC, more intuitive." edit (Commenters have pointed out that the slide was used in the iPad launch as well. Sorry, chalk that up to fuzzy memory on my part.)
That doesn't sound like a product pitch to me. It sounds like a going-away message to Apple's employees. It's a public reminder of what Apple stands for, even without Jobs at the helm.
Jobs also highlighted very prominently the scope of apple beyond the stage presenters: "I'd like the teams that worked on this to stand up -- give them a round of applause. And as always, I'd like to thank everyone's families. They support us and let us do what we need to do. They make it possible for us to work our tails off."
Perhaps I'm reading more into this than necessary, but this change in tone appears to be significant. It's the first steps to mapping out a post-Jobs Apple. A public recognition that the success or failure doesn't hinge upon one man's presence, but instead the atmosphere and culture that was developed under his tenure.
I'd like to be wrong, but this may be of the last times we see Steve Jobs take the stage, and I think he knows it.