Apple's final Macworld: Schiller delivers but announcements disappoint

Moments before Apple VP Philip Schiller stepped on stage at Macworld 2009, there seemed to be a buzz of anticipation in the auditorium at Moscone West in San Francisco. How would Schiller - filling the shoes of the ailing Steve Jobs - perform in this venue? Would he make a mention of his missing boss? Would there be any new cool products for him to talk about on stage? Would the crowd welcome him? What would the crowd's reaction be?

Clearly, this crowd was excited about being here for the Macworld keynote speech. Even as the lights dimmed, the cheers started in anticipation of what was to come. And when Schiller did walk on stage, the crowd gave him such a warm round of applause that I was waiting for folks to get up from their chairs for a standing ovation. (No, that didn't happen.) What did happen, as the keynote progressed, was that the applause level seemed to drop, not increase, with each new announcement.

But that's not a reflection of Schiller. The announcements, overall, were weak for a keynote speech and probably would have been better for a press conference or even press release - yet another affirmation that Apple's decision to pull out of Macworld is a smart move.

Schiller kicked off the speech with a slideshow of Apple stores around the world - Beijing, Munich, Sydney - and some stats about the amount of foot traffic in stores around the globe: 3.4 million visitors every week. (More applause.) That's the equivalent, Schiller said, of 100 Macworld conferences every week. That was an interesting comparison, seeing how the company referenced the retail stores - and the increased traffic in them - as one of the reasons that the company was pulling out of the Macworld conference. They no longer need trade shows as a means of reaching out to customers.

And then there's that annual end-of-year pressure to introduce something new - a wow-factor product or service - at the show. Sure, Apple is constantly innovating and launching upgrades or new versions to already popular products from the iPod and iPhone to the iMac and iLife - but clearly the company doesn't need a trade show to grab media attention. Any time Apple makes an announcement - whether a new iPod line or a upgrades to the notebook line - the media comes out in droves and customers flock to stores to touch, feel and buy. Why would they need the pressure of a trade show to introduce products?

Also see: Live: Philip Schiller keynote at Macworld 2009

Schiller noted that he had three new things to talk about during this speech, beginning with a new version of iLife - the multimedia software package that includes iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Garage Band and others. Schiller started with new features within iPhoto - things like facial recognition, mapping, integration with Facebook and Flickr and more. That was all cool, I suppose - but it comes a day after Google finally released a free Mac verison of the Picasa photo software, a package that includes things like mapping, slideshow and collage tools and integration with Blogger.

Sure, iPhoto is a fun application and there's some cool new things you can do with it - but after 20 minutes or so of a presentation about iPhoto features, the applause seemed to slow (including an awkwardly quiet moment when Schiller announced a Travel Maps feature where only a few folks in the packed auditorium managed to put their hands together.) When Schiller shifted to an announcement about new features in iMovie, the applause was luke warm, at best. And when Schiller mentioned a new "Learn to Play" feature within Garage Band, I could literally hear only the tapping of laptop keyboards in the audience over the silence.

By the time Schiller gets to the second announcement - a new version of the iWork productivity software suite - the applause from the audience feels forced. Schiller is a charismatic guy and keeps the audience engaged, touting the new products and features.

But it feels very demo-like, a presentation that easily could have been showcased in a YouTube video instead of from the stage of Macworld. Some of the features are pretty cool  but - YAWN - after an hour into the keynote, it's hard to get excited about new templates in Pages '09. The rounds of applause have slowed and seem to be more polite than enthusiastic. Schiller concluded the iWork presentation with an announcement of iWork.com, an online sharing and collaboration tool that compliments iWork.

The final announcement is a 17-inch Macbook Pro. Mac users love to hear about upgrades to the notebook line and the initial reaction was some oohs and aahs - but not a whole lot of applause. What was impressive was an increase to battery life - up to 8 hours now - but even that didn't generate an overwhelming amount of applause. Maybe it was the $2,799 price tag on the new Mac (a tough sell in these economic times) but the crowd just didn't seem to be too much into it.

Even a "One last thing..." announcement - a signature Steve Jobs crowd-pleaser - about changes to iTunes didn't generate a huge amount of excitement. There's a new three-tier pricing plan within iTunes (requested for a long time by the record labels) that includes a new 69-cent price point for some songs, starting in April. iTunes Plus, which offers DRM-free tracks, will expand to include all 10 million songs in the catalog. And the iTunes store on the iPhone now works over the 3G network, not just WiFi. Sure, it's cool. But was it worthy of a "One last thing..." announcement at Macworld?

Schiller closed out the keynote - Apple's last - by welcoming music legend Tony Bennett, who gave performances of "The Best is Yet to Come" and, of course, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

Finally, something worthy of a standing ovation.

 Other coverage:

Philip Schiller’s Macworld keynote detail just got easier Macs vs. PCs: Is it still a ‘tax’ if users happily pay a premium? Apple’s Jobs being treated for ‘hormone imbalance’; Will remain at helm Video: Is Steve Jobs slowly passing the baton? Jason Perlow: Pondering Apple in a post-Jobs world