Apple and its cult following have much to celebrate, but its future is uncertain. The majority of speculators believe that Jobs’ era — and the entire Apple era — is coming to an end.
The corporation recently delivered some shocking news: Jobs won’t be delivering his famous keynote speech to launch new Apple products at Macworld Expo 2009. And on top of that, Apple won’t be appearing for another Macworld show after this year.
Of course, these announcements rebooted a dialog about Jobs’ health. Some are insisting that the pancreatic cancer survivor is without a doubt extremely ill. Others are making a more conservative guess — that Apple is transitioning Jobs out of the CEO role. Either way, none of the guesses about Apple’s future bear positive implications. […]
The future of Macworld Expo is in question as well. Before Apple announced it was pulling out of the show after 2009, Macworld already saw a 20 percent drop in registrations. Most surprising — and alarming — is that Adobe will not be exhibiting at the show.
Steven Levy’s 25 Years of Mac: From Boxy Beige to Silver Sleek, which ran in Wired Magazine, is a loving ode to the Mac with not a hint of the negative notions from the “majority of speculators” mentioned above. In December, the Mac OS and the iPhone together brought Apple’s Internet share up to an impressive 10 percent.
MacWorld may be in decline, but MacWorld rumors are still going strong. Among them that Apple’s iMovie is set to receive a significant (Cloud) update. And iWork may become a web app as well. A perennial favorite is that an updated Mac Mini will be announced. The pink iPhone rumor never really even got off the ground.
I’m inclined to side with Endgadget’s Laura, who predicts a Tiny iPhone and a giant iPod for 2009, and Josh, who predicts Steve Jobs lives. Apple’s gleaming polish is sure to last a while longer.
BONUS LINKS: Wired’s 10 Most Awesome iPhone Apps of 2008 and TechCrunch looks at Some Of The Best iPhone Apps Of 2008.