[TeknoTurd]

News Flash: Jobs kills realtime feed of Macworld keynote speech?

By AppleInsider Staff
Published: 11:00 PM EST

For the first time in several years, Apple Computer may not provide a live feed of its opening keynote presentation at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, reportedly miffed over a series new product leaks, has abruptly pulled the plug on the realtime webcast and satellite broadcast of his Macworld Expo keynote, according to an Apple memo forwarded to the MacInTouch website.

The message reads, in part, "Apple will not be making satellite coordinates available. Although the keynote WILL be available on our web site - it will NOT be available until sometime AFTER the keynote is over. They do NOT have a time determined, so it may not be immediately after the keynote is over. "

For the past several years, Apple has provided its loyal fans and customers with a webcast video stream of Jobs' Macworld keynote speeches. The company has also broadcasted the event at its retail stores through satellite.

Inquires at several Apple retail stores confirm that, sadly, no broadcast is scheduled to take place next Tuesday; leaving all those who are unable to attend the expo -- as well as the millions of folks who do not read Apple rumor sites -- on the edge of their seats for at least a couple hours longer.
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Well that's a bummer if that's true. How are you going to get your up to the minute Keynote announcement fix? Are any websites going to be doing SMS updates like MacTeens did last year?

[PacHead]

I could've sworn it wasn't broadcast live a few years ago either, and I had to watch it a few hours afterwards, but perhaps I'm mistaken or I'm thinking of another macworld in some other city.

[Superchicken]

Wonder if think secret will have a live news feed

[demograph68]

That would really suck.

[PacHead]

Hell, actually now that I remember, they even broadcast it on tv a couple of years ago on tech tv. That sure beats watching a bunch of huge pixels and bad sound from some webcast that is getting flooded with insane macheads tuning in on the web.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Well just a rumour so far but I hope it is not true, I LOVE keynotes.

[PacHead]

If steve jobs wants to really shock, it won't be in the form of some new G6 or anything like that. All he needs to do is put on any shirt that is not black.

[DeathMan]

I'd love to watch it on TV, but even streaming, I've always had a good experience. Its a very exciting event to sit and watch, and chat with other mac users as its all happening. Its a time to be unabashedly giddy about new products and ideas unrolling in front of your eyes.

It would be a real shame if they took that away. What would the live stream have to do with the rumors, anyway? Its not like people are going to be less interested. They'll probably be more interested in rumors and second hand information.

[gumby5647]

how nice and mature. Steve gets pissed over one site and one person....so EVERYONE has to suffer....the logic makes SO much sense!!! WHY DIDN"T I THINK OF IT!

[vinster]

I don't really get Jobs'/Apple's keep-things-secret-until-Macworld marketing strategy. For example, companies like Motorola and Nokia build huge amounts of hype for their new phones by announcing them months before they're available, and it works. Some of the better phones (announced months before release) are sold out for months after hitting the market. With quality products, like most of Apple's stuff, once they've got the patents/copyrights, etc. in place they should let people know about it IMO.

Also, what does Apple have to gain by keeping people who have nothing to do with Think Secret and NDAs from enjoying the keynote?

[macintologist]

Can't someone who's sitting in the Moscone center have someone call their cell phone, and then someone else listens in to what Steve is saying and types it up on an IRC channel?

[macintologist]

Don't they have wifi or something inside the hall at Moscone center? Can't somebody have their PB open and type it up on IRC?

[vinster]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Don't they have wifi or something inside the hall at Moscone center? Can't somebody have their PB open and type it up on IRC?

I'm sure some of the Mac sites, including good 'ol MacNN, will have live updates (text and photos only, though).

[Cubeoid]

Rotten bastards! If their secrets leak it their own god damn fault. Keynote me live!!!

You rude vile pigs!!!! </eltonjohneasquetantrum>

[DeathMan]

HOW COULD YOU DO THIS STEVE?!! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! I mean keynote.

[TailsToo]

Glad I'll be at the keynote.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

We will get live updates from many websites but I love me a live keynote.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by vinster:
I'm sure some of the Mac sites, including good 'ol MacNN, will have live updates (text and photos only, though).

Yeah, and by the time the damn page loads, the keynote will be over.

Remember how bad it usually is when there is a webcast, so there are a bunch of people that aren't getting the news from MacNN or one of the other sites that provides text updates? Well, now it will be worse. The page will either hang forever while loading, or we will get nothing but a bunch of MySQL errors or something.

[Link]

MWSF was streamed last year and worked awesome This sucks because I don't think I'll be able to go to the expo now, and damn.

[brapper]

well I guess I'll have to go to class then..

[gator]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Don't they have wifi or something inside the hall at Moscone center? Can't somebody have their PB open and type it up on IRC?

Wireless is available at most of the conference rooms in Moscone. At WWDC the wireless was turned off in the main hall during the keynote presentation.

Not sure how Macworlds typically work with regards to this.

[macintologist]

I'm still thinking about the idea where somebody inside the hall is called on their cellphone and the other on the receiving end hear whats going on and type it up (or even stream it) online on IRC or something.

[TeknoTurd]

well I guess I'll have to go to class then..

Cross your fingers for SMS updates. Those ruled last year.

[macintologist]

Originally posted by TeknoTurd:
Cross your fingers for SMS updates. Those ruled last year.

How did that work? Got a link?

[TeknoTurd]

I believe MacTeens was the website that did it last year. They had a signup period where you would select your carrier and give them your mobile phone # and they would SMS you with every big announcement as it came out. Unfortunately I haven't heard any mention of it or a similar service, but I still have my fingers crossed because it was awesome for people who absolutely couldn't be near a computer.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by vinster:
I don't really get Jobs'/Apple's keep-things-secret-until-Macworld marketing strategy. For example, companies like Motorola and Nokia build huge amounts of hype for their new phones by announcing them months before they're available, and it works. Some of the better phones (announced months before release) are sold out for months after hitting the market. With quality products, like most of Apple's stuff, once they've got the patents/copyrights, etc. in place they should let people know about it IMO.

Also, what does Apple have to gain by keeping people who have nothing to do with Think Secret and NDAs from enjoying the keynote?

Please read that thread on Apple suing Think Secret.

You may also note that Palm (not a small company) VERY NEARLY went broke from early product announcements. You'd be absolutely stupid to buy the current-generation device if you knew exactly the features and release date of the follow-up model. So everybody waited; nobody bought current inventory, and no money came in to actually finance production and release of said upcoming models.

That happens maybe three or four times even to a large company, and they're done.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Well just a rumour so far but I hope it is not true, I LOVE keynotes.

yep.

Of course, this rumor could be a number of things - intentionally deployed to make TS look bad, or to find leaks, or really just the usual huff.

We'd love to have the keynote streaming live at the store...ah well, we'll see.

[Superchicken]

See... I'm gona be at school anyway... probably... and the network guys are anal about well anything bandwidth intensive or so they say type thing... so... I'm not all that disappointed since I was already disappointed I wouldn't be able to watch it. I've accepted it... that said... sucks to be you guys

[dav]

all the who's down in whoville, liked rumors a lot
but steve jobs, who lived just north of whoville, did not!

[meelk]

Steve is taking his ball and going home!

[vinster]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Please read that thread on Apple suing Think Secret.

You may also note that Palm (not a small company) VERY NEARLY went broke from early product announcements. You'd be absolutely stupid to buy the current-generation device if you knew exactly the features and release date of the follow-up model.

<snip>

Letting people know the exact release date would be a problem, but advance product announcements seem to work for mobile phones so I don't see why it wouldn't for computers.

[waffffffle]

I doubt the leaks had anything to do with the lack of a keynote stream. Remember, WWDC wasn't streamed, MWNY didn't even have a keynote, and its pretty obvious that it would cost Apple a hell of a lot more money than they would like to stream this thing. What do they gain from the live keynote feed? Nothing. It just costs them in bandwidth and everyone gets a crummy feed.

That being said, I will still miss it. In school a couple years ago I got the cable people to broadcast the satellite feed over campus TV, and I got a bunch of Mac fans together in a room to watch Steve unveil the G4 iMac. It was a lot of fun. I guess I'll be clicking refresh on one of the news sites.

[Oneota]

Originally posted by gator:
Wireless is available at most of the conference rooms in Moscone. At WWDC the wireless was turned off in the main hall during the keynote presentation.

Not sure how Macworlds typically work with regards to this.

Heh...yeah, I remember the alleged wireless availability. If you ever actually got it to work, it was a bloody miracle. I don't know whose base stations they were using, but they really weren't designed to support 1000+ geeks at a time.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by waffffffle:
That being said, I will still miss it. In school a couple years ago I got the cable people to broadcast the satellite feed over campus TV, and I got a bunch of Mac fans together in a room to watch Steve unveil the G4 iMac. It was a lot of fun. I guess I'll be clicking refresh on one of the news sites.

Yeah the AV dept. on my campus is run by a couple of Mac-heads so getting them to turn the satellite to the coordinates took nothing more than an e-mail containing the numbers. I'm not on campus for this keynote, though, so I'm relying on a webcast. I hope they have it.

[turtle777]

I believe it when I don't see it !

-t

[beb]

I used to watch the Stevenotes at the county civic center. I did their website and it was the only thing I asked for in return.

I think it's all a PR headfake. It's a masterful one at that.

[Mediaman_12]

What is the real point of Jobs going "Ta' Da! Cool new product" on a stage without the webcast. Stuff gets revealed to a few 100 Apple obsessives and journos. They may as well do a cheap press release on Monday morning and let people look at the stuff on the Apple stand later.

[mitchell_pgh]

I wonder if this is just an attempt to pump up the hype around this event?

You know... beg for it... then Apple gives it to us at the last second.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
You know... beg for it... then Apple gives it to us at the last second.

Apple is not going to offer one, but if you watch it anyways, they will sue the heck out of you

-t

[Mafia]

this is the first time i woulda been able to watch it live . because of class i've had to watch it later but this year i would have been able to watch it. come on steve don't cancel.

[BRussell]

I bet they feel they just can't push enough bits. The quality of live streams has been pretty poor in my experience anyway. I always think it's more entertaining to go from site to site trying to get the information as it comes in anyway, and then leisurely watching the keynote the next day.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by BRussell:
The quality of live streams has been pretty poor in my experience anyway.

Not for me. It was mostly ok.

-t

[Judge_Fire]

Originally posted by turtle777:
Not for me. It was mostly ok.

Even the highest bitrate ones have been smooth for some years here, too.

It all depends on your ISP's connections, especially to a fat-pipe backbone.

It's amazing how the Stevenote webcasts have evolved from the first, relatively choppy ones to what we get today. What was the first one again? Pro.Go.Whoa?

J

[TeknoTurd]

Sources: Apple never planned live stream from Macworld

By Kasper Jade
Published: 04:00 PM EST

Rumors that Apple may have axed live coverage of Steve Jobs opening Macworld keynote are bunk, AppleInsider has learned.

Apple's decision not to broadcast chief executive Steve Jobs' keynote presentation during next week's Macworld Expo was likely a result of pre-determined plans, and was not in retaliation to spoiled surprises, extremely reliable company sources said on Friday.

According to sources, live webcast video streams of events such as Jobs' keynote presentations, on average, are costly and yield few benefits to Apple as a company. As a result, in recent years Apple has scaled back on realtime webcasts in favor post-event video-on-demand steams, which reportedly costs the company much less.

Additionally, industry sources claim that preparations for live webcasts with mass appeal typically must be made well in advance of the event. Company sources believe such arrangements were never part of Apple's Macworld to-do list.

Sources further cite post-event streams and authorized product pages and press releases as more favorable avenues of news distribution for Apple -- eliminating the chaos and potential misinterpretations of news reported through Mac websites from realtime feeds.

"It's likely that we won't again see realtime event webcasts from Apple for the foreseeable future," said one informed source. "But this is not an indication that [Apple's] apparent decision not to stream this year's Macworld keynote resulted from recent media reports, nor was it a last minute decision."

[ironknee]

it could be because there might be a musician playing a song...and like the U2 performance at the itunes thing, they can edit so that they don't stream a full song to be pirated????

[olePigeon]

Lucky I'm going to Macworld.

Yoink! Suckers!

[spacefreak]

Originally posted by gumby5647:
how nice and mature. Steve gets pissed over one site and one person....so EVERYONE has to suffer....the logic makes SO much sense!!! WHY DIDN"T I THINK OF IT!

Yup.. he'staking his ball and going home.

You didn't think Stevo had actually grown up, did you?

[spacefreak]

Originally posted by TeknoTurd:
Rumors that Apple may have axed live coverage of Steve Jobs opening Macworld keynote are bunk... live webcast video streams of events such as Jobs' keynote presentations, on average, are costly and yield few benefits to Apple as a company.

"Yields few benefits"? And all that expensive product packaging does? Gimme a break.

It's all about the aura and brand. It's about exciting your customer base, and creating intrigue amongst potential customers.

[Mediaman_12]

Originally posted by TeknoTurd:
Apple has scaled back on realtime webcasts in favor post-event video-on-demand steams, which reportedly costs the company much less.

They cost less cos many of people just can't be bothered to watch, it's like watching the football when you already know the score

eliminating the chaos and potential misinterpretations of news reported through Mac websites from realtime feeds.

Don't really like this part, does this mean that they will block the net access that allows the likes of MacNN's live text account of the keynote?

uthorized product pages and press releases as more favorable avenues of news distribution for Apple

Like I said why bother with keynote unveilings at all, why not just send out a fat press release in the morning (or even the night before, to get in the papers the day of the keynote) hi-lighting the new things.


[had a thought a bit later]
How far in advance to Apple book/decide to show up for MWSF?
The last line of this reads a bit like they are stopping the Keynote unveilings all together. they dumped the East cost event (MWNY). Maybe that are thinking a similar thing for the West cost, and instead of bunching up all the announcements in one big annual event at a fixed time, they are going to go for smaller individual announcements nearer to when products are actually going to ship. If they would have had this plan in the past, the 3 months where there where no iMacs (due to them having wait for the next 'unveiling' opportunity), and the damage it caused to Apples bottom line, wouldn't have happened.

[ironknee]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
Lucky I'm going to Macworld.

Yoink! Suckers!

do u have a vid cam? lucky bastard