Has Steve Jobs Lost His Magic?

TimAbdulla writes to mention a Wired article wondering if Steve Jobs has lost his magic? The keynote yesterday, author Leander Kahney says, was the most uninspiring he's yet seen out of the usually charismatic man. Accompanied by other folks from within the company, Kahney wonders what lackluster showings like this will mean for the company after Jobs steps down. From the article: "Looking very thin, almost gaunt, Jobs used the 90-minute presentation to introduce a new desktop Mac and preview the next version of Apple's operating system, code-named Leopard. The sneak preview of Leopard was underwhelming. For what seemed an interminable time, Jobs and Co. showed off one yawn after another. There's no way I can get excited about virtual desktops or a new service that turns highlighted text into a 'to do' item. Oooo."

Comments

Exactly:

[Upaut]

Apple announced several very cool features yesterday, almost all things I have third-party apps for, and yet retooled them into new things of beauty.

The virtual desktops seem easier to use, with greater functionality. Spotlight has now replaced quicksilver for a couple more tasks. The widget creators look fun. And time machine is a blessing, that might actually convince my neighbor that backups are easy, and worthwhile (instead of calling me after his hard drive dies)

And I do not doubt that come spring, Apple will release Leopard with even more great features. This might be the cream at the top, or not. But its not all. (even the mention of Spotlight being faster perked my interest...

All I wish is that they will move it back to Boston... And speaking of Boston, the WWDC did NOT have a Jobs keynote. Nor any expectation for a "Great" announcement. That has traditionally been saved for the spring. What we get in the late summer is great developer workshops, companies showing their wares, and being able to mingle with fellow Apple users. (As well as locating every Newton user, and comparing hacks)