He has been extremely underweight for the whole year, and, as rumors go around, it is hurting Apple’s stock.  He has decided not to attend Macworld as the Keynote presenter, saying he is celebrating the holiday season with his family for the first time in a decade.  He has handed the reigns over to Phil Schiller to speak at the final Macworld Apple, Inc will be attending.  Jobs has stated that the cause of his gaunt appearance can be attributed to a hormone imbalance, something he and his medical team are now addressing.

Here is the letter Steve sent out, taken from the Apple website:

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve

Now that Apple has officially announced that Macworld 09 is their last Macworld, with Phil Schiller taking the keynote, what’s next for the company?  Sure, I have no problem with Phil Schiller as a person, but the Macworld Keynote was something always given by CEO Steve Jobs.

This decision could mean a number of things.  Firstly, (but unlikely), is it could be financial.  Apple stated that they feel no need to host such conferences and media events to attract customers.

Secondly, they simply don’t see themselves releasing groundbreaking products in the near future.  It’s more likely that everytime Apple needs to issue a new product, a special media event may be used (similar to the Macbook one).

Finally, the one everyone is thinking, Steve Jobs’ health.  Both Apple and Jobs have issued statements indicating that his health is ok, but with him you never know.  His appearences over the past year have him looking so skinny you can see his bones under his shirt.  And, as it’s the end of a huge Apple event, you would think that the CEO, Steve Jobs, the man who saved the company from bankrupcy, would at least take one more keynote.  And he isn’t.

I am a bit concerned about this coming Macworld.  May we see Phil Schiller announce himself as CEO and see Jobs invited to the stage for only a short time?

Here is the official press release from Apple:

CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2008—Apple® today announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple’s last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.

Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.

Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

All we can do is wait…

The Apple Macintosh changed the computer industry on January 24, 1984.  Steve Jobs, the company’s founder, could barely hold in the tears whilst his new “child” was unveiled to a great applause.  There aren’t many devices out there that can change the whole industry, however Apple seem to posses such a talent.

Macintosh was the first of it’s kind.  Unlike other devices at the time, the Macintosh employed the first ever user interface, rather that a command line.  This was the first move ever to bring a computer to mainstream consumers; many people simply didn’t feel comfortable with a command line.

Along with it’s revolutionary UI, further advancements were made in the field of general usability.  Apple had invented the mouse, a device that, when moved, caused the on-screen pointer to move.  It also had clicking functions, meaning that the user could simply navigate to an item and click to open it.  This was considerably easier than using commands to perform similar tasks.

With such ease of use came increased sales.  Apple was already known for it’s computers, however was simply another manufacturer.  Introducing such revolutionary technology to the average user was the single most important move the company ever made.

So, why does the device continue to succeed?  Over the past 24 years, this computer line has changed dramatically.  However, Apple is and has never been the only vendor in this vicious market.  At around the same time, William Gates was bringing Microsoft to the masses.  As these computers evolved, their business models became increasingly apparent.  One of the two companies had chosen one that suited the computer market at the time, one that enabled high sales, greater flexibility and lower costs.  This company was Microsoft.

There was no doubt that Apple had a good run.  After all, they had inspired much of Microsoft Windows’ development and features.  The two operating systems, Mac OS and Microsoft Windows, became so similar yet different that users could make educated guesses at what would suit their requirements best.  Consumers were not as tuned in to detail as they are nowadays, whatever enabled them to do calculations and type up documents at the cheapest price was what they purchased.  The Apple Macintosh, though an incredible device, was silently being pushed into the dark.  Apple’s strategy of building hardware and software to make one complete unit was not working at this stage, and such advantages did not become apparent until around 2005.  Microsoft, on the other hand, offered one operating system that worked on nearly every computer manufacturers’ hardware.  Windows had nearly all the market share in this field.

As the years went by, there were some disagreements at Apple.  Steve Jobs, the founder and creator of Macintosh, left Apple and started NeXT.  This move, though costly at the time, actually is what has made the company so successful today.  The operating system, NeXTSTEP, later formed the basis of Apple’s most popular operating system, Mac OS X.

Apple eventually went into some great financial trouble.  After Apple had acquired NeXT, Steve Jobs was now back in the company he founded.  He started out on the board, and, seeing that the company was in danger of bankruptcy, was made the interim CEO in 1997.  The work Steve carried out to save Apple was amazing, closing small projects such as the Newton.  Apple was then able to focus solely on the most important aspects of it’s industry.

Based on the great work that Steve had carried out, the board decided that he should be made the permanent CEO.  On March 24, 2001, Apple once again changed personal computing with the release of Mac OS X.  Mac OS X, based on NeXTSTEP, has been a highly successful operating system, which continues to sell strong to this day.

The iMac (Released August 15, 1998) lived in harmony with OS X.  Finally, after decades of being criticized for tight hardware-software integration, consumers were seeing the benefits.  Microsoft Windows, around this time was beginning to be revealed as an unstable and vulnerable Operating System.  Consumers were now more interested in the reliability of their computers, rather than just purchasing the cheapest one out there.

Greater success was about to arise for the Mac.  On January 30th, 2007, Microsoft released Windows Vista.  Vista mainly focused on the UI, something that OS X always had as an advantage.  However, such diverted attention meant this operating system was to be Microsoft’s worse ever, bringing in millions of complaints. Viruses were a major issue, along with general operating system stability.  Also, it had been written badly, with things such as memory management being left with a lot to desire.

With such issues to Apple’s advantage, the company released their most successful version of Mac OS, on 26th October, 2007.  Dubbed “Mac OS X Leopard,” it touted more than 300 new features over it’s predecessor, “Mac OS X Tiger.”

Mid 2008, Apple plans to release its next operating system, “Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard” to the public.  As an industry first, Apple are working on the core, rather that what users will experience first-hand.  Things like memory management, cleaning up code and decreasing the size of the OS are all on Apple’s to-do list.  Meanwhile, Windows 7, due to launch sometime in 2010, is looking to be a major threat to the Apple enterprise.  Microsoft’s new release will greatly improve security, stability and usability.  Instead of shipping with a flurry of unused applications (a selling point of Mac OS X), Microsoft are offering Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker and Windows Photo Gallery as an optional download, dubbed “Windows Live Essentials”.  Also, Microsoft are working closer with hardware vendors to, once again, bridge that gap between Windows and OS X.

The next few years will either further distinguish Mac OS X in the market, or see the uprising of Microsoft Windows.  Both companies have had a good run, however Windows still has the greatest amount of market share.  During a recession, if Windows is a viable option, consumers will take it, as they are willing to pay less for a computer should Windows 7 be a true competitor to Mac OS X. Mac OS X currently has an advantage over Microsoft Windows in the sales, as it is currently considerably better as far as it’s internal and external components are concerned.

The next few years will be interesting ones.  Keep watching.

Steve Jobs is, perhaps, one of the best speakers in the world.  Like Obama, he can get his audience to stay completely focused, even through the slightly less interesting aspects of his speech.  This skill is something that we all posses, however we must work hard to unlock this hidden talent.

So, here’s how he does it:

• Keep it brief

You will never see Steve go on about an aspect of something for more than a few minutes.  He gives us just the right ingredients for our minds to bake the rest of the cake.  This gets the audience actively involved with the keynote.

• Use simple slides

Never does Steve put more than a sentence on a slide (unless it’s a quote).  If he felt the need to use sentences, he would instead turn them into bullet points.  A huge mass of text really detracts from the atmosphere of the keynote.

• Move on the stage

Use hand gestures and body language to demonstrate your point.  If something is huge, show that with your arms.  Also, don’t stay stuck in one location on the stage, move around.  You will seem more animated and interesting, rather than looking like a boring talking pole.

• Time Management

You will notice that Steve is never in a hurry.  He pauses occasionally to let the information sink in, something people can sometimes forget to do.  He’s clearly not nervous.  Rushing is the worst thing you can do when introducing something to the masses, as they will not be able to take in anything you say.

• Love what you’re saying

Steve genuinely loves what he’s talking about.  He isn’t a typical businessman who’s strung up on profit and sales figures, he just likes making cool stuff.  He talks to you in an easy way to understand, too, by eliminating any jargon that people would find confusing.  He very openly displays his personal feelings towards a product, something that makes you feel that he actually knows what he’s talking about.

• Bring your things with you

Steve always has the products he’s launching with him for the keynote presentation.  He’s able to let people see a real one, instead of a simple Photoshop mock-up.  Also, the audience can see that the product has been developed, and everything they have seen in the presentation is right there in his hand.

• Know your stuff

Knowing what you need to say greatly aids in a good presentation.  Steve doesn’t remember his speech word for word, however he knows exactly what the topic he will be talking about next is.  Basing his keynote on a topic rather than a speech means he can speak fluently and it seems more personal.

• Show TV ads

Apple has always been great at making incredible TV ads for their products.  Steve normally shows the TV ads for the products being launched when finishing speaking on a particular topic.  This builds up audience hype and shows that you have it all sorted with the particular product; after all, you will have spoken about it, showed it to the crowd in person, and finally closed it off with a TV ad.

• Invite the people that made it happen

The recent MacBook event was great in this aspect.  Steve himself isn’t a designer, so why not bring up the guy who is?  Jonathan Ive, the designer of the new MacBooks, was able to go up and confidently detail every aspect of the design and manufacturing process.  The company looks like an organized, whole unit, instead of a bunch of different departments working separately.

• Involve the audience

After the iPhone 3G TV ad was shown at WWDC ‘08, Steve asked the crowd if they wanted to see it again.  This request was accompanied by a roar of applause and excitement, indicating a definite yes.  Steve Jobs is not simply representing a company, he’s also representing the people.

Following these 10 tips will guarantee success when giving a speech or presentation.  Building suspense, showing expertise and showing passion are the three most important pieces of advice.  Live by this code and you could be the next Apple CEO.

Steve Jobs

The recent news surrounding Steve Job’s current health has drawn a buzz around the blogging world. Gizmodo was the first to notice how much thinner Steve looked as he entered the stage at WWDC 2008. Recently, Fortune from CNNMoney.com has an interesting take on who could potentially be the next CEO for Apple. The article breaks down the position and responsibilities for each Senior Executive. From Tim Cook, to Jonathon Ive. According to the article, Tim Cook appears to be the most appropriate for the job although it is evident around the Internet that many believe the next CEO will be Jonathan Ive.

You can find the full artice here: After Steve Jobs: Apple’s new CEO

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