First, Apple did not announce that Steve Jobs would not be attending MacWorld. They announced he would not be giving the keynote. Jobs could easily show up at the show. Jobs could even have a short cameo during the keynote... remember his penchant for a "one more thing" presentation at the end.

At the end of the keynote Schiller could easily say, "Oh, one more thing..." and have Jobs walk onto the stage to present some new widget. No one knows if this is the plan other than Jobs and maybe Schiller.

Second, over the past several years (six years or more) Apple has been slowly phasing out of doing anything but it's own tightly controlled shows (developers conference and such).

Third, the good thing about this for customers is that Apple will stop announcing things as much as five months before they are available. No more of this "This thing is going to be great. Trust us. You just can't have it for XXX months!" The good thing for Apple is that they will announce things when they are available and avoid the Osborne effect.

While there are many who will speculate on Job's health, that is just what is is. Of the 7+ billion people on the planet, all but a handful have nothing but that: guesses and speculation.

Will Apple pulling back to just "in house shows" allow them to grow? No one knows... not even Jobs.

However, several years ago when Apple has less than a 2% market share, Jobs stated that his goal was to have a 10% or better market share. With recent reports that Apple was approaching that figure, maybe Jobs and Apple's board figures they can coast the rest of the way. Only time will tell if they are right.

I have a bad feeling about Steve Jobs's health. They say he beat his pancreatic cancer, but he still looks like a cancer patient.

I fear this may be the beginning of the end for Apple.

if it is health-related, at least he has the sense to quit while he's ahead.

i do however wonder how apple will fare without their champion; it's no secret that jobs' oversight is the sole reason for apple's success. those executives who fired and then later hired jobs know this all too well, and i doubt very much that they can find "another steve jobs". you'd have a better chance of finding another michael jackson!

Jobs is a c*nt if I've ever seen/heard one.

wow...adi will drop a tantrum.... how does someone cancel his favorite show ?
SJ dont gonna take the stage again. that is crazy.

They should think about the ppl like adisor :D

Article means nothing to me, but the featured front page pic with Jobs exiting stage right is pricelessly apropos.

It is somewhat the end of an era.

Those macworld announcements made the 6'o clock news, rivaled only by major Windows releases in this segment.

I still remember the IT commentators noting that the iPhone announcement litterally stole CES's spotlight.

It's not only sad for Apple fanboys, but also for anyone interested in marketing, because they truly ruled that domain.

That being said, I'm still waiting for new Shuttle barebones! *grr*

what is there at macworld other than apple? i'd be like HondaCivicWorld with no Hondas.

Steve Jobs is dead. Has been for some time. The body double they hired to do his keynotes was quite convincing, but not quite as convincing as Dave .

<insert imdb link here>

Having been unable to find a suitable messianic replacement and realizing they'll be unable to prop up the charade indefinitely in this deteriorating economic climate, the Apple board has sold out and is currently enjoying an umbrella-covered drink on some private south-pacific island inhabited by nubile non-english-speaking natives that know nothing of the outside world and are only too happy to work for shiny Leopard installation CDs, with which they adorn their ears, lips and noses.

Having already run from the scene, pulling out of Macworld was just the last thing to pull out of its house of cards before it was all over but the crying.

[ducks]

this is one big "bag of hurt" to the whole ifanbase :-D

I guess I'm one of the weird ones that never understood why Apple participated in these things. It was self limiting to be stuck introducing products once or twice a year (back when there was a MacWorld Boston). I understand how it could build excitement for a product or the possible introduction of new products, but it limits that excitement to twice a year, on someone else's calendar.

Sign of the times or just nothing to show? Time will tell.