What Was Steve Jobs' Most Important Macworld Keynote?

Any one of the above options are great. Personally I'd add one more: The first demo of Mac OSX @ MWSF 2000. Oohs and aahs all over the place.

In my opinion it was NYC 1999 where AirPort was announced with a jump in the wireless world.

It is between the 1984 and 2007 MacWorld.

I'll go with the 1984 MacWorld. Personal computing did change many things.

My vote is for the introduction of Mac OS X. This has proven to be a breakthrough technology. Unlike anything that Microsoft or anyone else in the computer industry has developed, OS X is about the closest thing we have too a unified field theory of computing.

It is not only the operating system, it is also the extraordinary software base and development tools that Apple has linked to OS X.

Steve Jobs' vision of what the operating system of the future should be dates way back, not just to the operating system of the Macintosh, but more importantly to the operating system of the NeXT computer. I clearly recall the presentation that Steve made at Symphony Hall in Boston. In this presentation, he demonstrated capabilities in the next operating system that were vastly beyond what was available on any personal computer or mini computer.

Several years later, after he returned to Apple, Apple purchased NeXT Computer. Steve was a major shareholder of NeXT, and at the time, the purchase price of, if my memory serves me correctly, around $100 million was viewed as a potential conflict of interest. This operating system however was then used to form the core, as far as I can see, of Mac OS X. The operating system of the NeXT computer head UNIX as its core. Mac OS X also has UNIX as its core.

UNIX and LINUX, have proven to be vastly superior to anything that Microsoft, IBM, or Digital Equipment Corporation ever developed.

Following the purchase of next, it appears that Apple's software development team enhanced the core and created a beautiful user interface. The combination became the base of what we see today as Macintosh OS X.

At the same time, it seems to be that Apple's software engineers developed a coherent software engineering theory and unified intellectual architecture for personal computers. Leverage from this theory and the architecture have proven to be, in my view, one of the great intellectual achievements in the history of personal computers.

Consider, for example, that the software engineering base that Apple created includes tools that Apple has used and that have been made available to software developers who have created application products for Apple's OS X computers. The ease-of-use, the power, and he essentially bug free nature of the OS X operating system, Apple's own application software, and the software products that have been created by countless developers are superior to anything in the industry today. Microsoft's VISTA use a joke in comparison.

In making the presentation of the iPhone, Steve made a comment that many people did not fully appreciate at the time. The comment was that the iPhone would be running the complete Mac OS X operating system. Within a few months after the announcement of the iPhone, Apple then announced and presented the software developers kit, SDK. The results since then has been a revolution in cellular phones, and handheld computers, which the iPhone actually is.

None of this, from what I can see, and I am no Apple insider, would ever been possible without Mac OS X.

Finally, a has it has been enhanced, Mac OS X has become even more robust. It is also extremely important to me, a user, that's excessive revisions and releases of this operating system have been essentially bug free and caused very few problems in the field.

It is for all these reasons, but I believe the presentation that Steve Jobs made of the OS X operating system was his most important presentation. It has proven to be the base and the wellspring upon which the revitalization of the company and its current product lines, of which the iPhone is one, have flowed.

/jvs

Nice selection.

Dave Bunnell noted in an article today that the first Macworld Jobs actually attended wasn't till 1997.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/18/EDUB14Q02U.DTL

I am pretty sure the first clip you have up there is the Mac's debut at DeAnza College auditorium (near Apple HQ) which wasn't a Macworld Expo. The first Mac Expo was 1985.

I was at all of these and the Noah Wylie one was the most fun and biggest surprise. A great gag and a surprisingly self-effacing Steve Jobs to boot -- who would have thought he'd have given The Pirates of Silicon Valley and cred.

The 1997 Macworld with Bill Gates is ... history. That is a helluva speech and a big time CEO showing true leadership.

That's a hard choice!

MW2007 was the first Stevenote I ever saw - I watched in three times in a row and I was blown away... That was the moment I stopped being an Apple-User and started being an Apple-Fanatic ;-)

Still, MW1997 is maybe the most important one. To me, it seems like at that day, the computer world has been saved from what looked like a dark, M$-dominated, "1984"-like future...

so, if I had to pick one, it would probably be MW 1997... but I'm not sure...

Other than the Apple II, It has to be the announcement of the first iMac, This would be the last time we were faced with any serious discussions about Apple's survival. While the Ipod into is very significant without the imac there would have never been a ipod or iphone or intel transition. The iMac saved us.

It was for sure MacWorld 1997, when Steve Jobs layed out his strategy to recover Apple from near failure and make it the powerhouse it is Today. And the deal with Microsoft was the main piece of this strategy: "For Apple to win Microsoft does not have to lose". So he chose to cooperate and not to fight with Microsoft in the Office applications and corporate markets, and instead pursued new markets, like the digital music market with the iPod/iTunes and the phone market with the iPhone/App store. Even Today, the Office apps and corporate markets are not Apple's priority.

God, Apple fans were even elitist pricks all the way back then, booing Gates on the video.

I don't think the introduction of the iMac was a MacWorld, either. I'm pretty confident the release was a Town Hall meeting on Apple campus, just like the release of the iPod was before that.

Every Stevenote is well worth price of entry...but

By far the best keynote in the year in which Bill Gates comes on via satellite. Steve Jobs shows his true colors being a leader during this keynote. Apple was going through a very venerable time, and he had to announce something very unpopular; that Microsoft had taken over shares of Apple.

He very calm and collectedly explained why this was the best move for Apple.

Steve is a true visionary and leader!

2003

Does anybody know who has the videos of all the keynotes?
my favorite one is when he present the titanium Macbook.
it will be so nice if people can see them.

Another question, when was the first time Steve use his famous "One more Thing" ???

I think Steves best keynote has been every keynote. The remarkable thing about steve, (and probably why we're talking about him) is his constant ability to produce creative, innovative products that excel in user experience. He has over 30 years pushing out awesome products. If his were a one act thing, we sure wouldnt be talking about him.

http://www.invitess.com

Jack

I like his keynote when the ipod was announced.

MacAir was pretty cool too.

I agree that the intro of the Apple iBook at MacWorld NY 1999 where most of the world was introduced to wireless networking. Look at where we are now 10 years later in 2009. Steve Jobs was at his magical best.

http://thinkingbricks.com/1/macworld-new-york-1999-keynote-address/steve-jobs-demonstrates-wireless-iBook.html

http://thinkingbricks.com/1/macworld-new-york-1999-keynote-address/phil-schiller-dive.html