Jobs speech wasn't very Jobs-like

"Meh," "Yawn," "Zzz," and "Ho-hum," aren't typical responses to the Steve Jobs keynotes we've come to know, filled with suspense and verve for even the most mundane of new products.

But they were just a few of the simple but oh-so-telling blog responses to the CEO's address Monday at Apple Computer's Worldwide Developers Conference 2006.

Not only were many Apple fans disappointed with the speech's subject matter--the expected introduction of the Mac Pro and preview of Leopard--they were uninspired (and concerned) by Jobs' relatively listless delivery. Some questioned why he shared his presentation with a team of assistants. Is he sick, simply grooming others for leadership, or both, they wondered.

The online discussion was only fueled by Wired's Leander Kahney, who wrote a column asking, "Has Steve Jobs lost his magic?"

Blog community response:

"It seems ever year at WWDC after the keynote there is some news agency just waiting to slander Steve and say he has lost his 'magic.' Well, this time it seems Wired is looking to entice more readers. Leander Kahney goes on and on about how Jobs is no longer as charismatic as he used to be, and that the Keynote was dull and uninsipring. I honestly don't know what he was watching."
--The Lag

"I'm not going to beat around the bush here. Many of us are thinking the same thing. Nobody wants to say it, but I will: I'm worried that Steve Jobs is sick. I'm not saying he is sick, I'm saying that I'm worried that he's sick. He looks very thin, almost gaunt--and I'm not the only one saying it, either: see here and here. I've also been getting emails about the subject, too. And, what's with the tag-team keynote address? Does Jobs need the rest breaks? No offense to Phil Schiller, but zzzzz."
--MacDailyNews

"What happened to the Steve we know and love...The sentiment amongst Mac users after yesterday's keynote was '...meh.' Things happened just as expected, and people are generally happy about the Mac Pro. There was no 'One More Thing,' which ended up disappointing many of us who had grown accustomed to expecting it (even after an hour of bullshit!). I hesitate to suggest that Steve has already 'lost his magic,' but if this pattern of keynotes continues, then maybe he has."
--ArsTechnica's Infinite Loop

"Part of the problem might be our mindset. It's easy to think that the Worldwide Developer's Conference is for consumers. While consumers certainly benefit from the conference, the main focus is developers. If you look at it from that sense, Apple delivered everything developers wanted."
--cavemonkey50.com