How Steve Jobs Blew The iPad Launch By Snubbing Macworld

Leander Kahney ()

How Steve Jobs Blew The iPad Launch By Snubbing Macworld

Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone at Macworld 2007. It was a great success, thanks to the venue and audience.

SAN FRANCISCO — Three years ago Steve Jobs took the stage to introduce the iPhone here at Macworld. The presentation was one of the best in Jobs’ career, generating enormous buzz and expectation for the device.

Also important, fans could check out the device in person on the Macworld show floor (Well, kinda — there was a prototype in a glass case). It was obvious the iPhone was a big deal, and by the time it went on sale in June, there were lines around the block. Looking back, I think the success of the iPhone’s debut had a lot to do with the venue, and the audience it was introduced to.

Compare to the launch of the iPad, which was greeted by a massive geek backlash followed by shrugs and indifference from the general public.

True, the iPad doesn’t appear as new and revolutionary as the iPhone did in 2007; but it has the potential to be much more important. Nonetheless, most people don’t seem to get it. Almost all the mainstream consumers I’ve talked to since the iPad launch have the same question — why do I need it?

Steve Jobs blew the iPad launch by not doing it at Macworld. There’s not the same buzz about the iPad as there was about the iPhone, and that’s because it wasn’t introduced to 4,000 fans at a keynote. And it won’t be on the show floor for fans to check out (even in a glass case).

By introducing the iPad to the press at a small, exclusive journalist-only event, he alienated the audience he needed most — the general public. Steve Jobs kept the iPad’s potential users at arms length, and it’s costing him.

If Jobs had waited just two weeks and introduced the iPad here at the show, there would be more positive buzz and less of the puzzled, why-do-I-need-it? response.

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Essential to the success of the device is that grassroots, fanboy support, which is missing for the iPad. I think it will materialize later, when the iPad goes on sale at the end of March and people can check it out at Apple’s stores.

But in the meantime, most people are indifferent, and that’s because Jobs withdrew to fortress Cupertino instead of engaging with his customers at Macworld.

42 comments »

About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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  • Andrea

    Yeah but where’s the problem if “it will materialize later, when the iPad goes on sale at the end of March and people can check it out at Apple’s stores.”?

  • http://www.snubcommunications.com Craig Grannell

    I agree with Leander here. The problem is that before the thing goes on sale, there will have been hundreds of negative articles, largely written by people who’ve never seen the device. Said articles bleed into the public consciousness and will reduce sales by at least some amount, largely from the very market Apple’s targeting with the device.

  • http://Twitter.com/guanaman Guan

    Way off base here. Nothing to do with venue but entirely to do with unrealistic hype and expectations surrounding the Jesus tablet, and fact that the space iPad purports to fill is much less defined and familiar than mere phones.

  • http://nerdvittles.com NerdUno

    It says a lot about people to look at what they give to other people with no expectation of financial return. Compare Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, for example. How Steve treats the general populace is just the manifestation of where people fit on his value scale of things which are important to Him.

  • Sebastian

    Somehow the iPad seems to be too much of a concept device still. How about the camera feature and missing USB ports? There seems to be space in the iPad but the camera is not included (yet). As far I know people interested in buying the iPad (I’m not one of them) they want to be able to connect their music/video/photo collection or use video-chat.

  • ged

    ” Looking back, I think the success of the iPhone’s debut had a lot to do with the venue, and the audience it was introduced to.”

    This statement is simply not verifiable. It smacks of hubris.

  • thanx_Al

    There’s a more fundamental problem than marketing and to whom. Its the axis of the great open/closed and work/play debates. If I want to use the iPad as a highly mobile work device, there is no version that suits my needs. I need at least 256gb of storage just to fit half of my most essential files on it. And then I need to install Photoshop and a couple other specialty programs. No can do.

    What I needed to see in the tablet was great media, which is has, but also the ability to use it for work. Not the heavy lifting, I’ll always need my MBP or iMac for that. Jobs is banking on it being a pure entertainment device. I fly alot and the iPad would be spot on perfect for me if it had a 256gb SSD and were open.

    Again, if I already own a 32gb iPod Touch and a 13inch MBP, why would I as a dedicated, hard core Mac lover need to buy an iPad? Aren’t I already perfectly mobile?

  • Joseph

    Completely disagree. There were plenty of people bashing the iPhone (mainly non-Apple users who knew fuck all about it) and now there are plenty of people bashing the iPad (mainly non-Apple users who know fuck all about it). The bitching and complaining is mostly by people who have some weird disease-like obsessive hatred of Apple and everything it does. It’s completely irrelevant to whether the product succeeds or fails.

    And all the whining over Apple leaving Macworld is lame. Apple left Macworld. Life goes on.

  • http://www.howiesweb.com Howie Isaacks

    I’m so sick of all of the iPad bashing BEFORE the product has even shipped. Move along!

  • http://www.macpredictions.com MacPredictions

    I think that this is more to do with managing Steve Jobs heath. The problem with events such as MacWorld is that you have to commit to it months in advance – and if you pull out at the last minute, or if Jobs doesn’t appear in person, there’s a huge media backlash.

    When you have a serious medical condition, while trying to hold down a demanding job, you have to take care to avoid commitments like this. The advantage of a smaller media event to Jobs is that invites can be sent out just one week in advance, which means that Steve and his team can be confident that he’s going to be up to it before the commit to anything.

    As someone who has been through cancer treatment myself, while holding down a full time job, I’m speaking from personal experience here – albeit I can’t being to image what kind of pressure SJ’s job must entail.

  • theflb

    The fundamental mistake of the ipad is simple. The iphone replaced my mobile, my ipod & my camera. With the iPad I still need my phone & I still need my computer or laptop. The only reason anyone got excited is because of its future potential rather than its current actuality.

    I can barely afford my iPhone & I’m using an ancient emac & even though the iPad is gorgeous & I would love one. I wont be buying it because i need to save for something that has a dvd/cd drive I can easily connect a hard drive or thumbdrive to & can run proper programs like photoshop & dreamweaver etc. That means an imac or macbook for me

    No isight – seriously????

    ironically the cheap price is only going to help the rich afford it as a novelty or for the gadget hungry. It’s an extra device, not an only device

    As for buying books for almost the same price as i can in a cheap bookstore, not to mention that I can resell later & get most of my money back. I think the iPad’s ibooks is way out of line there. It would be nice to have some books of knowledge to hand down to my relatives when i die

    Steve could have unveiled it on the superbowl stage & I dont think it would have made much difference to the reviews its getting

  • Tom

    I think much of the negative criticism is a product of Google and Microsoft getting tired of watching the able media machine roll over everyone. They are not without influence in the media world and they are fighting back for all they’re worth.

    Is the iPad worth it? At that price definitely. Can I use it right now? Absolutely. Many times at home in the evening you have the choice of opening a laptop or using your iPhone. The iPad is a much better casual device for home use. Not the heat issues or inconvenience of opening up a laptop while keeping it plugged in or the small screen, small keypad area of a smartphone.

    I think the business and educational opportunities are going to be tremendous largely because people can move it and share the screen. Sure you can share an iPhone screen but it’s not convenient or feel natural. This is showing someone a piece of paper. For collaborative arrangements, it’s ideal. For example, I gave a speech of notes I typed into an iPhone. The iPad would have been infinitely better.

    Sure there are things I’d like to see. A camera would be great, but seriously, I have video on my iPhone and my iPad plus two decent digital cameras and a FlipVideocam. It’s an awkward camera platform unless used in video conferencing. And there I recognize I’m behind the curve, but I’ve used videochat twice in five years. So it’s a loss, but hardly a deal breaker.

    Multi-tasking would be nice but only if battery life isn’t overly compromised.

    It isn’t an only device. It’s a complimentary device. Most of the people bitching are projecting what they want instead of reviewing what it is. The fact is nothing out there is a perfect standalone device.

    And at $499, I can wait for the V2 and V3s. I’ll buy the cheap one for now and keep it around the house when the big daddy comes out around $1k with 128g and video. multi-tasking and LDE.

  • Don

    I disagree. The iphone had been rumored for years and had a lot more anticipation than the iPad. And the iPhone appealed to every single person who hasd a cell phone or ipod, from kids to grandparents.

    The iPad doesn’t seem to have much hype, because it will have to find its users. It has nothing to do with the venue.

  • Steven

    I dunno. We have a high end mbp on my wife’s dresser in our bedroom and our mac pro downstairs. I have my own mbp and we both have iPhones. My wife is an RN and does no more on her mbp than email and surf the web for different stuff. If I could sell her mbp and get her an ipad, she might use it for her needs but I cannot see myself using one (yet). I am a perfectionest and need all my photo’s, music, and video on my devices ( minus my phone), and the high end ipad doesn’t even come close to holding even 1/2 of my material (again..yet).

    Maybe this is something I will develop a taste for like good coffee.:). I don’t get this bashing though. I love Apple and I see all these “bashers” eating their humble pie in a few months.. Much like the iPhone situation. Remember Ballmers reaction?????

  • Christian

    And the ipad apologetics continue… maybe the device just isn’t that good. Have you thought of that?

  • Christian

    Joseph: The first iphone was quite useless. No 3G. No 3rd party apps. Only avaible in 6 countries and so on…

  • Spacekatgal

    Oy. Totally disagree.

    Have you seen the documentary, “Macheads?” This attitude really reminds me of that. Glorified Mac usergroups are not the most important aspect of Mac culture. I think you imagine yourself to have more importance than you do.

    I wish Apple would have stayed at MacWorld too, but I understand their logic.

  • http://www.larrymadill.com/ Larry

    What hurt the iPad unveil was the ridiculous expectations set by the tech media, more to the point, the tech blogs. When you have bloggers speculating openly that a Apple Tablet will be in 3D and have motion controls you’re setting yourself up for dashed hopes and dreams.

    I think the iPad will do just fine in the long run. Apple has plenty of room to get aggressive with the price and I think there is a market for it among those who are already buying Netbooks.

  • ChuckO

    Leander is absolutely wrong. The iPad was going to be a difficult launch as was the iPhone for the same reasons. The gadget press is never going to be in Apple’s corner. Apple isn’t a spec based hardware company and the products aren’t for hobbyists who like to fiddle.

    This is especially true of the iPad as one of the large, natural audiences is non-techies.

    The Apple stores are the secret weapon. Once people get a chance to play with one they’ll understand.

  • mongo

    I can’t imagine the iPad getting a much better reception at Macworld. The Macheads are just as confused about the device as the non-Macheads. Some people will look at the device and see possibilities, while others will see constraints. There’s no clear cut division between Mac and non-Mac either.

    I read posts now from Mac people wondering where this fits in when they have an iPhone, a MBP, and an iMac. I read posts here from people wanting Photoshop on an iPad, an “open” OS, and hundreds of gigs of space for “essentials.”

    Conversely, I’ve also read posts from non-Mac people who see the possibilities an iPad could present that their netbook or ebook reader lack. They don’t want Photoshop on hardware that’s taxed just running Windows. They understand watching HD content on something netbook sized is very cool. Doctors see it could make their lives easier. Photographers love the possibilities created by that big screen, and light weight…

    In the end, none of us will know if this thing will be useful until it’s in our hands, and the software is coming out.

    I understand the mixed press on this thing, but Apple presenting it outside of Macworld just can’t be the difference. The press is too mixed, and from both sides of the Apple fence.

  • Steve W

    Sorry Leander, I have to side with Andrea. So what if people aren’t lined up to BUY the iPad when it goes on sale? They will be lined up around the block to SEE and TRY it. A lot more than just 4,000 people will see it the first day, and they won’t be looking through a glass case.

    Whether or not the iPad is an eventual success, THAT is the crux of Steve Jobs’ arguement. He believes that the Apple Stores are a better venue the MacWorld, and would rather spend money building more stores than spend money attending the CES and MacWorld.

    You can argue that the iPad won’t be a success, but you can’t deny that the Apple Stores ARE a success.

  • Hari Seldon

    Macworld is an irrelevance nowadays, Apple doesn’t need it to attract an audience. I completely disagree with the premise of the article. The naysayers were always going to criticise iPad, no matter how it was announced – the latest being Bill Gates who, (surprise surprise) says

    “there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.”

    Sure Bill, almost exactly what he said about iPod in 2002. C’mon people we’ve been here before. This thing is going to be huge and I am Looking forward to reminding the critics of what the said at the iPad Launch.

  • Ted

    Leander Kahney is spot on… Steve lost the energy of the core of the Apple community by not doing this at MacWorld. Watch and “listen” to the audience as Steve does his usual “shtick” during the iPad Keynote… there are noticeable gaps of “silence” when Steve is making an important point… this lost “energy” is surely do to the fact this was done in a small venue with primarily journalists, not the Apple faithful… the “haters” have picked up on the silence spots and have been declaring the iPad weak… but only because they don’t understand the iPhone was introduced to Apple knowledgeable people… not writers and twitterers.

    Yes, the Apple Stores will change all the energy fairly soon, but the 50 more days of “hate” towards Apple could have been avoided with some foresight.

  • http://ObamaPacman.com ObamaPacman

    It’s just a lot more FUD now from other companies.

    Before people think Apple is going to fail.

    Now the same people are trying their best to make Apple fail.

  • http://necessarycool.com Jef

    I don’t think he blew anything, for a week my Twitter feed was bogged down by thousands of posts about the iPad, today at the website I co-founded NecessaryCool, one of our top hitting posts in still the iPad and on top of that, all I’ve seen from tech sites like Engadget for the whole first few days of the hype was mass postings on the iPad.

    I love tech. I consider myself a bit of a techie, but at the end of the day I’d rather my product work and work well the I be forced to screw with it for 2 hours at start up. I’m a professional photographer and used to be a professional artist in marketing, I HATE the tablets based on windows, I am however very excited for the potential of the iPad in these areas. I would love to be able to be out on a shoot and simply run my post edit quickly on iPad and send them along to where they need to go, all while never have to take out my $2000 notebook.

    I don;t use netbooks (because they’re a piece of crap) buy $500 for something I can just toss in my bag while around town, and that wold help a great deal when I’m out of town and need to talk with the brands I work with for a long time….I’m all for that. I love my iPhone, but after 2 hours of emailing with CEOs and Writers, lets face it those typos that pop up just plain suck, I welcome a bigger device for longer term use.

  • http://necessarycool.com Jef

    I think I’d rather see Jobs do it this way, rather then just do Macworld for the Hype as well. Sorry….Meant to drop that line in the last post lol

  • http://www.toxicspark.com Andrew Macdonald

    I completely agree with your opinion on this Leander, i think you well and truly hit the nail on the head.

  • http://www.ericalba.org alba

    if you recall, the ipod was introduced with a smaller more exclusive group and this is when Apple barely had any buzz.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN0SVBCJqLs

    i think the ipod did well.

    as a middle device, the iPad has it’s own challenges in the marketplace and even in Apple’s product line. fanboys won’t be the reason this particular product will succeed.

    e

  • http://www.trentlapinski.com Trent Lapinski

    100% agreed.

    As a former Apple blogger and a Macworld SF veteran I think Apple blew it by having a press only event.

    It seems the only people who talk positively about the iPad are the people who have actually used one in person, or seen one in action. With Macworld Apple had 100,000+ people that could have seen a functioning iPad and understood what it will become. Instead we have to trust a few elite journalists who the general public is potentially skeptical of to begin with.

    They completely alienated their base.

    Regardless, once the public gets an iPad in their hands I truly think it will change how many people use and think of computers. It’s going to change things.

  • Rubber Johnny

    And your qualifications to second-guess Apple’s marketing expertise are what exactly Mr. Kahney? 2 or 3 execrable, (or was that excremental?) wholly derivative books culled from earlier writings by others better than you, leading to a blogsite dependent entirely on Apple for its oxygen.
    Wow, them’s killer credentials, as in ‘cred’.
    Bravo Mr. Kahney. As we say in England, for someone who couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, (that’s a drinking binge for you non-Brits) you’re hardly qualified to even tell someone the time of day, without borrowing their watch to do so.
    Well done.
    You’re really back on form, I see.

  • Rubber Johnny

    MacWorld, like the mag of the same name, is years past its sell by date. It has that in common with Cult of Mac.

  • Charli

    1. Macworld was forcing Apple to change up their timetables to suit someone else. something Apple never liked to do if they could help it. shouldn’t be a shocked they dropped out

    2. most of the negative about the ipad is about the stuff it lacks because it’s not a computer. venue won’t change that.

    3. with the lead up time for FCC clearance, production, app updates etc there’s more than enough time for Apple to ship 1-2 units to every Apple store for the general public to play with them before the launch

    4. stunts like the Grammys won’t hurt. i must have heard “did you see that bit with the ipad” 100 times the next day

  • http://www.anothernormal.com/ rudy

    quote:
    Steve Jobs blew the iPad launch by not doing it at Macworld. There’s not the same buzz about the iPad as there was about the iPhone, and that’s because it wasn’t introduced to 4,000 fans at a keynote. And it won’t be on the show floor for fans to check out (even in a glass case).

    By introducing the iPad to the press at a small, exclusive journalist-only event, he alienated the audience he needed most — the general public. Steve Jobs kept the iPad’s potential users at arms length, and it’s costing him.

    I disagree. Due to so many blogs reporting live, the iPad keynote address was experienced immediately by way more fans than the iPhone was. The internet was ablaze with instantaneous news. During work, several colleagues and I were glued to our web browsers, watching and listening to the gang over at cnet. We, the general public weren’t alienated at all. Quite the opposite. We had much more access than ever before. The internet is the new venue.

  • roz

    The iPhone got a lot of criticism when it was announced. People said that a touch screen was a dumb idea, the industry tried and failed with touch screens – so the iPhone will fail too. People said you would never be able to type on it. It lacked 3G. IT LACKED APPS – no APPS on original iPhone and people were screaming murder over it. Developers were being told to make web-apps and they were livid. Cut and paste was no even an issue yet. There was a lot of negativity and interest in the iPhone.

    Another product widely derided by geeks was the iMac. They HATED it. Crying over ADB, floppy, and who knows what. Weak graphics. None of it mattered.

    So many people here say the announcement was a failure. Really? Based on what? A poll that says now that you know what it is and that it has a price, would you buy it? Only 20% say yes, oh its a failure? 20% is huge. I know a lot of people who are really excited about it. People with money will be interested for the novelty. People without money can get an awesome computer for $500. I think it will appeal to a lot of people. Kids for games and neat apps. Old people for simplicity. Families as just another system for web browsing with the main computer is being used.

    There will be lines of people to try it. People who have tried it were not indifferent about it. Not at all.

    I think you will find that you don’t really care about USB on the device. You are not syncing your camera to it, same as you dont to your iPhone or iPod. You are not plugging a printer into it or a keyboard. Ok we just knocked out 90% of USB uses. And still you have bluetooth and the iPod dock connector for accessories.

    The lack of webcam is a negative I agree with. I would hope we will see that added soon but even that will not keep people away.

    Is it a computer to replaced your HD movie editing rig? Uh no. Is it going to replace your iPhone and you MBP in one swoop? No. Still it is not crap. And once you see all those people line up a launch you will realize that maybe you took the hype and anti-hype to seriously.

    It’s also the case that the iPhone was a huge success because you had the developed but lame smartphone market. This does not have to be the same as that to be successful.

  • AdamC

    The iPad is a cloud device and it potentials will be realised once the server farm in NC comes into being.

    In the meanwhile the bashing goes on.

    Btw the iPad will serve most of the my computing needs because I don’t need it to photoshop or freehand but who knows someone will create an app or apps to replace them.

  • Hans

    You’re right about the post-macworld keynotes. They’re lame. My favorite keynote is the 2007 introduction of the iPhone. Compare that to the introduction of the iPad.

    I’m a web designer/programmer. I need Photoshop, a good editor, a
    FTP client, and so on. I have to be able to run Windows and IE6, 7 and 8.

    A closed system like the iPod touch/iPhone/iPad is not gonna work for me. Maybe as a demo device, but that’s about it. And I don’t believe you can get the same functionality Photoshop offers with an iPad app. The last time I did some serious finger painting was in kindergarten.

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