tomorrow’s the day

tomorrow is the stevenote at macworld.

is that total greek to you? or, should i say, geek?

let me explain.

macworld is the annual convention in san francisco where apple and its vendors and partners display their products and new stuff for everyone interested in macs, ipods, and apple goodies in general.

the stevenote is the keynote speech of the convention, and is delivered by apple (and pixar) ceo steve jobs. the guy that the apple fans worship. if you want a great overview of what the stevenote is, read this excellent article by tom bridge.

the stevenote used to be of interest only to mac and apple fans, but in recent years it has taken on more importance as apple’s influence in the world of electronics has grown and grown. because the ipod took over the world, and because of steve jobs’s connections in the entertainment industry, and because the macintosh computer is gaining a bit on the windows world, the stevenote is now mandatory listening for movers and shakers in several industries. it’s to the point now where wall street analysts hang on steve jobs’s every word and use his utterances and pronouncements as harbingers of the future direction of the electronics, entertainment, and computer industries.

scores of whole websites are devoted to dissecting this stuff.

and, even though apple’s influence on these industries is, as of now, all out of proportion to its actual financial impact, everyone important in all these industries will pay attention to what the stevenote says tomorrow.

they will probably stop what they are doing at 12:00 est (9:00 pst) tomorrow and get briefed on it. to facilitate this, there are webpages set up to give real-time information and analysis as this all happens.

they may even be in attendance. there are a lot of reasons why this speech is so important, but it’s always entertaining as well. they’ll post the video of it on apple.com sometime after the event–believe it or not, it’s always a very fun event to watch.

and certainly anyone wanting to refine their communication skills should watch. steve jobs is one of the great communicators of all time.

this all sounds very fanatical, and geeky, and you may be wondering why i’m recommending that you watch what is basically someone’s new product pitch.

if you actually do watch it after the fact, you will understand why.

it’s fascinating.

update: need further evidence that this event has entered the popular culture?

today’s foxtrot comic.

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