stevejobs.jpgThe Worldwide Developers Conference is usually where Apple showcases the latest in the company’s software and technologies, and developers and consumers alike expect to be wowed with the announcements. For instance, in the previous years, it was in the WWDC where Apple introduced the latest iPods (always better than the previous models), and its shift from the PowerPC architecture to x86. Usually you can owe that to Steve Jobs’ Reality Distortion Field (RDF). Apparenty, this guy is so charismatic you’ll believe anything he says.

This year, however, Steve seems to have lost some of his charm. Health problems, maybe? Or, perhaps Apple doesn’t have anything exciting to offer right now, since its earth-shaking switch to Intel-based chips last year–after all, the next OS X version and the shift of the entire Apple fleet to Intel, is almost a foregone conclusion anyway!

Leander Kahney writes at Wired News:

Steve Jobs’ keynote speech on Monday was the most uninspiring he’s given in recent memory. It hints at the trouble Apple will be in marketing-wise if he ever steps down.

Jobs is so charismatic, his talks are usually mesmerizing. I’ve seen almost every one he’s given in the last 10 years, and he effortlessly sucks the audience into his famous “reality distortion field,” a state of suspended disbelief that makes even mundane products seem like miracles of technology.

But on Monday, the yo-yoing of alternating presenters utterly broke the spell. Mundane product details were revealed for what they were — mundane product details.

Looks like there’s nothing really exciting about Mac OSX Leopard and the Mac Pro.

The sneak preview of Leopard was underwhelming … There’s no way I can get excited about virtual desktops or a new service that turns highlighted text into a “to do” item.

…

Granted, the system as a whole looks slick, and Jobs said he was keeping some new features “top secret” to stop Microsoft from copying them. But the sneak peek just confirmed what we already know: OS X is so mature and polished, major system upgrades are more about tweaks than big new functions.

…

[H]e tossed off the day’s big news — the new Mac Pro desktop — early in the show. Yeah, everyone knew it was coming, but why dispense with it early on? It’s weird and puzzling.

Still, Apple buffs will be Apple buffs. And great technology will always be great technology, notwithstanding marketing glitches.

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