The 3 things Apple didn’t say today

June 8, 2009 | Paul Boutin | Comments | |

Apple head of marketing Phil Schiller delivered a pleasant, enjoyable keynote show for several thousand software developers this morning at the Moscone West conference center in San Francisco. Newer, better iPhones were the show’s already-predicted climax. But there were three things Schiller didn’t mention onstage that stood out to my fellow Apple loyalists packed into the back row of the press section.

Twitter. Or Facebook. Over the weekend, the New York Times recounted a rumor that Apple was close to acquiring Twitter. The rumor was true enough — Apple had been in the latter stages of an acquisition process. What does it mean that none of Apple’s demos today involved Twitter or Facebook, the hottest two sites on the Internet? It means Apple hasn’t internalized the social networks craze.

Schiller showed how an iPhone can be used to capture family photos and now, videos. (Family vacation albums are a standard Apple demo.) Schiller explained that new iPhone buyers will be able to upload their videos to YouTube. He name-checked MMS, the photo and video-enhanced version of the SMS technology behind cellphone text messages. But Schiller didn’t tweet anything from his phone, nor did he post to Facebook.

I’m sure a thousand Apple apologists will claim this was done to prevent any appearance of bias among the 50,000 apps available for the iPhone, many of which connect to Twitter. Not true at all. Steve Jobs would have zero hesitance to give the iPhone a new Twitter button that would kill a thousand apps. Instead, Apple’s onstage ignorance of social networking shows how slow-moving and out of touch the company can be. It’s easy to find Microsoft shortcomings to mock. It’s harder to recognize your own.

AT&T. People are buying iPhones despite Apple’s exclusive contract with AT&T, not because of it. Buyers of new iPhone 3G S models that arrive in stores and at homes on June 19 won’t immediately be able to send photos or videos to each other. Nor will new iPhone buyers be able to “tether” their phones to a PC or Mac laptop, enabling the laptop to connect to the Net over the phone’s wireless connection to a cellular tower. iPhone owners on two dozen other wireless carriers in nearly 50 other countries have these features. Why don’t Americans have it through AT&T’s exclusive iPhone deal with Apple? Twice, when Schiller mentioned a feature that “requires carrier support,” by which he meant AT&T doesn’t have it yet, the crowd nearly booed.

Steve Jobs. Is he OK, or dying, or what? Many of us hoped Apple’s CEO, an exceptional live stage performer, would make a walk-on appearance. Or at least turn up in a big-screen video chat with Phil. By leaving Jobs entirely out of the keynote, Apple seems to be setting the stage for his successors. I’m sure shareholders are happy to see the company no longer tying its public image to one man. But an Apple event without His Steveness? It just wasn’t the same.

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About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • Well said sir - apart from this line: "Is he OK, or dying, or what?" - They 're not supposed to tell us that.

    I wonder what kept people from booing ATT publicly, though
  • Dave
    "Is he OK, or dying, or what?"

    Not a Steve Jobs acolyte, but that comment shows a complete lack of class, Paul.
  • Frank
    In the Steve Jobs paragraph you misspelled "public" in a reasonably hilarious way.
  • O Villa
    Who in the hell are you?
  • John
    Apple tends to move slow but steady. If they feel they are under served by existing Facebook and Twitter access they'll eventually get around to doing something about it.

    ATT, what are you going to say. Same tension that's been there from the start. This problem will eventually solve itself.

    Steve Jobs. Apple said he'll be back at the end of the month. You're criticizing them for doing what they said they'd do?
  • HyperSocial
    Social schmocial schmmeedia is sooo overrated. Why is everyone expected to jump on the latest fad wagon???
  • No netbook.
  • rhr
    Does Apple really need to show anyone how to Tweet or post something to Facebook. I think that Apple gives its customers credit for being smart enough to figure out that kind of stuff on their own. Or find one of their apps for it. Or not be so ADHD that they have to Twitter every random thought that pops into their heads.

    Thanks, Apple, for sparing us....
  • dasein
    Agree, Apple need not trumpet Facebook or Twitter. These bloggers do it ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
  • Robert
    Here's where you miss the point.

    http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23wwdc

    http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23apple

    People are still tweeting about the event. Apple doesn't need to "engage" in the social media per se, they have an audience. I don't find it would serve them any greater purpose to deliver better products.
  • dasein
    "What does it mean that none of Apple’s demos today involved Twitter or Facebook, the hottest two sites on the Internet? It means Apple hasn’t internalized the social networks craze."

    This is one of the most ignorant comments I've read in weeks. It means nothing that Apple did not involve Twitter or Facebook during their presentation.

    Stupid comment, stupid conclusion, and highly parochial.
  • Every social media enthusiast on the planet was yapping about iPhone 3.0 yesterday -- they understand social media better than anybody, probably.
  • So anyone who disagrees with you is an Apple apologist? How about this. You're an obvious Apple hater - not to mention social media snob.

    He didn't do any demos of Aperture on the iPhone s0 using your logic, Apple doesn't know anything about Aperture. He didn't demo lots of things on the iPhone - that's not proof Apple isn't interested in the space.

    This is just another (of many) posts by folks who are looking to attack Apple and the iPhone because it's easy link bait. There's nothing substantive in your post. This was an announcement at WWDC - a developers conference - not a generic MacWorld. News of Twitter, AT&T or Jobs hasn't got a thing to do with developers.

    Don't give up your day job.
  • tomzazueta
    Two comments:

    1. It was smart not to have Steve Jobs make a return on stage at the WWDC, as it would have overshadowed their product announcements.

    2. Apple is rarely an early adopter (think MP3 players and cell phones), but when they make a decision to jump in they do it better than anyone. I'm certain Apple has a social media strategy and will jump in when they are ready. Also, why is it necessary for Apple to Tweet or Post on stage when they have 1,000s of fans doing it for them?
  • JC
    I think everyone is missing the blogger's point in calling Apple to task about not tweeting or posting to Facebook. The point is not whether or not they NEED to do it in terms of generating PR, the point is to show folks how easy it is to tweet or post to facebook on the new iPhone. In this case, the APPS are probably the same, but 3G should do it faster, right?
  • Interesting observations Paul. Nice to see you stirring up controversy. :)
  • whether apple "gets" social media or not, i find it interesting that there are millions of mentions of Apple per week on Twitter alone and Apple, the marketing gurus, don't even own their own name (www.twitter.com/apple). I would think that would be something you would not want in the wrong hands.
  • Only have issue with the Twitter embrace, or lack of from Apple. All of the big trade shows I attended this year - Mobile World Congress & NAB - Apple was absent. However, Apple was the buzz of both shows. More to the point. Apple doesn't need to tweet, you did it for them. & I too am guilty of tweeting for them. I guess the trick is, how do you become the buzz of the the telco world (&Twitter) and not be pushing it . . .
  • I think more emphasis should be made on AT&T and the lack of functionality it appears to be withholding from its customers. Why would AT&T make such a decision? Don't the management team realise that more revenue can be achieved by opening up this functionality, customers would start using their data plans more! Oh well, AT&T will wake up one day! :-)
  • andrea
    really? no Twitter and/or FB demos? come on you're kidding... no company today can survive without a proper Twitter strategy, I think that the 2008/9 crisi is due to the fact that Morgan Stanley & Co. hadn't such strategy.
    140 characters can save the world....