Apple disappoints-no Jobs, big news at Macworld
(Refiles to delete extraneous words in paragraphs one and three) (Adds analyst comment, product details) — Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said on Tuesday it was dropping copy protection from songs sold on the Internet and debuted its slimmest 17-inch laptop yet …
Context & Ripple Effects
This keynote lands after weeks of friction with the show's organizer: Apple had already blindsided IDG by shrinking its Macworld commitment, so a no-show from Steve Jobs reads as another step in the retreat rather than a one-off scheduling choice.
The product news also closes a long-running speculation loop — rumors of an all-flash Apple laptop had circulated since at least late 2007 — though what ships is a thin 17-inch machine plus DRM-free music, not the flash-based notebook watchers had priced in.
First-order effects
- Attendees and investors who came for a Jobs keynote get Phil Schiller instead, while iTunes buyers gain the immediate ability to purchase songs without copy protection — a direct concession to the interoperability pressure Apple had resisted for years.
- The 17-inch debut gives Apple's pro laptop line its slimmest flagship yet, resetting expectations for what the premium tier looks like.
Second-order effects
- Dropping DRM forces rival download stores to match unprotected catalogs or justify why theirs remain locked, accelerating the shift toward selling music as a commodity file rather than a walled-garden asset.
- Jobs's absence, layered on the earlier pullback from IDG's show, weakens Macworld's draw as a launch venue and pushes press attention toward Apple-controlled events.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, DRM-free distribution becomes the default for digital media, shifting competitive advantage from format lock-in to store experience and device ecosystems.
- Apple decoupling its announcement calendar from third-party trade shows points toward a company-owned event model — a structural change in how the industry stages launches, even as questions about Jobs's health and succession stay unresolved.
The trend: This is one data point in the broader migration of tech companies away from DRM lock-in and third-party trade shows toward open formats and self-owned launch events.