Wednesday, January 10, 2007

During his MacWorld 2007 keynote address in San Francisco yesterday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs did the unthinkable: He didn't discuss the Mac even once, other than to note early on that this year's MacWorld would be about other products. He then went on to devote almost the entirety of his two-hour speech to an expensive, high-end smart phone that won't ship for at least six months.

Jobs announced that the company was changing its name from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple, Inc., a tacit admission that Macintosh is no longer the focus. Second, he said after his keynote that the company now has four major product categories: Mac, iPod, Apple TV, and iPhone. Two of those products were formally announced in the past six months, one yesterday.

Whatever happens, give Jobs credit for having the courage to reinvent Apple yet again. Mr. Jobs has been at the helm for most Apple's biggest historic shifts, including the Macintosh in 1984, Mac OS X in 2001, the iPod in 2001, and the shift to the Intel platform in 2006. If Jobs pulls off this transition, Apple could very well become the next Sony: A consumer electronics super-giant with a valuable brand, lust-worthy products, and a presence in numerous lucrative markets. That would be quite a feat.