Steve's keynotes are really captivating because there's this sense that he's bringing something down from the mountain. Everyone is curious about what Apple is up to, the company is a monolith of silence, and then products are revealed in the keynote fully-formed.
Obviously, not many of us can pull that off. But Steve presents the raison d'etre for his products very simply and narrowly, articulates the vision behind them clearly, takes the shortest path from feature to feature, and presents expert opinions where "it's amazing" won't quite do.
By the way of counterexample, Microsoft's big events are horrible speeches about their "vision" of such-and-such and the "future" of whatever, which are a even admixture of FUD and BS. They keep trying to speak for their technology by making up grandiose scenarios and over-reaching for meaning. No focus, no geek appeal, no passion.
Finally, I love these stats from last year's Macworld and CES keynotes:
Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone: 10.5 words per sentence
Bill Gates on the "Digital Decade": 21.6 words per sentence
Obviously, not many of us can pull that off. But Steve presents the raison d'etre for his products very simply and narrowly, articulates the vision behind them clearly, takes the shortest path from feature to feature, and presents expert opinions where "it's amazing" won't quite do.
By the way of counterexample, Microsoft's big events are horrible speeches about their "vision" of such-and-such and the "future" of whatever, which are a even admixture of FUD and BS. They keep trying to speak for their technology by making up grandiose scenarios and over-reaching for meaning. No focus, no geek appeal, no passion.
Finally, I love these stats from last year's Macworld and CES keynotes:
Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone: 10.5 words per sentence
Bill Gates on the "Digital Decade": 21.6 words per sentence
Source: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/110473...