What Did You Think About The Overall Presentation Yesterday (Sep. 10)?
Watching the Apple Event later concerning the new iPhone products, I was struck again (more this time than previously) by just how good Steve Jobs was at presenting (i.e., selling) himself on stage.
Granted, it is not an easy thing to do - getting up on stage and talking a rehearsed speech in ad lib form knowing that you are being scrutinized by so many people. And to that degree, the Apple crew did an admirable job - getting through the presentation without a major blunder.
But ... (maybe it was just me - or maybe it was the contrast between the excellence of the products showcased and their human stage presentation), ... at some point I couldn't shake the notion that Tim Cook came off as slightly stilted - or "Magoo", and how the others similarly performed to a level that contrasted with the extremely high quality of the products they were presenting. The Keynote portion of what they had was excellent, as always, but they all came off as "wooden" - or strangely out of sync with the superior level of the product they were touting.
Of course, I suppose that they actually did fine (much better than I could ever do) - and I am trying to appreciate the fact that they unquestionably dedicated a lot of time and rehearsal energy into their performance. But in the end, it is my long memory of how Steve did it - and the uncanny knack he had for salesmanship and stage presence - that causes me to perhaps unfairly compare everyone else's efforts yesterday.
I dare say that Steve was so good (given the wonderment and delight he somehow managed to infuse - like a proud papa with a newborn - into every product he showcased), that others that appeared with him at the same presentation - many of the same that appeared yesterday - were somehow imbued with his excellence or RDF - or whatever you call it (I'm trying not to gush - unsuccessfully I'm sure) - so that their previous performances (with Steve) did not stand out as so "ordinary" as they did yesterday.
Just an observation. Have a great day, all!