Steve Jobs Theater was not built for people to sit and watch canned video presentations, Tim Cook

Another September Apple Event has come and gone, and with each year that passes it truly feels like the tech giant has lost the magic of the early 2000s. While the company still clings to the ghost of Steve Jobs, his showmanship during live presentations is truly one aspect of the company that is sorely missed by long-time fans.

Apple CEO Tim Cook seems to be avoiding live stage presentations these days. The company has instead created very curated and prepackaged video presentations that journalists and influencers fly out to Cupertino, California to watch. I have never personally been in attendance for one of these events, but outside of the hands-on previews of the newly announced products, the viewing experience of Apple Events might be better sitting on my couch than having to fly out to Silicon Valley.

Why build the gorgeous new Steve Jobs Theater to just push play on a video? Why has Tim Cook never done a live demo at an Apple Event? Why bother making these video presentations when most of the news could have been conveyed in an email? Apple truly seems to be clinging to the wrong parts of what made Steve Jobs presentations fun and newsworthy events while shoving random drone shots for transitions between canned segments.

Apple is a multitrillion dollar company with aging products and software experiences that lack the attention to detail of its heyday. Tim Cook’s Apple truly resembles Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft in many ways these days, and it just sucks to see the magic fade away all these years after the passing of Steve Jobs. 

While Tim Cook has managed the company’s stock better than many had expected, seeing him kiss Trump’s ass to broker tariff exemptions is hardly as inspiring as hearing Steve Jobs say the magical “one more thing” phrase to close off a live presentation. It would be nice to see the company honor his memory with a real return to live events in the theater that carries his name.