Why Is Steve Jobs Skipping Macworld?

Time’s Josh Quittner on today’s Expo news:

Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, deflected any questions about Jobs’ health. When asked if Jobs canceled because of illness, Dowling said, “Phil is giving the keynote because this is Apple’s last year in the show, and it doesn’t make sense for us to make a major investment in a trade show we will no longer be attending.” Asked again about Jobs’ health, Dowling gave a similar answer, never using the word Jobs or anything related to his condition.

I do not think today’s news is related to Jobs’s health (and, via email, Quittner quotes me as saying so in the article). But, that said, the timing of this announcement is just weird. Update: Maybe weird isn’t the right word. Spiteful might be better.

★ Wednesday, 17 December 2008