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I’ve always loved seeing Phil Schiller’s presentations on stage in keynotes for several years, though in the last few years he stepped back and Apple started pu

I’ve always loved seeing Phil Schiller’s presentations on stage in keynotes for several years, though in the last few years he stepped back and Apple started putting many more people (than before) on stage to present in the keynotes. A few of his words or lines on stage have been fodder for people to argue on (“courage” when removing the headphone jack from iPhones) or make fun of (“can’t innovate my ass” when introducing the trash can Mac Pro that later went without any updates or news for years). But he was a natural and a master at presentations, IMO. If one didn’t know about him and watched his presentation, they’d find it hard to believe that a “marketing” person could talk so well about tech. Craig Federighi is another great presenter who brings in humor along with some puns involving tech terms (not all his jokes may land well, but you gotta give him credit for many that do). In this mix, I don’t see Greg Joswiak in the same league. He may be a good senior VP of marketing, but a great story teller and presenter he’s not. Sorry, Greg, if you’re reading this. Those others have set standards that are difficult to beat. I wish Phil well, and hope that he’s able to contribute to Apple for many more years to come.

CoolGuySteve 6y ago
It's funny, I have the exact opposite opinion of Phil. Back when I worked at Apple we'd watch every presentation because, hey, it's a good excuse to slack off at the office. Phil was always the most boring guy because you always knew exactly what he was going to say and exactly what kind of non-answers he'd give to questions. I mean yeah, it's great he hits the mark perfectly every time, but it's also so, so boring. He's the classic marketing shill. I wonder if his name is really even Fill Shiller, it's too perfect.
- newscracker 6y ago
  Thanks. It’s interesting to hear other perspectives. > Phil was always the most boring guy because you always knew exactly what he was going to say and exactly what kind of non-answers he'd give to questions. I never felt this way. Maybe it’s because I was never in a place where I could ask him questions or watched a presentation where someone could ask him questions. > I mean yeah, it's great he hits the mark perfectly every time, but it's also so, so boring. He's the classic marketing shill. I wonder if his name is really even Fill Shiller, it's too perfect. I didn’t see most of his presentations as marketing shill. Maybe I haven’t been paying much attention to that aspect.
  - refurb 6y ago
    Just a guess, but I assume someone internal to the company has a much different perspective, just because they have more knowledge of how things actually went. I’ve seen senior folks at my former company do external talks that get rave reviews and my opinion was always “that’s not how it happened at all!”. Sort of like not eating sausage anymore once you’ve seen how it’s made.
- Lammy 6y ago
  I think his personality worked really well on stage as the guy next to Steve Jobs who ran the Wintel Photoshop filter demos and made excuses for why they aren't as fast as the G4 =p
  - andrekandre 6y ago
    ill always remember him for jumping of a ledge to demonstrate wifi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw remember watching that on a postage stamp sized video as a kid... so magical (and whimsical) in those days
    - pfranz 6y ago
      Phil Schiller tells the backstory here: https://atp.fm/317 https://atp.fm/317 (28:00)
      - andrekandre 6y ago
        interesting, thanks!
- Answerawake 6y ago
  Phil Schiller needs to go back to awkwardly jumping off of heights to make a impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw EDIT: Whoops, just saw someone posted the same clip below.
- draw_down 6y ago
  Yes, I feel similarly as an external observer. He just says how great the new stuff is, in a way that is typically quite uninteresting. He is really good at doing that, though. It would be nice to be slightly more candid about the things Apple is clearly not as good at, but I suppose that just isn't his thing. (Or Apple's thing more generally.)
pier25 6y ago
Quite contrary for me, at least on the keynotes. Remember his "it's so sad that people are using 5 year old computers" or his "courage" speech about removing the headphone jack? I've heard him talk casually on interviews and he seemed like a super interesting guy though.
kristianc 6y ago
> If one didn’t know about him and watched his presentation, they’d find it hard to believe that a “marketing” person could talk so well about tech. He was responsible for messaging and positioning Apple’s products globally for 4 years, so I guess it’s reasonable to assume he knows something about technology.

CoolGuySteve 6y ago

It's funny, I have the exact opposite opinion of Phil. Back when I worked at Apple we'd watch every presentation because, hey, it's a good excuse to slack off at the office. Phil was always the most boring guy because you always knew exactly what he was going to say and exactly what kind of non-answers he'd give to questions. I mean yeah, it's great he hits the mark perfectly every time, but it's also so, so boring. He's the classic marketing shill. I wonder if his name is really even Fill Shiller, it's too perfect.

newscracker 6y ago
Thanks. It’s interesting to hear other perspectives. > Phil was always the most boring guy because you always knew exactly what he was going to say and exactly what kind of non-answers he'd give to questions. I never felt this way. Maybe it’s because I was never in a place where I could ask him questions or watched a presentation where someone could ask him questions. > I mean yeah, it's great he hits the mark perfectly every time, but it's also so, so boring. He's the classic marketing shill. I wonder if his name is really even Fill Shiller, it's too perfect. I didn’t see most of his presentations as marketing shill. Maybe I haven’t been paying much attention to that aspect.
- refurb 6y ago
  Just a guess, but I assume someone internal to the company has a much different perspective, just because they have more knowledge of how things actually went. I’ve seen senior folks at my former company do external talks that get rave reviews and my opinion was always “that’s not how it happened at all!”. Sort of like not eating sausage anymore once you’ve seen how it’s made.
Lammy 6y ago
I think his personality worked really well on stage as the guy next to Steve Jobs who ran the Wintel Photoshop filter demos and made excuses for why they aren't as fast as the G4 =p
- andrekandre 6y ago
  ill always remember him for jumping of a ledge to demonstrate wifi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw remember watching that on a postage stamp sized video as a kid... so magical (and whimsical) in those days
  - pfranz 6y ago
    Phil Schiller tells the backstory here: https://atp.fm/317 https://atp.fm/317 (28:00)
    - andrekandre 6y ago
      interesting, thanks!
Answerawake 6y ago
Phil Schiller needs to go back to awkwardly jumping off of heights to make a impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw EDIT: Whoops, just saw someone posted the same clip below.
draw_down 6y ago
Yes, I feel similarly as an external observer. He just says how great the new stuff is, in a way that is typically quite uninteresting. He is really good at doing that, though. It would be nice to be slightly more candid about the things Apple is clearly not as good at, but I suppose that just isn't his thing. (Or Apple's thing more generally.)

pier25 6y ago

Quite contrary for me, at least on the keynotes. Remember his "it's so sad that people are using 5 year old computers" or his "courage" speech about removing the headphone jack? I've heard him talk casually on interviews and he seemed like a super interesting guy though.

kristianc 6y ago

> If one didn’t know about him and watched his presentation, they’d find it hard to believe that a “marketing” person could talk so well about tech. He was responsible for messaging and positioning Apple’s products globally for 4 years, so I guess it’s reasonable to assume he knows something about technology.