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Frank Shaw runs Microsoft PR at Waggener Edstrom. And he's got some fighting words in reaction to Apple CEO Steve Jobs's Macworld keynote. "The event and news today made me wonder if the Apple PR model of hold and surprise was wearing thin," Shaw wrote on his blog. Oh no he didn't? Oh yes he did.

Shaw writes that Apple's "concept of holding news, building expectations and then unveiling a massive surprise" usually works — certainly it did with the iPhone —but "this recent Macworld? Not so much."

He complains that:

  • "Upon further review" frenzied fans will disdain the MacBook Air
  • The Apple TV update was "lipstick on a pig."
  • That the "closed, underpowered" MacBook Air will be a market failure.


He concludes:

There is little room for events like today in that world. Apple stepped to the plate today, IMHO, and hit ... .a single. The company won't be up to bat again for a while ... .if you are only up a few times a year, you better hit some home runs.

Like Microsoft did with the Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000, Frankie?