The bigger problem was that Amelio had gone on vacation, gotten into a nasty tussle with his speechwriters, and refused to rehearse. When Jobs arrived backstage, he was upset by the chaos, and he seethed as Amelio stood on the podium bumbling through a disjointed and endless presentation. Amelio was unfamiliar with the talking points that popped up on his teleprompter and soon was trying to wing his presentation. Repeatedly he lost his train of thought. After more than an hour, the audience was aghast. There were a few welcome breaks, such as when he brought out the singer Peter Gabriel to demonstrate a new music program. He also pointed out Muhammad Ali in the first row; the champ was supposed to come onstage to promote a website about Parkinson’s disease, but Amelio never invited him up or explained why he was there.

　　 更大的問題是，阿梅里奧之前去度假了，又跟他的演講稿作者大吵一架，而且拒絕彩排。當(dāng)喬布斯到達后臺時，對現(xiàn)場的混亂局面?zhèn)涓芯趩省ｋ戎⒚防飱W站在講臺那兒笨拙地做著前后脫節(jié)沒完沒了的演講，喬布斯氣憤不已。阿梅里奧對講詞提示器上蹦出來的那些講點并不熟悉，很快就開始忘詞。他思路斷斷續(xù)續(xù)。就這樣過了一個多小時，觀眾都目瞪口呆。中間倒是有幾次讓大家松口氣的間歇，諸如他把歌手彼得·加布里埃爾（PeterGabriel）請上臺演示一個新的音樂軟件的時候。他還指出了坐在第一排的穆罕默德·阿里。這位拳王按計劃是要上臺推介一個關(guān)于帕金森綜合征的網(wǎng)站，可是阿梅里奧一直沒請他上臺，也沒解釋他為什么在場。

　　Amelio rambled for more than two hours before he finally called onstage the person everyone was waiting to cheer. “Jobs, exuding confidence, style, and sheer magnetism, was the antithesis of the fumbling Amelio as he strode onstage,” Carlton wrote. “The return of Elvis would not have provoked a bigger sensation.” The crowd jumped to its feet and gave him a raucous ovation for more than a minute. The wilderness decade was over. Finally Jobs waved for silence and cut to the heart of the challenge. “We’ve got to get the spark back,” he said. “The Mac didn’t progress much in ten years. So Windows caught up. So we have to come up with an OS that’s even better.”

　　 阿梅里奧喂唆了兩個多小時，最后終于把所有人都等著為之歡呼的人請上了臺。“喬布斯大步跨上舞臺，自信而有型，魅力四射，跟阿梅里奧的笨手笨腳形成了鮮明對照。”卡爾頓寫道，“即使是貓王歸來也不會引起比這更大的轟動。”觀眾紛紛起立，震耳欲聾的掌聲持續(xù)了超過一分鐘。雜亂無章的十年就此終結(jié)。最后，他揮手請大家安靜，直入主題。“我們要再創(chuàng)輝煌。”他說，“Mac十年來沒有什么進步，所以Windows趕上來了。我們必須拿出一個更好的操作系統(tǒng)。”

　　Jobs’s pep talk could have been a redeeming finale to Amelio’s frightening performance. Unfortunately Amelio came back onstage and resumed his ramblings for another hour. Finally, more than three hours after the show began, Amelio brought it to a close by calling Jobs back onstage and then, in a surprise, bringing up Steve Wozniak as well. Again there was pandemonium. But Jobs was clearly annoyed. He avoided engaging in a triumphant trio scene, arms in the air. Instead he slowly edged offstage. “He ruthlessly ruined the closing moment I had planned,” Amelio later complained. “His own feelings were more important than good press for Apple.” It was only seven days into the new year for Apple, and already it was clear that the center would not hold.

　　 喬布斯鼓舞人心的演講本可以作為結(jié)束語，彌補阿梅里奧的可怕表現(xiàn)。不幸的是，阿梅里奧又回到舞臺上，繼續(xù)胡說八道了一個小時。最后，活動開始后過了三個多小時，阿梅里奧終于開始結(jié)尾，再次請喬布斯上臺，然后出乎意料地把史蒂夫·沃茲尼亞克也請了上來。現(xiàn)場又是一陣騷動。但是喬布斯顯然反感這一幕。他不想?yún)⑴c這樣三個人舉起手臂慶祝勝利的一幕。于是，他慢慢地溜下了臺。“他無情地破壞了我策劃的落幕式，”阿梅里奧后來抱怨，“他個人的感覺比蘋果的媒體形象更重要。”這剛剛是蘋果進入新紀(jì)元的第七天，一切就已經(jīng)很顯然，杈力的中心再也難以保持不變了。