The snooze-fest that was this year's Apple (AAPL: sentiment, chart, options) keynote speech at MacWorld 2009 did little to inspire the masses today. The "one less thing" was the distinct absence of CEO Steve Jobs, even as a cameo appearance. AAPL shares are off about 1% with less than an hour to go in the trading day, rebounding from their nearly 2% decline at the conclusion of Phil Schiller's keynote address. Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, detailed new versions of the company's iLife and iWork software, and even unveiled updated versions of the MacBook Pro.

Unfortunately, Schiller did not unveil anything new and exciting from Apple, such as the rumored new Mac Minis, or the iPhone nano (which I didn't expect anyway). The most exciting moment of the address was the announcement that iTunes was headed toward being DRM (data rights management) free. But even this announcement was undermined by a new 3-tiered pricing scheme. The days of 99 cents per song have gone, and will be replaced by $1.29 per song for premium tracks, 99 cents for basic tracks, and 69 cents for "classic" or back-catalog music. So much for pricing simplicity.

Apple's address ended with a performance by Tony Bennett, who started with "The Best is Yet to Come," and closed with "I Left my Heart in San Francisco." I'm sure there is a blogger out there somewhere who has already found a way to tie the latter song to Steve Job's health.

Quite frankly, as I sat watching Schiller give his closing remarks, I kept waiting for the infamous "one more thing" statement. I fully expected Steve Jobs to make a cameo with some new device or updated iPhone/iPod. Given the stock's reaction following Apple's keynote speech, I'm guessing most of the Apple investors were, too.