There was a time when Apple defined the future direction of the entire tech industry for the next 12 months when its annual January Macworld Expo event set the scene.

Even the first iPhone was announced Jan. 9, 2007.

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What this meant

The January event meant Apple commanded the attention of every tech media and industry thought leader at the beginning of each year.

Airports across the planet were filled with people making their quarterly journey to an Apple keynote (others took place in New York, France and Tokyo, with a fifth event WWDC in June).

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