At last year’s Macworld, Jobs introduced the Macbook Air – and speculation about his health intensified. Photo: Jon Fortt

Under Steve Jobs, ninja-like discipline has been the hallmark of Apple’s communication strategy. He has guarded the details of the company’s product launches so jealously that even some Apple executives don’t know exactly what he will unveil next. So with Macworld just hours away, it is just plain weird to see the ailing Maestro losing control of his message.

But it’s not exactly surprising. The key ingredient in Apple’s (AAPL) message has long been Jobs himself. Since he retook the helm of Apple more than a decade ago, Jobs has positioned himself as supreme leader and chief marketer. He has guided every important product, explained every major strategy, and ensured that everyone knew he was the one calling the shots. In the process, Jobs promoted the idea that he and Apple are one and the same: to believe in Apple is to believe in Steve Jobs. This worked beautifully when Jobs was using his considerable celebrity to draw attention to the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and various other i-hits. Today, though, the Jobs obsession he created is taking attention away from the stuff that makes Apple money – its products – and doing so at a very inconvenient time.

Click above for a look at the significance of Apple’s decision to abandon Macworld.

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Attendees settle in before Steve Jobs’ final Macworld keynote in January 2008. Photo: Jon Fortt

It’s tempting to say it’s no big deal that Apple is ditching the Macworld Expo. Yes, Steve Jobs has used Macworld stages to introduce the iPhone, the Macbook Air, the iBook and a slew of other objects of techno-lust. But Jobs doesn’t need Macworld to get attention. Mr. Innovation could have invited the press to a bowling alley in Fresno to unveil new technology, and a crowd would still show up.

HP printer sales are dropping, but high-profit ink sales remain strong. Image: HP

Where’s the most expensive popcorn in the universe? At the movie theater, of course. Theaters know you’ll pay because you’re a captive audience. That explains how Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) made so much money from ink sales last quarter, even though printer sales are slipping: by raising ink prices.

HP printer owners, after all, are themselves a captive audience; they’ll probably pay a little more for ink rather than ceasing to print altogether, or shelling out cash for a whole new printer. Partly because of their willingness to play along, HP offset printer sales that dropped 8% last quarter by boosting its extra-profitable ink sales by 9% over a year ago. (Not all of the increase came from higher ink prices, of course – but it sure helped.)

Of all its services customers, HP may have learned the most from Procter & Gamble, the consumer products giant whose brands include Pampers, Charmin and Mr. Clean. Image: Procter & Gamble

Before you buy a high-end hotel, it’s probably smart to make sure you can handle demanding customers.

This common-sense idea would seem to apply both to hospitality and to high-tech. And it explains why Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) executives sound so sure they can successfully expand beyond their own modest services operation to run a sprawling outsourcing company. Investors will get their first peek at how well HP is doing on Monday after the markets close, when it issues the first earnings report that includes its purchase of IT services firm EDS. (HP last week preannounced fourth-quarter sales and profits that beat analysts’ estimates, but the results weren’t broken down by business units.)

Though there will be plenty of questions late Monday about the health of HP’s core PC and printer businesses, analysts are sure to devote special attention to the newly-merged services and outsourcing operation. It represents both opportunity and danger: If HP can quickly whip EDS into shape, it will add more than $22 billion in revenue to the balance sheet. If not, eager competitors will steal EDS customers, and bloated costs will sink HP’s profits.

IBM has plenty of cash, access to credit, and global reach. But its customers aren’t immune from the credit crunch, and their IBM-financed debt shows up on Big Blue’s books.

It occurs to me that there may be some Big Tech readers who didn’t see my investing piece from a couple of weeks back about IBM’s (IBM) financing business, and why we should watch how it performs as the global financial crisis unfolds. It didn’t appear here, as it’s part of an ongoing series on Fortune.com.

After the somewhat conflicting signals the tech world has given over the past few days, including a major sales warning from Intel (INTC) and a positive pre-announcement from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), I’ll be that much more interested to dig into the numbers these companies offer in their SEC filings.

Again, in case you missed it, the piece is here. (AAPL) (CSCO)

AT&T has reaped benefits from its exclusive deal to carry Apple’s iPhone. But what happens when the deal expires? Image: Apple

It’s the catch in every Cinderella story: Eventually the clock strikes midnight, and that opulent carriage turns into a pumpkin.

For AT&T’s (T) iPhone sales, the witching hour could be two or three years away – executives won’t say exactly when their exclusive contract with Apple (AAPL) runs out. But when it does, they know they will lose a valuable competitive advantage. Even now, AT&T executives and engineers are working on new technology initiatives to help the company thrive with or without its not-so-secret weapon.

Click above for video of my review of Microsoft’s new Xbox Experience software for the Xbox 360 console.

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AMD’s chips are often found in low-cost PCs, which means executives can’t get a true sense of fourth-quarter sales until after Black Friday. Image: AMD

Based on Intel’s dramatic sales warning Wednesday, you might expect rival Advanced Micro Devices to just crawl into a hole and die. If the economic mess is tripping up the most powerful chip company on the planet, how could its underdog challenger stand a chance?

Indeed, investors think that when Intel (INTC) sneezes, AMD (AMD) gets the flu. After Intel predicted fourth quarter sales will come in about $1.5 billion below its previous forecast, AMD shares plunged as much as 9% in midday trading Thursday before a broad market rally sent shares up 5% for the day. Intel shares, by way of comparison, were down only 5% midday and finished up up nearly 7%.

In a surprise announcement, Intel (INTC) said Wednesday that its gloomy fourth quarter forecast wasn’t nearly gloomy enough. Instead of pulling in between $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion in sales, the chip giant expects closer to a dreadful $9 billion. The stock tumbled more than 7 percent after hours.

It’s hard to articulate just how bad this news is.