Yesterday Apple announced that it was withdrawing from Macworld Expo that is held annually in San Francisco in January, the company also revealed that the farewell keynote will be presented by Phil Schiller.

The announcement immediately caused shockwaves across the Mac web with concerns of Jobs’ health having detrimental effects on the company stock. Almost all Apple media sources have weighed in on Apple’s decision to stop exhibiting at Macworld, here is a selection of some varying opinions.

MacOSXHint’s Rob Griffiths:

The most-affected group, I think, will be the Mac fans who made the annual trek to the Expo. Speaking as one of those folks—yes, it’s my job to go, but I still have a blast going—I’ll definitely miss the keynote, the One More Things, the cool new products (not just from Apple but the other vendors as well), and that great psychological kick I get from seeing the show every year. But those aren’t the things I’ll miss the most.

Instead, what I’ll really miss is the once-a-year chance to meet with people who I would otherwise never get to meet in the flesh.

CNBC’s Jim Goldman:

I can tell you that sources inside the company tell me that Jobs’ decision was more about politics than his pancreas. Sources tell me that if Jobs for some reason was unable to perform any of his responsibilities as CEO because of health reasons, which would include the Macworld keynote, I should “rest assured that the board would let me know.”

Time’s Josh Quittner:

Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, deflected any questions about Jobs’ health. When asked if Jobs canceled because of illness, Dowling said, “Phil is giving the keynote because this is Apple’s last year in the show, and it doesn’t make sense for us to make a major investment in a trade show we will no longer be attending.” Asked again about Jobs’ health, Dowling gave a similar answer, never using the word Jobs or anything related to his condition.

Macworld.com’s Jason Snell:

I’m stunned that Apple has taken a 25-year-old event that has been the single best meeting place for the entire community of users and vendors of Apple-related products and treated it like a piece of garbage stuck to the bottom of its shoe. But I’m not really surprised: Apple has been leading up to this moment for a long time now.

John Siracua writing for Ars Technica:

Though painful and jarring in the short term, these kinds of moves are a big part of what makes Apple great. While other companies are paralyzed with indecision, or cling relentlessly to what has worked in the past, or are seduced by sentimentality, Apple is busy murdering its darlings. Though such dramatic moves often appear foolhardy to its more cautious competitors, Apple usually has the last laugh, working through the initial pain to find itself in a much better position down the road—a winning position.