Much has been written about how Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 and turned the troubled company into one of the most valuable in the world—but sometimes a t-shirt just says it better. Because before we could get an iPod, iPhone or iPad, some housecleaning had to be done. And to that end, we have yet to see a shirt that better sums up how Jobs immediately went about fixing the company he co-founded than the one you see before you. A year after this shirt was handed out to a few Mac OS faithful in Boston, Jobs started going about axing every single thing this shirt represented. Shall we count the ways?

Killing The Clones: Back when the Apple's name went hand in hand with the word "beleaguered" it tried its hand at the Windows model of licensing its OS out to other companies. And for awhile Power Computer was the most successful of the bunch, eventually hitting revenues of $400 million a year. One of the first things Jobs did upon his return? Kill the licensing program and buy Power Computing in Apple stock.

Making Peace With Intel: The actual slogan that PC had Sluggo saying to try and rally the troops was not "We're Fighting Back For the Mac," it was "Let's Kick Intel's Ass!" But for various reasons that was too risque for a shirt. And it didn't work anyway! Though in 1996 Macs ran on PowerPC chips from Motorola and IBM, quickly after Jobs and his NeXT team arrived a program was set up to port the next generation Mac OS based on NeXT Step (now known as OS X) to Intel chips. It wasn't until 2005, however, when the transition was officially announced to the public.

Stopping The Spec Wars: Lots of things changed about the computer industry when Jobs came back to Apple, but one of the biggest was the disregard for specs. At the time of this shirt, that 225 Mhz speed barrier was a big deal for a Mac to cross. Now, thanks to an emphasis on the new (see: the latest iPad being named simply "the new iPad") most people don't even know how much memory they have in their iPod. 10,000 songs is not a real metric.

Expelling The Expos: Back in the day there were only so many places for Mac fans to gather both online and off, which made the Macworld Expos in Boston, SF and Tokyo incredibly important (this was long before there was a Daring Fireball and its ilk, when some of us were constantly refreshing the Apple-as-soap-opera blog As The Apple Turns for our daily fix). But Steve Jobs wasn't a fan. Though he definitely grasped the importance of the keynotes there, he didn't like being tied down to someone else's events for his announcements. In 1997 the Boston Macworld Expo was where Jobs announced a cash-infusion from archrival Microsoft (to boos) and that was pretty much it. The show moved to New York the next year, did a few years here and then, without Apple participating, had a few lackluster appearances in Boston before giving up the ghost in 2005.

Branding The Apple The strangest thing about this shirt? That neither the word Apple, or the company's famous rainbow logo (later made monochromatic by Jobs) is anywhere near it. Yes, it wasn't an Apple shirt, but that was exactly the point. At the time Power Computer was arguably making the best Apple computers out there (even if yeah, they weren't Apple computers) and here was that company putting out shirts with an IBM logo! One of the first things Jobs did upon his return was introduce the the "Think Different" ad campaign and bring the focus back on Apple the company.

Yes, in his return to Apple Jobs oversaw a major developments—but to get there he and his team first had to clean the company up. And if you could put that cleanup's roadmap on one shirt? This would be it.

While we wait for the new iPad reveal at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts today at 10 a.m., we've been looking back at rumor-mill coverage of the next generation iPad. Our favorite takeaway from the hoopla comes from Macworld, who gives us a close reading of the iPad invite text—which simply read, "We have something you really have to see. And touch."—that would make any Comparative Literature professor proud.

Touch-a, touch-a, touch-a touch me: Looking back at the invitation to the iPad event, it says: “We have something you really have to see. And touch.” The first sentence (or, for pedants, the only sentence) seemingly refers to the Retina display. But the follow-up fragment may just imply that the iPad 3 employs some sort of haptic feedback—a tactile response when you touch the screen. Of course, the “And touch” line could merely be nothing more than marketing-speak. But typing is probably the least satisfying element of using an iPad to date. Haptic feedback coupled with the on-screen keyboard might make multitouch-typing a bit easier, if you could feel some physical sensation as you “depress” the virtual keys.

Brilliant.

Stay tuned as SFist covers today's iPad release.

In a shocking orange-rind twist of unadulterated hate, last night's media preview at Macworld iWorld Expo proved a harrowing experience for your gingified SFist editor. Specifically, this piece of art showcasing a horde of redheads—zombie readheads, mind you—chasing a group of frightened non-reds. And if there's one unfair stereotype that the reds press upon the regulars to stop believing, it's this: We are neither flesh-eating nor undead.

A media colleague—who, out of fear, asked to remain anonymous (if you trace San Francisco's anti-redhead industry, it leads all the way to downtown money and several noted conservative media outlets)—explains:

Saw something tonight at the Macworld Media Preview, and of course I thought of you and took a snapshot. But the moment I took the snapshot, Security started screaming at me for taking pictures and I had to bolt. They caught me and I had to pretend I deleted it. But I still have the picture and it is attached! This is from the South Park Art Gallery at this year's Macworld. This DID NOT come from me.

Chilling.

The print is actually the work phenomenal artist Anna-Maria Jung. And any redhead with an ounce of pride should have it hanging in their flesh-eating room-- er, living room. (It's only $17.68!) It's all a part of South Park Gallery's latest exhibition featuring artists' interpretations of popular episodes of South Park. You can check out this (actually very impressive and endearing) piece of art, called "Night of the Living Gingers," at the Macworld Expo now in progress until Saturday, January 28th.

A clearer image below:

Photo by Steve Rhodes

Long gone are they days when obese Mac users fainted in line while waiting to see Steve Jobs shake his hips at Moscone.

No more Sinbad gracing the floor during the convention with his two-toned hair.

No more of that old Mac magic.

According to Violet Blue, who is at the convention with Scott Beale's Laughing Squid, the "mood here is gloomy" even with the bushels of free stuff being tossed at her. Alas.

In other Macworld Expo news, Best Buy now offers refurbished iPhones (akin to buying your Chanel at Jeremy's), and , a documentary about enthusiastic Mac users, premiers tomorrow.

Macworld Expo, the annual tech exposition of for the rabid Mac sect, won't see his Holiness Steve Jobs grace the stage come January. Apple announced today that next year is the last time the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote at this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, which will be Apple’s last keynote at the popular expo. According to Apple . the company "is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers." Speaking of reaching more people in more ways, Apple recently announced plans to sell the iPhone at garish retail chain Wal-Mart.

Jonathan Winston of Bikescape sends us this fury-inducing image he caught while wandering the catacombs of the Macworld Expo. It's a "baseball cap mounted iPhone with a handy plastic magnifying strip. Just right for watching youtube while walking down Market Street!

Save for the bald, in good conscience we cannot promote the sporting of baseball caps. And we can just imagine the streets of San Francisco turning into a blood bath if iPhone users started slowing down instead of pulling over to watch "Turkey Lurkey Time" for the eighty-fourth time. (Because we all now know to pull over to the right-hand side of the sidewalk to text or watch clips, right? Well, now you do.)

Any other shots of interesting products over at Moscone? Send them our way. SFist was there earlier today, but unkempt children attending the Expo frightened us away. Little rat bastards.