On Wednesday, Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins officially unveiled the company's latest smartphones. He made the announcement in style, on a big stage in New York City, surrounded by music, lights and giant video screens. The event was simulcast around the world. It seems more and more that technology companies are using large, lavish events to push their products. Ars Technica's Casey Johnston explores if these spectacles really do sell the brand, and why companies can't help themselves.


Below, a few examples of some of the more memorable tech keynotes and product launches in recent memory, starting with this Wednesday's Blackberry 10 event:



Here's Steve Jobs in 2007, introducing the very first iPhone



Qualcomm's "Born Mobile" keynote at CES 2013 this January needs to be seen to be believed:



And here's how Google introduced it's latest skunkworks project, Google Glass: