A high-tech minidrama played itself out last week during Steve Jobs' presentation of the new iPhone.

On Monday, Mr. Jobs was doing one of his patented "reveals" at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. During these speeches, he unveils a new product -- in this case the new iPhone 4 due June 24 -- and then tells us how it will change the world.

The drama began when Mr. Jobs tried to compare the improved resolution of the screen of the iPhone 4 with that of the current phone. He tried to do this by connecting over the Internet to the New York Times Web site.

But the phone would not connect, making Mr. Jobs grumpy. "We're having a little problem here," he said.

When he said he didn't know the cause of the problem, some wiseacre in the audience yelled, "Verizon." This made Mr. Jobs grumpier.

"Verizon" was a rude reference to the fact that the iPhone, to the displeasure of many, is only available on the AT&T network, which has poor 3G coverage in the San Francisco area.

On the defensive now, Mr. Jobs said the connection was WiFi. This caused a snicker in the press box because it appeared Apple didn't trust AT&T's 3G network enough to use it in a demo.

Then Mr. Jobs, by this time well past having a good day, did the unthinkable. "You know, you could help me out if you're on WiFi, if you could just get off, I'd appreciate it," he said.

He told everyone in the audience to set his or her laptop on the floor and asked neighbors to check on neighbors. And he sent his Apple minions through the audience encouraging the abandonment of WiFi.

Now remember this was an event Apple set up to promote their new phone. The audience was filled with journalists and bloggers using WiFi connections to blog Mr. Jobs' every word back to their media outlets.

So the audience laughed when he made his request.

"Wait, Steve is really asking everyone to stop live blogging?" Ryan Block of gdgt.com wrote. "They're serious!"

But this baffled Mr. Jobs. "I am Steve," he thought, "I created the iPhone. I created the iPad. And I have issued a direct order."

So he gave them a choice.

"If you want to see the demos, there's no way to do it," Mr. Jobs said. "Set them on the floor."

Then he continued his presentation. And when the next part that required WiFi came up, Mr. Jobs said he would "find out" if enough of the audience had obeyed.

The WiFi connected and the audience cheered. Mr. Jobs was in charge again.

But he was not about to let it go. For his trademark "one more thing" at the end of the keynote, he unveiled FaceTime, a new video chat service on the iPhone 4.

When the connection stuttered, Mr. Jobs complained about portable hotspots within the Moscone Center. He said the video chat "never" freezes up.

Still, the wrath of Mr. Jobs was not to be appeased. He told Apple designer Jony Ives through FaceTime, "I'm doing OK, except for these guys who aren't turning their WiFi off."

He then remarked that "Star Trek"-style communicators, previously a creation of science fiction writers, are "real now, especially when people turn off their WiFi."

An Apple engineer told PC World that there were 527 WiFi hot spots set up in the room. Most of them, he said, were MiFi devices, which connect to the Internet via 3G wireless networks and set up a local WiFi hotspot that can be used by up to five devices. More than 1,100 devices were connected to those and other local WiFi networks set up by attendees.

This either taxes the spectrum (WiFi is a radio-based technology) or causes WiFi pollution, which occurs when there are too many wireless networks in an area, and the overlapping channels can cause slower speeds or dropped connections. The iPhone 4 couldn't decide which WiFi network to connect to.

In any case, it ruined Mr. Jobs day. "Why didn't anyone anticipate these problems?" he must have thought to himself.

Heads may roll.

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