“The buzz before a Steve Jobs presentation isn’t always based in truth, but it offers a pretty accurate picture of products people want,” Paul Boutin writes for BusinessWeek. “Did you hear Steve Jobs will unveil an iBook nano on Tuesday, Jan. 10? No, that’s not true — he has actually reinvented the Mac, transforming it from a desktop computer into a living-room entertainment console.”
“Those are just the best of a dozen rumors I found myself trading with fellow techies and journalists at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Apple wasn’t there, but since I have a regular gig reporting live from Apple’s product launch events I couldn’t stand in line for a taxi without being asked what “Steve” had planned for Macworld Expo this week,” Boutin writes. “I have no inside info, but I love the rumors. More than everyday gossip, Apple rumors have a special place in tech culture. I’m not talking about the easy guesses like an iPod with…more storage! But the credible, spreadable stories like that long-foretold video iPod. These rumors are a form of techie folklore. Like urban legends, the best stories are woven around ideas people instinctively feel to be true. The fact that they’re believed actually makes them a useful business tool.”
“The rumors that stick tend to concern products consumers really want. My fellow show-goers were sure Jobs was preparing a home media center that either uses Intel’s (INTC) new Viiv platform — or its equivalent — for downloading, sharing, and moving around high-definition video with an interface more like TiVo than a desktop computer,” Boutin writes. “I have no idea what’s up Steve’s sleeves. But based on what he’s supposedly going to unveil, I can forecast the success of the gear I saw at CES: Tablet PCs will go nowhere. Windows Vista doesn’t really matter — it’s Windows, so we’ll use it no matter what. SanDisk will soon replace laptop drives with flash cards. And Intel’s Viiv will become the standard home entertainment companion to a new flat-panel TV. If it happens, remember you read it first on MacRumors.com.”
Full article here.
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WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
iPod pequeno and iPod invisia!
I really think they will unveil iFelatio
3rd
I don’t get the macrumors reference. He just listed his impressions of what he saw at CES, which was somewhat insightful, and then mentions macrumors? Funny, but what?
I’m still waiting for the rebirth of the Newton as a touch sensitive panel for doing everything remotely around the hifi/ Mac mini etc. ( like the Phillips Pronto – but in a Apple, user friendly way). And, being wifi / bluetooth, a device that could be used on the move either as a true upod video or as a tablet for important, on the move computer programmes, scheduler, calander – well, NEWTON like !!
SJ said never, but he said that about other things a few years before standing on his head.
Actually, if you want pure sex on a screen then it’s going to be the Mac Nano:
– Size of large phone
– Full OSX
– Touch sensitive screen
– Phone
I want one – I’ll do anything, anything at all for one. PLEASE APPLE have these for us…
My blood pressure is rising…
max: funny that, I wrote my bit and only then read yours.. I think we sound like we want the same thing!
I don’t think Apple has to be creative at all. They just keep a tight lid on everything they do. That gins up the rumor mill, and then they just pick out and implement the best ideas that the rumor mill generates.
Foxtrot tells us how to get the secrets here.
I agree in general that rumor/news sites are a good thing. But I don’t agree with what O’Grady did last week, seeding the rumor that Apple would announce big-screen HDTVs with MacOS X inside. This inflates expectations, most dangerously in the “analysts.”
1. If it’s false, expectations get dashed, stock drops.
22. If it’s true, it’s a blockbuster, and I’d rather let Steve have the fun of announcing it.
stock drops se we can buy, and when june comes around, it will go through the roof.
Here’s a rumor. Autodesk will finally announce Autocad on the Mac. Please, Please, Please, Please.