What would Steve say?
Let the games begin. It’s that time of year again. The dawn of each New Year brings out the optimism in us, with boundless prognostications of a bright future, resolutions to do better and a certain excitement in greeting the unknown and would could be. I’m not just talking about regular predictions for 2003, but more to the point, the frothing insanity of rumors, speculation and just plain hype that precedes the semi-annual address on Tuesday morning, January 7 by that master of time and space himself, Steve Jobs, iCEO of Apple Computer.
I’m talking about the opening keynote from the January MacWorld Conference, of course. If you’re clueless about what I mean, just do some Web surfing at sites like www.rumortracker.com. It will become immediately apparent that you’ve entered a world this side of that which Alice fell into. It’s one where ordinary objects suddenly grow in size to unimaginable proportions. A place where ordinary mortals become foaming maniacs, driven by their insatiable appetite for the next great new thing.
It’s all so much fun that even the PC wonks get in the act.
It all started innocently. Things like this always do. If you’ve never viewed a Steve Jobs speech, you’ve missed something. Quite simply, Steve Jobs is a riveting speaker, a cross between an old-fashioned tent revival evangelist with Anthony Robbins on steroids. Affectionately referred to as the master of the reality-distortion field, Steve Jobs could make an announcement of a zoning ordinance change sound downright fascinating. And an hour of his latest new product announcements at MacWorld is enough to whip a crowd of true believers into a complete frenzy. The guy is that good.
It’s the days leading up to the big event that the drumbeat of rumors and wild anticipation of what Steve might say that whips the Mac community into an orgasm of anticipation on what could be. It’s not enough to hope for a computer speed bump, a few new features and some software updates. In today’s lousy computer market economy, that would be reasonable. But not with the Mac crowd. No, they expect BIG things to get announced every time, the kind of earth-shattering, revolutionary introductions that suddenly make everything that came before it so very yesterday. We’re talkin’ 10ghz super-processors, Intel-driven SuperMacs, OS-12, Bluetooth everything, iSupersoftware that can change colors, not to mention the world, a new super PDA/Cell Phone and that “oh-and-one-more-thing…” something else that Steve has up his sleeve.
The fun is that the closer we get to the big day, the more insane the hype, speculation and rumors. It’s not so much what will be announced that is important, but how much the all-consuming rumor brushfire can turn into a complete hype-driven firestorm in a matter of days. Instead of the players on the field, the spectators become the sport itself. Even the proper computer news media gets into the act. The downside, of course, is that Steve can’t live up to the expectations and all the hype. So more and more, each year becomes a larger disappointment.
But if you put what Steve actually says aside, sit back, crack open a tall cool one and watch the action. The next couple of days should be a lot of fun.
Personally, that rumored Apple PDA/Phone would be a gas. But I’ll have none of it. I’ll just be happy to see the maestro himself deliver yet another fun talk. Time to get the popcorn ready.
Let the games begin. It’s that time of year again. The dawn of each New Year brings out the optimism in us, with boundless prognostications of a bright future, resolutions to do better and a certain excitement in greeting the unknown and would could be. I’m not just talking about regular predictions for 2003, but more to the point, the frothing insanity of rumors, speculation and just plain hype that precedes the semi-annual address on Tuesday morning, January 7 by that master of time and space himself, Steve Jobs, iCEO of Apple Computer.
I’m talking about the opening keynote from the January MacWorld Conference, of course. If you’re clueless about what I mean, just do some Web surfing at sites like www.rumortracker.com. It will become immediately apparent that you’ve entered a world this side of that which Alice fell into. It’s one where ordinary objects suddenly grow in size to unimaginable proportions. A place where ordinary mortals become foaming maniacs, driven by their insatiable appetite for the next great new thing.
It’s all so much fun that even the PC wonks get in the act.
It all started innocently. Things like this always do. If you’ve never viewed a Steve Jobs speech, you’ve missed something. Quite simply, Steve Jobs is a riveting speaker, a cross between an old-fashioned tent revival evangelist with Anthony Robbins on steroids. Affectionately referred to as the master of the reality-distortion field, Steve Jobs could make an announcement of a zoning ordinance change sound downright fascinating. And an hour of his latest new product announcements at MacWorld is enough to whip a crowd of true believers into a complete frenzy. The guy is that good.
It’s the days leading up to the big event that the drumbeat of rumors and wild anticipation of what Steve might say that whips the Mac community into an orgasm of anticipation on what could be. It’s not enough to hope for a computer speed bump, a few new features and some software updates. In today’s lousy computer market economy, that would be reasonable. But not with the Mac crowd. No, they expect BIG things to get announced every time, the kind of earth-shattering, revolutionary introductions that suddenly make everything that came before it so very yesterday. We’re talkin’ 10ghz super-processors, Intel-driven SuperMacs, OS-12, Bluetooth everything, iSupersoftware that can change colors, not to mention the world, a new super PDA/Cell Phone and that “oh-and-one-more-thing…” something else that Steve has up his sleeve.
The fun is that the closer we get to the big day, the more insane the hype, speculation and rumors. It’s not so much what will be announced that is important, but how much the all-consuming rumor brushfire can turn into a complete hype-driven firestorm in a matter of days. Instead of the players on the field, the spectators become the sport itself. Even the proper computer news media gets into the act. The downside, of course, is that Steve can’t live up to the expectations and all the hype. So more and more, each year becomes a larger disappointment.
But if you put what Steve actually says aside, sit back, crack open a tall cool one and watch the action. The next couple of days should be a lot of fun.
Personally, that rumored Apple PDA/Phone would be a gas. But I’ll have none of it. I’ll just be happy to see the maestro himself deliver yet another fun talk. Time to get the popcorn ready.
posted by Brian at
11:18 AM
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