It’s the night before an Apple event. You know, the time just before the Apple Store being down sends ripples of excitement through the blogosphere. Now’s a time for one last reflection on the finalized rumors laid out in the past several hours. But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to talk about expectations.
I’ve been to all but one of the past two years worth of Apple events. And for the several years prior to that, I followed along online on sites like this one, with the rest of you. These past two years there has been a noticeable trend immediately following these events: Disappointment.
Now, the degree of disappointment varies, but there always seems to be an overall feeling that people are walking away unsatisfied in some way. The reason for this is obvious: Apple is a victim of its own success. It has spent so many years doing large keynote addresses with “one more thing…” that when it has more recently tried to scale back its events a bit, the public was left expecting the same string of “wows.”
And of course, Steve Jobs has taken a major step back recently from these events due to his health situation, but even before he left, the “wows” seemed to be not as plentiful as in years past. I can’t even recall the last time there was a true “one more thing…” (maybe the Apple TV, then called iTV?) and the last major new product that seemed to draw out the “wows” was probably the MacBook Air — which was unveiled in January 2008.
But I’m not sure I would even count that as a truly “wow” moment. The talk of that product leaked out in the days leading up to the event, and if anything, the “wows” seemed to come from Jobs’ brilliant display of showmanship by bringing the machine out on the stage in a manilla envelope.
And the year before that, we of course had the iPhone. That was really a “wow” moment, but again, there had been no shortage of talk about it, leading up to the unveiling. No matter which way you slice it, that takes away some of the “wow” effect.
And let’s remember, both of those two previous examples were during the keynote of Macworld, a large event. Apple is no longer participating in Macworld, and instead is now focusing more on these smaller events, with WWDC likely to be its largest of the year. The biggest cheers at this year’s WWDC were probably for the price of Snow Leopard (a product Apple itself had already previewed the previous year), and the new features of the iPhone (which Apple previously had unveiled at its iPhone 3.0 event). The new iPhone 3GS was the main event, but everyone already knew basically everything about it beforehand.
The biggest surprise may have been the $99 iPhone. Which again, wasn’t all that surprising.
My point is that in this day and age, it’s simply very, very hard for any company, even Apple, to keep new products a secret. And because the blogosphere has grown to the size that it now is, the news of new products penetrate the mass media. Sure, some product rumors are bogus. But anyone who follows this stuff closely enough can pretty accurately guess what is coming when Apple takes the stage.
Let’s try it. What are we going to see tomorrow? iPods with cameras, iPod storage increases with price cuts, iTunes 9, and the “Cocktail” albums. There are various sources on all of that stuff (with iTunes 9 probably being the shakiest), and all seem like sure bets, and seem like exactly what we’re going to get.
But still, whether we admit it or not, we’re all holding out hope for that “one more thing…” Some want it to be the tablet, some want new Apple TVs, some want products we’ve never even heard of. The likelihood of any of those? Very, very small.
I’m no different. I write about my desire for The Beatles on iTunes, and dreams of iTunes going to the cloud. Neither are going to happen tomorrow, but I still hold out hope. And that, in turn, leads to some level of disappointment when the show wraps.
And I’m fine with working myself up to be let down, because I know that most of these things we dream about will be a reality in the future (the tablet, The Beatles on iTunes). And I enjoy thinking about the future. But I know that many of you work yourselves up with these huge expectations and then are pissed off when Apple doesn’t meet them. “New iPods, that’s all?”
Apple still certainly has the ability to surprise, because Steve Jobs is known to make product unveiling decisions at the last second. But in recent years, we’ve known about all of the products beforehand, even the ones he chooses not to go with. That’s hardly Apple’s fault, they’d have to develop a product with absolutely no outside help in order to truly keep something on lockdown these days. And considering that not even Apple has the capacity to make every single thing it needs internally, that’s going to be very hard to achieve ever again.
The bigger picture is that by continually waiting to be surprised at these events, we often overlook some of the subtle and interesting things Apple is doing with its products. That will probably be the case again tomorrow. I’m going to try to remember that, but I probably won’t be able to get some damn Beatles song out of my head.
oh i am waiting so much for a new iphone launch.
Apple being a product of Macworld, but instead it is now focusing more on the smaller events,like WWDC. Apple even being a No.1 organization in the globe keeps its new products a secret because of many blogospheres. But any one who watches the stuff closely enough can pretty accurately guess what is Apple’s next product! I have lost hope regarding the surprise element,but we can feel good that this company is keep on churning out special products!
Expectations are always dangerous. Half of the expectations has already proved to be rumors before the event.
Now after hours of the great event lead to very great disappointments. Apple loses itself because of its decisions.
Journalism in this piece: zero.
did you mean to say, “priceless”?
+1
Why o why does everyone want Beatles on iTunes? Who gives a rats? Sometimes I think people just want excuses to give Apple money… Kinda like stockholm syndrome. I love apple products and have forked out a fair amount but the beatles thing… it’s not going to sound any different coming from iTunes!
It is going to sound different than the original analog recordings which is pretty much a travesty, but a travesty that makes a lot of money for widows and other heirs. John Lennon forgot to include the line “imagine there’s no Intellectual Property” in his so-called Communist Manifesto.
I’ve loved the Beatles music and mythology since I was a kid although I was born when they had already split. But 40 years later, it just looks shameful to keep on milking the same tunes, no matter how good they were.
You are reading a blog not NYT. Bloggers are not journalists.
NYT writers aren’t journalists, either, for the most part.
SKY news interviewed Yoko Ono and she said the back catalogue was going to be available on iTunes
http://www.beat...-to-itunes.html
then SKY pulled the headline, probably due to the relase date of the PR statement
I think consumers are burdening Apple all the time with HUGE expectations so even products like iPhone 3GS or an iPod with a Camera are not considered exciting enough.
Please realise that coming up with an iPod or an iPhone or maybe a Mac needs extensive research, funding and above all a lot of time. Dont expect out of the world stuff every year. Once every 5 years is good enough.
Also I believe one of the major reason, as you mentioned, has been illness of Steve Jobs. With the kind of personality he has, he could have even made these little updates sound extremely exciting.
I haven’t lost hope and feel that this company will keep churning out special products every few years. Expecting it to be every year, is a little unfair IMO
While I agree to a degree about Apple being a victim of its own success, I place a huge amount of post launch disappointment squarely in the lap of gadget and Apple rumour sites.
There’s always a huge media frenzy where even the vaguest snippet of possibly maybe true here say is posted as some sort of fact. And no – it’s not OK to preface it “the source is good/unknown/on drugs” as some sort of get out clause when it doesn’t happen.
Essentially, these sites whip up a frenzy of totally unsubstantiated info in the name of traffic, building up the hopes of the reader – who should take it all with a pinch of salt but doesn’t – with news of (in this case) tablets, iPods with cameras, Apple TVs with PVR, iTunes with social networking and Lord knows what other rubbish they can invent. What was funny yesterday was the massive backpeddling on the sites because they still haven’t confirmed anything that they’ve already posted.
Despite what they may say post announcement, their records aren’t great for accuracy. How many times has the tablet been rumoured to be launched? Exactly. Ultimately, I’d love to be able to keep hitting refresh during keynotes and be wowed with real actual facts from the mouth of Apple. But instead, it’s all been taken away from the end user who takes the rumours as gospel, waits for the next game changing product but is left with an empty gap where the tablet should be.
Stick to facts. Rumours have no value whatsoever.
And here’s the full list of of today’s event live coverages http://www.kost...-coverages.html
I agree with Mark , Pls stop abusing My company that I built over decades with a dumb blog post. If you continue then be ready to get a call from our Legal associates.
Steve Jobs
Someone please respond to this: What is the big deal about the Beatles on iTunes? I’m serious – I don’t get it. I am a Beatles fan and have a huge collection – all of which was either ripped from my Beatles CDs into my iTunes already or downloaded from some other source. I don’t understand why the Beatles catalog either being on iTunes or not being on iTunes is such a big deal.
it’s simple really: they’re the most popular band in history.
it’s not just that their music isnt on iTunes, it’s that it’s not available at all on the Internet (except illegally of course). sure, you could burn all the songs if you have them, but that’s still kind of a pain to do. as iTunes popularity has proven, people are fine paying for something to get it conveniently. there is no way to do that yet for the beatles.
me too – if you’re that desperate for Beatles in iTunes, buy the CDs. If you already have the CD and still want to buy them from iTunes, you must be stupid – paying again for music you already have, but this time at a lower quality. Duh!
Great for shareholders. Should be a good source of revenue.
You are really young aren’t you?? I am 25 but live in Naples, FL AKA “The waiting room” Old people that don’t have Ipods will by one now…
By the way I saw this headline by an old guy complaining about porn stars.
“The difference between the porn star and my girl friend is my girl friend did not look at me in the eye and smile when I twitter her yahoo and google over her facebook”
And one more thing will be …. a high end eBook reader mark my words, with a Pixel Qi screen so it can play media also of course and connect to your TV, and iTunes.
Apple is about innovating around devices that sell content.
You can read my full reasoning here:
http://www.shan...ple-tablet-wars
RT @skremer It’s Beatles day…9-9-9. But if you hold your laptop upside down… it’s 6-6-6. Scary.
John Buried Paul!
i thought september events have always been about new ipods?
“These past two years there has been a noticeable trend immediately following these events: Disappointment.”
I have to disagree with your opening paragraph. Disappointment is what happens when you find out the plot to the series LOST is a pointless avenue of dribble that you wasted hours of your life watching.
However small, Apple has stepped up the product line and created a brilliant marketing campaign around it.
Of course Apple disappoints, people’s expectations are much too high. Apple should not host events that often. They could learn a few things from the Football Association (FIFA), which organizes a World Cup every 4 years. If they decided to host the World Cup every year, it would lose some of its appeal.
I totally agree with you MG, when other companies have some kind of events, no one really expects something special as from like Apple.
I find this conversation amazing. If you want to call me a fanboy go ahead but the products that Apple currently have out are nothing less than a paradigm shift in how we compute, communicate and socialize. This post reminds me of the whinny teenager who was crying because her Porsche was blue and not red…But you have a Porsche! Don’t be disappointed, be patient.
You mentioning the Beatles makes me think of those screaming little girls that could barely remain conscious when they saw the Beatles on their first visit to America. MG, I imagine that you must act a lot like those little girls at the Apple events you attend. You should take a deep breath. When you work yourself up like that, it’s no wonder you get disappointed.
Amazon Germany just started offering a Beatles on Apple mug. Guess that is another leak of the upcoming news about the Beatles on iTunes:
http://www.amaz...;pf_rd_i=301128
I predict a Beatles-branded iPod fully loaded with every Beatles track ever recorded… and never before published photos preloaded in the Photo album….and comes with a case decorated like the Seargent Pepper’s album cover.
Just a guess.
Where can I find the live posting of the event?
iTunes to “the cloud”?? WHAT cloud? As far as I am concerned, if I have to access iTunes anywhere other than my physically logged into computer – its in “the cloud”. Buzz words get old, fast. The “cloud” has been around as long as there were networks and a need to access a resource on a remote computer…
iTunes to “the cloud”?? WHAT cloud? As far as I am concerned, if I have to access iTunes anywhere other than my physically logged into computer – its in “the cloud”. Buzz words get old, fast. The “cloud” has been around as long as there were networks and a need to access a resource on a remote computer…
And really – who cares about the Beatles. if this is all about the Beatles then its a non-event. My God, Beatles are 40 years ago. Move on.
I agree Beatles are so 40 years ago. Good music but come on already.
Well I think Apple should be letting users able to “update” their iphones through OTA UPDATES!!! I can’t even BUY AN IPHONE 3GS BECAUSE I DON’T OWN A COMPUTER!
that’s the WHOLE REASON I WANT AN IPHONE!!! Apple sucks. 
For occasional updates, why can’t you just borrow your granddaughter’s netbook?
Post event – blog title rings true.
Liking iTunes 9 though would have preferred to see a total sea change rather than an evolution. Playing it safe.
You mentioning the Beatles makes me think of those screaming little girls that could barely remain conscious when they saw the Beatles on their first visit to America. MG, I imagine that you must act a lot like those little girls at the Apple events you attend. Today, try to take a deep breath. When you work yourself up like this, it’s no wonder you get disappointed.