Wednesday, April 30, 2008 -- 11:42 a.m. -- on my couch

Part of my ritual every day is to look around the Internets to see what people are reporting about the iPhone. I read a lot of things that I've known, a lot of things that I'd never publish without getting confirmation from Apple and a lot of things that make me want to spit milk from my news they make me laugh so hard.

But inevitably, like clockwork, the iPhone well of information starts to dry up in cycles. Basically, people have said all they can said, speculated all they can speculate. Sometimes, it's almost a relief to not have anything new to report ... it gives time to just sit back and process all the information that's out there.

To me, and hopefully to you, the speculation is part of the fun.

I liken it to a great movie or TV show. You know it's coming. You read the reviews. You watch every extended trailer you can find. You set the DVR. You tell your kids not to make any plans or have any science fairs because there's no way you are leaving the house. We've all done it.

Hopefully when you finally get to see the show that you are happy you did. You hope it lives up to the incredible hype and buzz surrounding it. Sometimes it does, other times not so much.

The iPhone is just like that ... as is Apple. And someone out there is always trying to tell you a plot line or an ending that just isn't true. In the end, unless someone has seen the show ahead of time, no one really knows what's going to happen.

Welcome to my world. To our world. The iPhone is just that way. I would love to meet the people who truly have the inside information that some folks speak of. With the exception of a Far East supply company that might be making the pieces of the new iPhones, most of these people really don't have this incredible access to iPhone secrets. Most of the people with this information are a floor below Steve Jobs and trust me, they aren't talking.

Actually, I believe people speculate as though it's fact because they convince themselves they are an authority ... I think they wish that they were these super iPhone-in-the-know people that they just go with it and write as if they have the knowledge. Not too different than pretending to be someone else online and going with the flow so well that they almost start to convince themselves they are someone else.

I'm not being negative in any way ... I'm just trying to put it in perspective.

So in conclusion, let's speculate. Let's research. Let's discuss. But above all, let's have fun. While we all want to know exact measurements and costs and figures about the new iPhone, I think we all can agree that a big part of the excitement is that announcement and that little bit of shock and awe and dare I say that litle bit of disappointment. It's all part of the game.

What do you think? What's your take on the speculation game?

Thanks for calling.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451600969e200e552060a378833

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The buzz ... the wait ... the reaction:

I heard a rumor (actually from a friend who knows someone whose second cousin from his step-dad's side of the family works at Apple) that a secret function on the new 3G iPhone will provide insider info on future rollouts of the iPhone. Sorta like videogames, though, you need a secret code to access that area. But the really sneaky part is that some of that insider info will include misleading bits that do not resemble future iPhones whatsoever. So, what Apple is providing in this secret new function is a totally new platform for generating rumors, anticipation, and buzz. I wonder if Kleiner Perkins will establish a new fund for this innovative rumor platform? There certainly are plenty of folks already in this space.

SCOTT'S REPLY: I should be able to push a button on my iPhone and get all of life's answers.

Tell me about it, Scott! As it is, my iPhone seems only to provide all of life's questions with scant few promises of answers. ;-)

SCOTT'S REPLY: Ahhh, but soon the answers will all be revealed. And then we'll start having questions about the next iPhone. And the madness will never end.

I can see by reading this post that the iPhones keyboard auto corrected you when you didn't intend it to. Like news=nose. The only thing I dont like about the autocorrect feature, iPhone should know what you meant to say, right?

SCOTT'S REPLY: And what I hate is when that happens and I don't catch it when I proof. That drives me insane. My iPhone should not only know what I meant to say, it should go out right now and get me a coffee from Starbucks because I'm busy.

Hey Scott,

No offense, but your blog has gotten a little stale. While we all like to speculate on the new iphone, how about more gear reviews, cases, etc? What about some more cool webapps - like you showcased in the beginning. Teach us about some new stuff.

Granted, these are just my thoughts - I want you to keep it interesting!

Billy

SCOTT'S REPLY: Thanks, Billy.I appreciate the input. Hard for a one-man staff to do reviews and such, so I can't really do all that much with that -- and I just did a great review of a case a few days ago.

Personally, I'd like to see you spit milk from your news...

SCOTT'S REPLY: It's been a while since I've had a glass of milk, so not sure if either of these will happen anytime soon.

The comments to this entry are closed.