Apple's big event: A scorecard

The suspense is finally over: Apple's hotly hyped 09/09/09 event has come and gone, leaving us only with the inevitable task of analysing it till our "i" keys collapse with exhaustion.

The suspense is finally over: Apple's hotly hyped 09/09/09 event has come and gone, leaving us only with the inevitable task of analyzing it till our "i" keys collapse with exhaustion.

Despite the usual barrage of pre-event rumors (some more grandiose than others), the event turned out to be relatively mundane this go-round. Here's a scorecard of some of the Apple 09/09/09 predictions and how they compared with what actually went down.

Prediction: Steve Jobs will take the stage for the first time since his medical leave.

The pundits got this one right: Jobs was at the Apple event in all his glory, talking iPods and saying he was "loving every day" being back in the saddle.

Of course, that means the analysts who said Jobs wouldn't show are eating crow this afternoon -- as are the failed forecasters who thought S. J. might pop in wearing an elaborate disguise.

Prediction: That pesky ol' Apple tablet will finally be unveiled.

Sound the game show buzzers: We have our first loser. To be fair, plenty of people said the thus-far-mythical tablet wouldn't make it to this week's Apple event, but others held onto hope that it would. The good news, though: The tablet's continued omission from any official announcement means the Apple rumor mill still has plenty of fodder for the next few months.

Prediction: The iPod Touch will get a video camera and the Nano will get a still camera.

Close, but no cigar. Despite the confident iPod Touch video predictions, it turned out to be the other way around: The iPod Nano got the video camera, part of Apple's plan to better compete with popular pocket-sized video devices such as the Flip. The iPod Touch, on the other hand, saw a dropped price and increased performance: The 8GB version will now sell for $US199 ($US30 less than before); the 32GB will go for $US299 ($US100 less than before); and a new 64GB iPod Touch will run $399 (the old price of the 32GB model). Both the 32GB and 64GB versions are said to be 50 percent faster than previous models.

Prediction: iTunes will get a major upgrade.

A-plus, future-predictors! iTunes 9 did indeed debut at the 09/09/09 event, packing such added functionality as Genius Mixes, a beefed up iTunes Store, and better application management.

Prediction: Apple will launch its new "Cocktail" album format.

Another home run here, though the name has changed: The project previously known as "Cocktail" came into the world with the slightly more sensible "iTunes LP" moniker. With iTunes LP, you can get music, photography, liner notes, and other special features when purchasing an entire album's worth of songs.

Prediction: The Beatles will come together on iTunes.

Despite today's debut of The Beatles: Rock Band, the fab four did not make it down the long and winding road into iTunes inclusion, as some had expected they might. Nor did the surviving Beatles show up to perform. Norah Jones did, though. That's something.

Prediction: There'll be a new Apple TV, a new iMac, an iPod Classic with a camera, and a discontinuation of the iPod Classic line.

Swing and a miss, times four. Good thing, too, as those last couple predictions would have been tough to pull off together.

JR Raphael stores his own crystal ball at eSarcasm, his new geek humor site. You can keep up with him on Twitter: @jr_raphael.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags AppleiPhoneiTunesipodsteve jobs

More about AppleGeniusLPRock

Show Comments
[]