ProngWeek: Christmas in January?

January 4, 2010 by Bill Palmer

Gifts start arriving in January, one 2009 trend that needs to go away, and something about a rented stage in San Francisco. Quick hits from around the league…

• I can remember a time, not so long ago, when a major new album of music was either released in the spring or the fall, as those were widely considered the two best chances to make a wide impact. Based on the blitzkrieg of new music hitting the market this first week of January, you have to wonder if maybe things really are changing after all. Or maybe Hallmark just misprinted all the calendars.

• As “new accessory introduction season” begins in earnest this month for the iPhone and iPod universe, one question looms: do you, as a userbase, or even as platform enthusiasts, find accessories exciting anymore? Sure, the economic pullbacks of the past year have caused users to do less accessorizing lately, but even that aside, I can only think of two or maybe three new iPhone or iPod accessories released in 2009 that actually got me excited in terms of opening up new possibilities. Lest you think I’m just getting jaded in my sixth year of covering accessories, I can tell you that those few products that were exciting got me really excited – although perhaps only because they were so few and far between. Sure, we’ve reviewed our fair share of five-star products this year, but I’m talking about game changers.

Too many iPod and iPhone accessories that I tested in 2009 represented either cautious evolutionary baby-steps forward, or (often) clumsy attempts to reduce the price tag $30 by removing $50 worth of features. Here’s hoping that this year the accessory makers will take a cue from app developers (who seem to be having no problem selling their wares, down economy or not) and go back to being innovative – and dare I say it, interesting. By the time Macworld 2010 wraps up six weeks from now, the tone for hardware accessories will have largely been set for the year. Fingers crossed.

• If there’s one thing that’s certain about Apple’s press events, it’s that everything about them is unpredictable. I’ve tried to avoid any wild speculation about what an Apple Tablet might or might not mean for the future of mobile computing (show me what it can do first), but I can tell you that the rumors of Apple rolling out the tablet this month just don’t add up. Supposedly, Apple has reserved the Yerba Buena center in San Francisco for a late January press event. Even if Apple has indeed secured the date, it doesn’t mean anything will actually happen on that date – just that Apple wants to keep its options open – but the location just doesn’t make sense. Having been to a number of these events, I can tell you that Apple’s events at Yerba Buena, which is relatively tiny, are generally of the low-key variety; the large scale announcements tend to be next door at Moscone West, while the smallest ones (think iPod Hi-Fi) are on Apple’s campus.

A tablet would presumably be Apple’s biggest product rollout in some time, and I just can’t imagine them hosting it at a place as small as Yerba Buena. If there is to be a January event at a venue that small, it’s more likely to be a collection of minor updates along the lines of an iPod touch with a camera or iTunes 9.5 with a few new features.

Then again, any conjecture about what Apple might announce in the future, or when it might happen, is a great way to look foolish in public. If these years of covering the company’s product launches have taught me anything, it’s that Apple announces the new goods when it’s good and ready – and no one in the room will know for sure what’s about to be announced until we hear it coming out of Steve’s mouth.

In the mean time, have fun spending the month placing your wagers.