Quick Word: What The?
A lot of you probably have realized that I love the fall. It’s four months of surprises, endless weeks of untold tech announcements it’s the most unpredictable time of the year however some things never change, I mean until now.
Every first week of September we hear word of an Apple Event and every year journalists and design critics make their annual pilgramage to either San Francisco, or Apple Inc’s Marconi Center to take in the company’s latest in greatest. Part fashion show part State Fair-style judging they flock to see just what Steve Job’s has come up with, just what new device does one of the world’s finest technology companies think we need, what problem will they solve?
Although this still holds true for this September 9th, one thing has unexpectedly changed, I’m not just excited to new iPods, but, and I can’t believe i’m saying this, i’m excited about a Microsoft event! You dear readers have shared your inner-most Zune related secrets for two years now and it’s time I did the same. Microsoft events are terrible. This year however it would seem that they are taking another page from Steve and his Infinity Loop crew and holding their own event to launch products on September 9th. Let’s steer past all the “Microsoft is trying to steal iPod’s spotlight” comments for the moment and take this for what it’s worth.
Although I have no official confirmation from any technology company I think it’s a pretty safe bet that no company in it’s right mind would dare announce anything during an Apple event’s news cycle, much less an MP3 player. What’s more great is that if the rumors are true they’re finally listening to everyone and doing exactly what they should have been doing the entire time, trying to control the news cycle for a change. It’s not enough to want to take on Apple, or make a better MP3 player, you have to want it, to take it from their cold dead fingers, to bask in the glory of what you’ve accomplished and more importantly to do it all in one day with a room full of reporters and a smile. I hope the September 9th event comes true, not because i’m anxious for news, but because i’m anxious to see if Microsoft has actually grown a pair.
