Apple’s Tech Tease

Perhaps New York Times tech editor Damon Darlin’s post on the Gadgetwise blog also deserved inclusion on the Times’s MediaDecoder blog. It reported on the cryptic email his office and other tech journos received today from Apple’s PR machine.

Keeping with the company’s fabled adherence to communications secrecy, the note simply announced that Apple planned an “event” in San Francisco on September 9th. It featured the iconic iPod image of a dancer, white headphones and all, with a piece of the lyric “It’s only rock ‘n roll, but we like it.”

That’s all it took to catalyze massive speculation on what the world’s most esteemed consumer electronics brand was up to. (Ahhh. If only it were this easy for most of our clients!)

Personally, I think the announcement has something to do with The Beatles’ discography finally fining its way onto iTunes, but perhaps we’ll see a new product or two. Then there’s the prospect of Steve Jobs appearing on stage where he’s been so sorely missed. What about Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in tandem? Apple just has so many “mediable” assets with which to play.

I wonder how the company’s PR department would fare working the Sanyo business?

Here are just a small handful of links to the speculation about 9/9/09 (versus 9/9/08) in SF:

  • TechSpot – “Apple Confirm iPod-Related Event for September 9”
  • MacDailyNews – “Apple to hold special media event on September 9: ‘It’s only rock and roll, but we like it’”
  • Barron’s Tech Trade Daily – “Apple Makes It Official: Music-Related Event September 9”
  • ars technica – “Apple confirms September 9, 2009 “rock and roll” event”
  • AppleInsider – “Apple confirms annual iPod event for September 9”
  • CNET News “It’s official: Apple event set for 09/09/09”
  • Computerworld – “Expectations and the Apple Event”
  • TUAW – Apple Confirms Sept. 9 Event
  • ZDNet – “Apple confirms Sept. 9, 2009 ‘rock and roll’ iPod event; new shuffle desperately needed”

Image above courtesy of CrunchGear