Comments on: What is it about Apple that inspires irrational speculation?

By: Hoby

Hoby — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 07:43:33 +0000

It’s because some Apple customers are irrational people. We’re not satisfied with things as they are, we hope for things as we’d like them to be. We’re dreamers, creatives, and we’re not afraid to make our speculations heard.

Similarly to how science fiction greatly influences real science, we expect our imagination to have some effect on Apple’s innovation.

By: Rick O'Neil

Rick O'Neil — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:16:20 +0000

Thats why I like Michael’s “take it for what it is” approach to rumors. He doest fuel the fire of rumors and speculation, he sets off the smoke detectors.

By: krye

krye — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:01:10 +0000

@Rick

Good point.

I hate when Apple releases something extraordinary, something way ahead of the competition, something game changing, and itâ€™s met with utter disappoint and criticism by the fanboys because it didnâ€™t live up to the hype, speculation and rumor mongering.

By: Random Guy

Random Guy — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:58:05 +0000

Apple is a forward thinking company whose products may not be first to the party, but are often game-changers when they do appear (as in iPod and iPhone). If Apple enters a market where the current product mix is not very good (as in cell phones), their reputation for getting the details right where others have failed creates buzz.

By: krye

krye — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:57:04 +0000

People fantasize about future Apple products because they want them. They hope for them. No, they lust for them! No one considers the business aspects of such a device. No one considers the market or the finances involved, the costs of good, markups. The iTablet is the perfect example of Apple fans wanting a device without considering what it would take to actually bring it to market. Sure, we’d all love one because it would be sooo cool! But really, could Apple make money on such a device? And is the market even ready for it?

Everyone wants Cinema Displays with built in iSight cameras. Everyone justifies their inevitable existence based on nothing other than the fact that it would be awesome to have one, along with 32G 3g iPhones and Multitouch MacBook Pros!!!

The funny thing is, as with a lot of these rumors, eventually, maybe 3 years, 5 years, someone is going to be right. Right?

By: Rick O'Neil

Rick O'Neil — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:51:06 +0000

I think it’s because Apple set such a high bar… and because they keep things as secret as possible until Steve is ready to tell everyone himself. Because of that people expect everything Apple touches will turn to gold and they want to speculate on what the next “thing” will be so they can say “they were right”. The unfortunate side is that while Apple has been vastly more successful than most companies, and created some revolutionary products, it’s impossible for them to always live up to the expectations that everyone has for them.