Anticipation can be a mighty tool if wielded with care and elegance. The pay off, if there is one, need be masterfully unveiled with drama and awe to spare. So in the case of chronic dramatists Apple, they’ve successfully made the world pause with their countless and now near-trademarked “everything changes”/”nothing will be the same” moments. The results? Well, look in your pocket. Ok, well look down at your desk. There is a good chance you’re using some Apple-related product to read this. And if you’re not, whatever you’re listening to while you read this IS most likely playing in iTunes. Put simply, they’re tactics work.

Except when they don’t.

Today the world was exposed to the latest/greatest Apple iPhone variant, rumored for months to be the unveiling of the naturally mysterious, yet wildly popular "iPhone 5”. The rumor mill of the design community went bonkers trying to hunt down authentic images of the future design. Speculation ran wild as to what series of improvements could be made on a phone sold only a few years ago as “The Worlds Greatest Smart Phone. Period”.

So, will the iPhone 5 administer pain medication?

Will it make you more attractive and successful?

Will your life gain meaning?

At approximately 2:00pm EST, Apple answered those questions with an astoundingly resonant, No! No! and thanks-for-your-damn-interest-nerd, NO!

Apple didn’t deliver the fabled “iPhone 5” like everyone, and that includes the cultish faction of the Apple community, had expected. No, they gave us the less-than-exciting iPhone 4s.

4s?

What is that? The design is exactly the same.

YES, it's faster. YES, it's more efficient. So, 'cheers' on those two fronts. But people come to Apple for the gun show. The glitz and glitter. They want a newer/thinner/cooler looking phone that'll make their friends jealous. That's what gets the lines around the corner at their stores. These ARE status symbols, less we forget.

Has Apple reached their limit on innovation and are now resorting to allowing the rumor mill to write checks that their design can’t cash, so to speak?

What does a lackluster return say to investors and consumers who’d anticipated a big reveal?

With the pay off not nearly reaching the build-up, can Apple maintain it’s command on the worlds attention going forward as a tech brand famous for giving us a command over the ways we communicate and compute?

Well, if today's dip in their stock is any indication, they better be releasing a new laptop or flying car soon. REALLY soon.


Links to consider:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/04/apples-lets-talk-iphone-k...