It’s around 9pm here in Bangalore. In about an hour’s time from now, Steve Jobs will address the 2008 Worldwide Developer’s Conference in far away San Francisco. I am planning to follow the announcements in the conference via live coverage from the various blogs, Mac & gadget sites. Isn’t this bizarre? After all, the expected highlight of the conference is the new version of a mobile phone. And here I am thousands of miles away (and I am sure there are many like me following this event), getting all excited. I am not sure what the new version is all about, it is not likely to be a cure for cancer and I am not likely to get my hands on it for months. Yet, the brand evokes this kind of fanatic following. Awesome.
As I write, the blogs are agog like excited children about the Apple Online Store being ‘down’, in anticipation of the new iPhone announcement. Speculations abound on what is going to be launched today apart from the 3G iPhone – relaunch of .Mac, OS 10.6 announcement – are a few. In India, the news of this impending launch is making the headlines. I caught a glimpse of the news on the iPhone on CNBC. The business dailies in India carried the news this morning. Typically, news on Apple evokes reactions like ‘I hate Apple’ or ‘iPhone sucks’ – and the Rediff discussion board is no different.
Last year saw the announcement of iPhone. What will it be this time around?I am going to find out, minute by minute.