With the September Apple Event date set just six days away, AAPLinvestors has compiled a chronology of past Apple Events and their accompanying imagery, as well as the title of the invitation. In October 2001, Apple said “Hint: It’s not a Mac.” And the first iPod was unveiled.
Some invites have been verbose for Apple, for the September 2005 event the invite said “1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again.” The first iPod Nano was released that fall. The invitation for an April 2007 event was very clear, proclaiming “Lights Camera ?” and introducing Final Cut Studio 2 and Final Cut Server. Other invites have been more cryptic, with broad statements like “Let’s Rock” in September 2008 (new gen iPod Nano and Touch, and new iTunes 8) or “Come see our latest creation” in January of this year, heralding the introduction of the iPad.
Yesterday’s invitation had no message and only an image of an acoustic guitar with an Apple logo shaped soundhole. What could this mean? The internets are abuzz with speculation. First, most are in agreement that it will be a music focused event, after all, guitars are a musical instrument right? This seems to pour cold water on the idea that they’ll introduce new Apple TV or iTV or whatever they’re going to call it. So that leaves iPods, and iTunes related announcements.
Could it be iTunes in the cloud? Some speculation has it that because an acoustic guitar is wireless and doesn’t need plugging in to make sound, that iTunes streaming is coming. It’s a stretch, but not entirely implausible. We’ve all been waiting for the other shoe to drop since Apple acquired Lala in December 2009.
Another long shot is the addition of the Beatles catalog to iTunes. Apple Corps, EMI and Apple Inc. have been in discussions for what seems like forever. While it would be nice, recent reports suggest that such a deal is a long way off.
Perhaps it should be telling that Apple released only an image and no text. Is Apple giving itself a lot of latitude here, so that they can announce whatever they want? The mystery deepens, and if there’s one thing Apple is good at, it’s keeping us guessing.
Image via Sean Rogers.
