Being that there's so much news about possible hardware (phone) announced, it's obvious that Apple just wants to make it clear that this is a software event. I believe Schiller has said so much not that long ago. I can understand though, why people are chomping at the bit for a new iPhone... June is the standard month for new hardware and people want the new one. Duh.
That said...
Three benefits jump to mind for an all-software keynote:
1) It's WWDC so it needs to focus on what developers do, write software.
2) Helps push iPhone to a later date in September to help a lackluster iPod announcement.
3) Mainly, keeps the focus on the new iCloud service, Lion and iOS 5. If a phone was announced, that's all that the press would talk about. They would mention the software stuff, but it would not be a very big part of the story. Hardware always undermines software announcements.
I know I sounded a little negative earlier, but I am excited for this keynote.
Although, truth be told, I want my new iPhone! I'm still carrying around a 1st generation iPhone and to say it's long in the tooth is putting it mildly. It is soooo slow compared to new iPhones. But I refuse to upgrade to something new when AT&T would charge my data plan $10 more for service it does not offer in my podunk world. It would $20 extra for my wife and I for the same EDGE service. I am switching to Verizon when the next iteration comes out of Cupertino!
updated one of their operating systems (including adding new features) and it wasn't an improvement over the last?
