'The Beat Goes On' Rumor Wrapup: Winners

[MacRumors]

After each major event, MacRumors provides a wrapup of rumors to reveal the sources of the most accurate (or inaccurate) information.

On September 5th, Apple held a media event which introduced a number of new products and services. These included the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, WiFi iTunes, iTunes with Ringtone Support, Apple/Starbucks Partnership, 8GB iPhone Price Drop.

While watching the keynote, what was striking was how many of the rumors surrouding the event were true. Our Rumor Roundup touched on many of the announcements with reasonable accuracy.


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[NOV]

I predicted the iPod Yellow Submarine. I guess I failed.

 

[AdMan2007]

Find new sources Arn

9to5mac surprised everyone, including me. I would say their sources are by far the most accurate, at least this last round anyway. I mean really, a PSD file screenshot? That's from someone well commected in the chain of all things Apple.

 

[nismo]

9to5 mac was dead on with the nanos but ever since the first video iPod came out I envisioned as well many of you I believe a full screen touch iPod. It only makes sense.

 

[Squonk]

legal SHOULD request some of the fake mock-ups to be removed to keep us all guessing as long as they don't raise the prices to pay for this!

 

[Unspeaked]

9to5mac is totally THE site to beat for Mac rumors at the moment.

Their recent predicitions have been uncanny; they certainly have someone on the inside!

 

[tkidBOSTON]

Itd be interesting to see wraps done by source rather than by rumor, to see the hits and misses of different information providers.

Just a thought.

 

[KindredMAC]

I was totally shocked at how accurate the rumors were even going only 2 days prior to the event. The fact that the iPod touch's name was even accurate!!!!!

Holy Crow! Apple's got some loose lips over in Cupertino.

What happened to the good old days of totally false rumors being pumped up and people believing only to find out how totally wrong they were???? Examples: iHome, original iMac G5 elevator shots, crumpled up photo of the white Power Mac G5...

I kind of miss those days of the whole "bait 'n switch"!

 

[marco114]

Just wanted to say...

Arn: You keep great notes and I'm constantly impressed how in-depth your Rumor Roundups are. Great work as usual. (However, I do like to be surprised now and then, but it's too hard to stay away from here )

I can't decide which iPod to buy.

 

[SirOmega]

First, nice roundup arn. I really like these "reviews".

I'm also surprised how much info leaked out of Apple with this release. I wouldnt be surprised if Apple's internal security folks start pushing harder to find leakers. I'm sure Steve doesn't like mockups and UI videos online weeks before a product launch.

I suppose the next stop on the Apple Product Express is Leopard in October/November.

 

[jamespa66]

I predicted the iPod Yellow Submarine. I guess I failed.

Maybe when the Beatles hit itunes? I won't discount your prediction yet.

 

[hackand]

Actually, the "mockup" of the iPod touch (link) is actually a picture of the final product.

If you compare it to an official pic, you'll notice it's the exact same thing. So it's not really a mockup, it was a blatant leak.

 

[Squonk]

I can't decide which iPod to buy.

It's not like the good old days of "I want an iPod" anymore. Now it's more like "I need a nano for running, a touch or an iPhone depending on your cell phone needs, and I gotta have the 160GB to carry all your music and photo's with you at all times." YIKES

 

[sartinsauce]

You know, like most people, I thought that photo of the 5 nanos was a fake. In fact, I even thought it was a fake after Apple Legal requested it's removal. I just figured they were smoking out their leaks.

I wanna go back to some of those threads and see how many people were screaming "Fake!" or "Worst Photoshop job I've ever seen!"

 

[Peace]

This part from the USA Today interview with Jobs caught my eye :

"Q: Many people already have Beatles music on CDs. Will they really buy it online if they already own it?

A: I do expect them to, yes. That's been the case with other music, as well.

I own every Bob Dylan album ever, but I buy a lot of it on iTunes, because I guess I'm just too lazy to rip it from the CD."


Jobs actually "buys" music from iTunes?

 

[iShak]

9to5mac were absolutely spot on with their predictions ... the best in the business at the moment in my opinion.

 

[stompy]

9to5mac surprised everyone, including me. I would say their sources are by far the most accurate, at least this last round anyway. I mean really, a PSD file screenshot? That's from someone well commected in the chain of all things Apple.

I was more surprised by Digitimes. They're now 3 / lifetime.

The amazing part is 3 / last 3.

 

[nagromme]

Congrats, 9to5mac. Now please mention an ultrathin laptop for the holidays

In addition, Vunet seems to have gotten it partly right with their HD radio "buy now" rumor:

https://www.macrumors.com/2007/09/07/hd-radio-itunes-tagging-feature-announced/

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

IMO Apple is doing a good job keeping secrets if it's important.

Look at companies like Sony and Microsoft... psp, ps3 and xbox360 price drops were revealed before the actual price drops, some even posted ads from circuit city. Has the same ever happened to Apple? Even just for the new iPods?

 

[commonpeople]

It's so great to see how posters consistently overestimate their ability to distinguish fake from real. A bit like how everyone thinks they can tell the difference between audio compression rates (they can't).

Being a skeptic doesn't mean that you call out everything as fake and phony. It sometimes means admitting you don't know and that you'd be interested in finding out.

 

[hackand]

Jobs actually "buys" music from iTunes?

Perhaps it's only one song per year, with his yearly payment.

It's easy to tell when Jobs uses a certain Apple product regularly, though. The animations on the iPod classic and nano (3G) are sometimes choppy, therefore, Jobs doesn't really use those iPods. The mini is really gathering dust among the rest of the Mac line because Jobs doesn't use it, and therefore, doesn't care about it.

 

[Bad Paper]

Jobs actually "buys" music from iTunes?

on his salary, he can only afford to buy one song per year

 

[DTphonehome]

Apple has been awfully leaky as of late. I expect a major crackdown on Apple's part to discover the leaker(s) and fire them. (Not that I want them to, just that if I were Steve Jobs and wanted to keep products REALLY under wraps, that's what I'd have to do.)

 

[Hairball]

on his salary, he can only afford to buy one song per year

... or one ring tone of the song he purchased last year.

 

[AlwaysHopeful]

Those who were so vitriolic wrt 9to5mac mockups should be ashamed.

I have happy memories of reading 9to5macs comments stating they were right and that the doubters would have to eat their words.

Well done!!