Ramp down your expectations for Apple's Developer's Conference

With Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC) bearing down on us next week, it's good to start thinking about what we're going to see. Just about everyone is expecting Core 2 Duo and Xeon-based Mac Pro computers, probably in both two and four core configurations. We'll certainly see a lot of previews of Leopard, and we might see XServe's as well. For a nice roundup of some more speculative thinking, Other World Computing has some interesting speculation on Leopard being able to run Windows applications natively.

But in my opinion, anyone looking for iPod and media announcements is going to be disappointed. Why? Marketing. This is a software developer's conference. The target audience is therefore, well, developers. And while those in the know of the Apple culture understand that any Steve Jobs keynote is worth watching for surprises, Apple also wants maximum bang for its announcement buck. Another point: it's August. Much of the professional press is either just getting ready to go on vacation or just getting back from one. So announcing iPods or movie deals at the WWDC just would be a waste of announcement mojo.

So what will happen? If you're in the professional Apple watcher's ranks, start checking your mailbox regularly. Somewhere in there in the next month, you should see an invitation to one of Steve's famous special events, to be held in September. That's where you're going to see new consumer digital hub devices as well as announcements of movie deals for iTunes. My prediction: not only will we see video iPods, but we'll see iPhones, and our first all-in-one Apple HDTV system. And speaking of that, did anyone notice that Samsung already built an all-in-one 40-inch LCD with Windows XP?

So despite great anticipation driven by the Scobelizer, don't get too wrapped up in what Steve Jobs does and doesn't say next week. He's the best high-tech marketer on the planet. And the first rule of a marketer is to always keep the customers wanting more. And there's plenty of time to ramp up demand for the Christmas shopping season.

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