There are many rumors floating around the Net about tomorrow’s (September 5, 2007) anticipated iPod announcement.
A CNet article focuses on the new beast containing the soul of OS X:
It also seems very likely that those new iPods will run the same stripped-down version of Mac OS X found on the iPhone, something even Jobs himself hinted at during a meeting with Apple employees on the eve of the iPhone launch.
You don’t need a sophisticated operating system to play songs and TV shows, so at that point, the iPod stops being just a gadget. So, then, what exactly is it? Like the iPhone, it becomes something in between a gadget and a PC, which has been treacherous ground for the PC industry.
It almost becomes what we have been waiting for: a pocketable Mac.
I say almost because we’re still lacking the critical component that would make it so: an SDK that will allow programmers to go wild.
What if that turns out to be part of tomorrow’s announcement?
What if all along Apple has been waiting to drop that in the lap of AT&T?
January 2007 Steve Jobs: “Yes, AT&T, we will only allow people to run web apps. Must protect your network.”
September 2007 Steve Jobs: “Today we are also announcing One More Thing: Today, we are turning the iPod into Apple’s newest platform. We are releasing an SDK for free on our website. Oh, and there’s another One More Thing. All apps written for the new iPod will also run on our iPhone.”
That would be the Big Bang of Bliss. I’ve been waiting for an SDK. I want someone to develop a text editor or HTML editor for the iPhone. I want someone to create an iPhone version of Photo Toolkit. I want someone to get in there and make it possible for the iPhone to work with a Bluetooth keyboard (like mine!).
It would make the iPhone my mobile blogging device.
I can tell you an SDK announcement would have immediate effect on me. I’d stop wondering about Palm’s Foleo completely. And so would many other people.
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