The wide variety of Apple watchers have one thing in common. We dig into everything Apple does or anything executives say for clues to the company’s future directions. When CEO Tim Cook speaks, we listen. Carefully. That’s how we know Apple doesn’t have plans for new products until the fall. We also know that Apple is working on a new product category launch.
Here’s how that tea leaf reading works.
Apple announced the 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference with yet another set of clues (Apple does this every year). Here’s the official announcement graphic.
Colorful, no?
What hidden meanings lurk behind this graphic design? Let’s start off with the font. Apple has used Myriad for years. Not this year. Flat, light and clean is the order of the day. My guess is that iOS 7 and OS X Lynx (I said it was my guess), now under the design control of Sir Jonathan Ive, will become flatter, cleaner, and without all the faux leather and stitching that Steve Jobs seemed to love.
I’m not sure the Roman numerals for 2013 mean much, but the design could be a reflection– reflect, as in mirror, and mirror as in AirPlay, Apple’s wonderfully clever iOS screen sharing technology which few people use.
Apple appears to be making a fashion statement with the colors of the announcement. The company has used similarly vibrant colors in previous iPod products, so maybe we’ll be treated to a variety of new colors for the iPhone 5S. Even the shape of the design should be considered suspect. It looks like the shape of the Mac mini, or the Apple TV, but could be the shape of a new iPod model or perhaps an iWatch which fits on the wrist.
Or, maybe it’s just a colorful graphic attached to the announcement and it has no meaning at all. That’s the trouble with digital tea leaves. You can never be sure what they mean until after the tea is served.