Headline September 15, 2016/ ''' A P P L E 'S ..-AMAZING-.. *A N V I L* '''

''' A P P L E 'S ..

-AMAZING-.. *A N V I L* '''

AMIDST RUMORS AND ROMPS of imagination, sighs, suspense, excitement, and anticipation,   -this is how a new Apple model, beams in...

The setting is the week leading up to the launch, the tension nail biting, and David Streitfeld misses just about nothing

IF APPLE HAD ITS WAY,  the week before the launch would play out like Christmas for  5-year olds. First, unbelievable anticipation.  Then, great surprise. At the end, immense satisfaction.

When the latest iPhone is unveiled here on Wednesday in a 7,000 seat auditorium, it probably will instead be more like Christmas for a sneaky 10 year-old who  long ago peeked at his present. Thanks. That's it?  

Anyone who cares about the iPhone knows that to know that a new model is being released this month already knows what it is supposed to be like:

A little thinner, a little faster and equipped with superior cameras on the Plus model. 

By far the most controversial feature, however, is the one that will be missing: a headphone jack. A standard element of technology that can be traced back to 1978, the jack is apparently going the way of the floppy disk and the folding map. The future will be wireless.

We know about this potential absence thanks to a  global information chain, one that shadows the supply and manufacturing chain that produces Apple's products. The shadow chain is intended to ferret out Apple rumors, promoting them, discussing them and then discussing them some more, long before they become facts.

This rumor mill is both a gift and a burden, a sign that has not lost its magic and warning that everyone is on watch for the moment it does. No other company is tracked quite so relentlessly.

Under its co-founder  Steve Jobs, Apple relished its ability to keep news under wraps and went to great lengths   -legally and otherwise  -to make sure it remained that way. ''There's one more thing, and we've managed to keep it secret,'' Mr. Jobs exulted in 1999 as he introduced iMacs in colors like blueberry and tangerine. ''It's hard to believe, but we did it.''

It was an ambition that his successor,  Timothy D. Cook underlined at a press conference four years ago. ''We're going to double down on secrecy on products,'' he said.

Things have not quite worked that way.

''When Steve Jobs was around, there was still that hope they could surprise you,'' said Gene Munster, an Apple analyst. ''Today, that hope is largely gone.''    

The long road to unraveling that week's surprises began last November, less than three months after the iPhone  6s had debuted to gangbuster first weekend sales. 

The Japanese website  Mac Otakara, considered generally a reliable source of information that has ties to the factories manufacturing the phone, wrote about Apple removing the jack in the next iPhone under the heading  ''rumor''. 

So, for anyone ready to go wireless, the story said, wired earphones would plug into the  iPhone via Apple's Lightning connector, which is typically used for charging power. Traditional headphones would presumably work through a converter.

This was big: ''Headphones are one of the most basic functions, so this is something that's going to affect users of all kinds,''  said Eric Slivka, editor-in-chief of MacRumors/com. ''I immediately knew that it would be an extremely controversial topic all the way until launch.''

A post on the Macrumors size, drawing from the Mac Otakara story, including a cautionary  note that began, ''Should this prove to be true.''

The post received  1,100 comments from Apple's aficionados who had no doubt that it was and who, in general, did not like the idea of no jack. Cellphones were once like bricks, but losing the jack so that the iPhone could be even thinner was felt by some to be a bad bargain.

''Any thinner I'll lose it into the time-space continuum forever,'' one commenter joked.

MacRumors exists for these kinds of moments. So does AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac, and similar sites in various languages, all  of which picked up the news and chewed it over.

During the next six weeks, helped along by further stories on Chinese blogs, the mainstream picked it up as well.

Newsweek, sounding rather over wrought, asked, ''Is Apple Ready to Kill the Beloved Headphone Jack?''

A Fast Company article announced that Apple would be dropping the jack  -''It's True,'' read the headline   -and added that the iPhone would probably support wireless charging    -and be waterproof. 

By early January, emotions were at a fever pitch. An online petition from SumofUs.org, which more than 300,000 people from have signed , denounced Apple for creating more electronic waste  -presumably, headphones that will no longer work with the iPhone and be thrown out. 

The Honour and Serving of the latest ''Technology Environment and Research''  continues. Thank Ya all for reading and sharing forward.

With respectful dedication to the Students, professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society and !E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Surprise-Surprise '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless