Headline September 16, 2016/ ''' PAEAN - *PEAK* - iPHONE ''''

''' PAEAN - *PEAK* - iPHONE '''

SOME COMMENTATORS EXPLAINED  that even if some people used  adapters with their old headphones, they were gaining things, too.

Other commentators noted that people complained that  *Apple never innovated anymore, and yet here it was innovating, and people were complaining any way*.

Then came the rumor that the headphone jack was not going away after all. The Chinese website  Mydrivers.com  published a photo of what it said were the innards of the new iPhone with the jack right there. 

''Has the rumor mill being lying to us?'' wondered Cult of Mac. ''Surely not!''

Two weeks ago with the volume of commentary picking up as the big reveal approached, even Apple's other co-founder, Steve Wozniak, weighed in. ''If it's missing the 3.5 millimeter earphone jack, that's going to tick off a lot of people,'' he told the Australian Financial Review.

But he added a conciliatory note: ''We'll see. Apple is good at moving towards the future, and I like to follow that.''

Perhaps it is better to be forewarned about what the future holds, rather than be forced to confront it abruptly. ''We soften the blow,'' said Neil Hughes, managing editor of Appleinsider. 

''Can you imagine that if no one saw it coming and Apple just dropped this on Wednesday? People would lose their minds.''

*Apple which declined to comment for this article, most likely has a different view. In late 2004, it went after several websites, including Appleinsider, saying that when they posted details about unreleased products, they were publishing stolen property*.

*At first Apple found  success in court but the ruling was sharply reversed on appeal. It was ordered to pay  $700,000  to cover the sites legal fees and generally looked like a bully*.

For several years, Apple sold a  T-shirt in its Cupertino, Calif, campus that read,'' I visited the Apple campus. But that's all I am allowed to say.'' 

A recent Apple presentation poked fun at its extensive security measures. But even if the company can now have a laugh or two at its own expense, its philosophy has not changed.

''Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve, it was so exciting, you weren't sure what was going to be downstairs?'' Mr. Cook said when asked about the rumored  Apple car  at annual shareholders'  meeting last February. ''Well, it's going to be Christmas Eve for a while/''

*Apple might be richest company in the world, and quite possibly the coolest*, but feel for it for a moment. It has to keep making the iPhone exciting enough so tens of millions of people immediately buy one. Apple depends on this. 

*Never before has a company so large and influential been tethered to one consumer product*. 

*And that product, which recently celebrated its one-billionth sale, may have already hit saturation. Apple sold 40.4 million iPhones last quarter, a drop from 47.5 million during the same period in 2015. It was the second straight quarter of declines*.

'''I think we have reached peak iPhone,'' said Seth Weintraub, of 9to5Mac.

But only for the moment. Even as the Apple faithful wait to see all these rumors confirmed, the scuttlebutt and speculation have started about next year's model.

It will be the iPhone's 10th anniversary, which means the stakes are going up. ''Apple is hopefully turning on the development afterburners,'' Mr. Weintraub said.

''We hear it wants the phone to resemble sleek glass slab. It's supposed to be statement, a really big deal.''

Assuming, of course, the rumors are true.   

With respectful dedication to the  *Master Creative Company*,  Apple,... and Students, Professors and Teachers of the World. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society and !E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' The !WOW! Jack '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless