Quiet To The Core

Speak softly and carry a big RAM stick

The five weeks between U.S. Thanksgiving holidays and the new year are never a busy announcement time for Apple. I can only imagine the focus in Cupertino is on keeping up with demand for holiday shoppers.

This year, however, seems particularly quiet. I can't recall one bit of substantial news that has come out of the company itself since the introduction of iCloud and then Steve Jobs's death. There's been lots of speculation from analysts and the rumour sites about upcoming products.  And there's plenty of quoting, commenting and analyzing of Steve Job's biography.

But, no real news or announcements. In years past, there would always be one or two things to share, mostly related to the early January Macworld Expo, where Steve would provide the keynote and introduce a whole slew of new products for the year.

But Apple stopped participating in Macworld two year ago, subsequently creating some very dull Decembers.

This year feels different. It's a somber hush, as though Apple has chosen to enter a quiet reflection phase. For the first time in a recent memory, employees were given the entire Thanksgiving week off — a rarity during Steve's tenure as CEO.

It makes me think 2012 is going to be very large for the company.

Leaked tidbits suggest a new version of the iPad with a higher resolution screen early in 2012, a newly designed and reworked iPhone for the end of the year and somewhere in the middle, perhaps the much theorized 32 to 55 inch Apple TVs.

But, I suspect there is something more. The iCloud and Siri technologies are only in their infancy and will serve as the foundation for a whole new arena for Apple to play in. I will go out on a limb and say Tim Cook put out the rest and recharge order, not just to mourn their co-founder's passing, but to set the stage for a massive year. The competition is getting fierce, expectations are high and Apple needs to remain invigorated in order to keep imagining and executing fresh products and ideas.

Call it a feeling. It's all quiet at the Cupertino Campus. We'll find out why soon enough.