Should Preannouncements count as surprises?

Preannouncements, or rather the lack thereof, has been something Apple has been criticized for in the past. With out knowing what’s coming, it is tough to plan, or so the argument went.

Those days seem to be behind us, all Apple does anymore is preannounce. The MacBook Pro? You could order it but you weren’t getting for a couple of months. AppleTV nee iTV, that was announced at WWDC, covered in this years keynote and (squeals of glee) is actually available to order. The iPhone, are you kidding? The new Airport base station (a friggin base station) won’t be available until February. Even the iPod shuffle generation 2.0 was announced before you could get your grubby paws on one.

So maybe it is time to rethink the popular view of Apple. Instead of a company that constantly shocks customers with new products, maybe Apple should have a new reputation as a company of interesting preannouncements.