viz.

Preparations being made for today's media event.

(Image credit: Luis Gutierrez)

Apple’s set to release some new products later today, and I thought it’d be fun to round up the most credible rumors and then we can all check back later and evaluate the quality of my intel. As a recent Secretary of State complained, “But they don’t tell us when; they don’t tell us where; they don’t tell us who; and they don’t tell us how.” I predict that later today Apple will give us a new iteration of the iPhone, stretched to new dimensions, and an additional iPad model, shrunk but with its big brother’s current dimensions. These things sound cool. Honestly, my only hope is that they don’t call the new iPhone the “iPhone 5,” as that would present a dilemma for those of us keeping track. Let’s pretend that the first iPhone was iPhone 1, then the iPhone 3G would confusingly have been the iPhone 2, which means the iPhone 3GS was the iPhone 3, and the iPhone 4 was (thankfully) the iPhone 4, all of which means that last year’s iPhone 4S was the iPhone 5. We already have an iPhone 5. Is it premature to worry that later today Apple might be giving us something that we already have?

(Image credit: iResQ)

(Image credit: iResQ)

The photos above compare the dimensions of today’s likely iPhone with those of yesteryear’s iPhone 4S. As you can see, the new iPhone will probably be a couple of centimeters taller, and slightly thinner. For those of us who work with digital media, it’ll be interesting to see what Apple offers with the new real estate. Two days ago an iOS developer posted a Tweet suggesting that the phone will come with native panorama photo support. Useful, maybe, but there have long been apps available for both the iPhone and the iPad that enable such photography. Judging from the photo above, it looks as though the new iPhone will not only be bigger but also present a slightly different aspect ratio. In light of this, it’ll be interesting to see how the new device accounts for the older iPhone apps’ sizing. If the ratios really are markedly different, will app developers need to resize their programs in order to fit the new screen? Perhaps this quandary is something that marks our age: We all enjoy a variety of media that make already amazing feats happen quicker and more conveniently, but the entire system lacks permanence. Just as soon as you’ve made a moderately popular iPhone app you must resize it to fit the new iPhone. Just as soon as you’ve published your first e-book, you find that it’s in an obsolete file format.

(Image credit: www.nowhereelse.fr)

Today’s new iPad (pictured above) is clearly intended to compete under the Christmas tree with Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD. I’m assuming both of these devices are intended for consumers who don’t already have an iPad? Surely the smaller iPad will be less expensive, so maybe it’ll open up new education opportunities. Then again, maybe not: Will it be cheap enough for struggling families to afford for their kids? Probably not. Even if a struggling single-parent household could afford a smaller, cheaper iPad for the kids to share, would it make sense burning a couple hundred dollars on something that’s going to obsolete in a year or two?

But giving us things we didn’t think we needed has always been the crucial component to Apple’s success. It was Steve Jobs’ brilliance, whatever one might think of the guy. Who would have thought that they needed an iPad when they already owned an iMac and an iPhone? Apparently a lot of people, as the computer company has famously sold millions of them. For anyone who thought that Steve Jobs passing meant The End, think again. In a weird way, I suppose it’s a little neat that Steve Jobs institutionalized his business instincts like this. Four-hundred years ago poets wrote about how they’d live on forever as long as their works remained in print; these days folks become immortal by cementing a corporate ethos. I wonder if publishing an e-book will ever make someone immortal? By the end of today, I’m not sure I’ll want either the new iPhone or the new iPad. My copy of Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler is on its way and I look forward to spending the next few days thinking about fishing. If only there was a good trout stream in central Texas.