Steve's Reality Distortion Field

It’s January 8, 2007 and technology geeks across the world have their breath held as they wait for the following morning. On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs will take the stage of Moscone West and deliver his annual keynote at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. Speculation has been swirling for the past six months that he will announce Apple’s entry into the cell phone market with a device called the iPhone. As usual, Apple has viciously denied these rumors, stating that they aren’t interested in this area. And also as usual, no one believed them. 

10:00 AM comes around, and the hall is packed. Finally, the music dies down and Steve takes the stage. He thanks everyone for showing up, and tells them that “we’re gonna make some history together today.” As per usual, he starts the show off with some stats (number of iPods sold, iTunes songs sold, etc.). Next up, he introduces the Apple TV, formerly known by it’s codename, iTV. He demoes the features, gives it a price tag, and sets a timeline for the release date.

The screen is suddenly displaying the Apple logo, illuminated from behind. He tells the crowd that he has been waiting for this day for “two and a half years.” He goes into this big speech about how “every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” He notes how Apple has been very fortunate to have a few of these in their history. “In 1984, we introduced the Macintosh. It didn’t just change Apple, it changed the whole computer industry.” “In 2001, we introduced the first iPod, and it didn’t just change the way we all listened to music, it changed the entire music industry.” “Well, today, we’re introduced three revolutionary products of this class.” This is met with hushed applause, while everyone is waiting for Steve to say the word they’re all waiting for: iPhone. He says the first is a “widescreen iPod with touch controls.” The crowd goes into a round of cheering and applause. The second, “is a revolutionary mobile phone.” The audience goes absolutely ballistic. There is screaming and clapping and absolute wildness. And finally, “a breakthrough internet communication device.” As predicted, this is met with more of a held back cheering. “An iPod, a Phone, and an internet communications device. An iPod, a phone, and an internet communications device. An iPod, a phone. Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today, Apple reinvents the phone.”

Whenever Apple announces that Steve Jobs will be keynoting an event, the whole technology world begins to speculate what he will announce. No other person can hold an entire community on edge like this. People get extremely worked up and excited. They know that something quite awesome is about to happen, and they can’t wait.

Many bloggers have called this effect the “reality distortion field,” meaning that geeks everywhere get a sense of awe as they await the big day. Speculation on the products to be announced, and even the event itself, begins months in advance. Of course, no one knows anything for sure. Apple is one of the most secure companies, as far as trade secrets go. The field usually doesn’t kick in until a couple of weeks before hand. And when the day finally comes, the tech world comes to a virtual standstill. Everyone holds their breath as they wait to hear what comes next.