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Waiting for iPhone

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit
2 min read

Does anybody else think the iPhone is an elaborate hoax, an inside joke between Apple's Steve Jobs and select Silicon Valley insiders designed to test the gullibility of the tech industry?

Where is Susan Powter when you need her? Gizmodo tossed a little more fuel on the iPhone fire Thursday night with a three-sentence post titled "Gizmodo knows: iPhone will be announced on Monday." You can read the post here, but it's so short we'll just cut and paste: "I guarantee it. It isn't what I expected at all. And I've already said too much.--Brian Lam."

This immediately provoked a firestorm of speculation as to whether Lam meant this coming Monday, December 18, the Monday of Macworld week, the Monday after that Monday, Monday, April 1, 2013...you get the picture.

We're willing to accept that there is an iPhone, though it's doubtful that will be the actual name. Plenty of well-respected financial analysts and slightly buzzed media entrepreneurs have put themselves out there with claims of an Apple-designed cell phone/iPod. While those folks differ on the specifics, lots of people are expecting in the near future that Jobs will place a call to Madonna or Bono or maybe even with an Apple phone onstage in front of a packed house.

But what if this is the prank of the century? We're starting to feel a little bit like Vladimir and Estragon, waiting by the side of the road for something that might never come. Unfortunately, we've all gone a little too far down the rabbit hole to stop now. Shall we go, then?