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Comment by nostromo | Hacker News Reader

I feel like yesterday's announcement has left a news vacuum that is trying to be filled.

The announcement was not so amazing that the cheers are deafening; nor was it so disappointing or controversial that the opposite occurred. So, instead we're giggling at Jimmy Kimmel videos and long iPhone photoshops.

Perhaps this is why Apple hasn't announced the iPad mini yet -- to make sure the iPhone 5 gets a bit of time in the limelight. If it was announced yesterday, few people would be talking about the new iPhone today.

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In addition to the announcement not being that amazing in absolulte terms, the leaks this time were pretty much 100% exactly right.

Apple's big reveal was that the iPhone 5 was, in fact, pretty much exactly what everyone expected them to announce for the past half year or so.

yawn.

I enjoy that the media hypes the iPhone release and then bashes it for not living up to the hype.

What is the next thing on the hype horizon? The iPad mini?

I can't be the only one that noticed that during the unveiling the Apple home page continued to display the iPhone 4S and the "new iPhone." It wasn't until later in the day that the front page switched from showing me the Macbook Pro to the iPhone 5.

When I loaded HN all I saw was one story about a journalist going "undercover" in an iPhone factory. I didn't read it.

The hype surrounding each new Apple product is no mistake. Steve Jobs waited to die until the iPhone 4S was finished unveiling. If Apple wants to keep its market position, they will need to keep the hype coming in a carefully timed and orchestrated manner.

Absolutely. Apple has primarily been a marketing company for the last decade. They should keep that in mind, for their own sake.

Some would argue for a consumer oriented company selling expensive goods to be profitable, a marketing company is the only kind of company it can be.

Marketing means understanding your users, and if you don't understand your users how do you convince them to give you the money? Users are not like government officials or company executives where you can convince them by a slideshow or a list of bullet points about why the product is great; the product itself needs to be great because consumers are the ones using it.

And "great" depends on your user's perspective.

I disagree - yesterday's event was not flashy at all. It was all about hardware and specs. Even the short jab at marketing didn't seem too serious ("lightning and thunderbolt, haha").

I'm still not sure how to feel about this. I think I love the iPhone 5, but iOS6 feels underwhelming.

Absolutely. No technology comes out of Apple at all. You should try and maintain some grip on reality, for your own sake

I'm totally stoked for the iPad mini. I've got an iPad 2 and the new iPad, and I bought a Nexus 7 for testing.

I'm not crazy about the Nexus 7 software and browser, but I love the weight! The screen size is "good enough" and definitely worth making smaller to get the weight down.

Anyway, I agree that's why they did separate the events. The iPad mini is going to sell like crazy.

If it's essentially the new iPod Touch with a bigger display and $100 bigger price, will they still sell like crazy? The iPod Touch (32GB) starts at $299. I could maybe see a 16GB iPad Mini at $299 but it could be $349 or $399 for the cheapest device. For Joe Consumer, that'll be a tough sell against a $199 Kindle Fire HD.

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