IT skips iPhone fever

The iPhone launch is proof positive that technology can still generate a huge buzz if reputation, product specification and marketing are fully aligned. And with the iPhone at least, the greatest of these appears to be marketing.

Apple broke one of its old tenets by pre-announcing the product and will surely do so again with its next gewgaw, judging by the unprecedented levels of frenzied expectation the launch of this gadget has generated.

Although the first-night reviews for the iPhone are positive, the public version of stress testing is still to come, and there is no guarantee that it will be an enduring success. After all, Apple’s Newton technology was also supported by much hype and initially strong sales before slumping into laughing-stock status.

Hype is one thing, value quite another, as buyers of all stripes should know by now. It is to the credit of the IT industry and its maturing status that hype is largely a consumer-sector phenomenon these days. Some products are keenly awaited, certainly, but the days of believing in silver bullets have long gone. Is it overly cynical to think this loss of faith is a good thing?