Idunno. Apple hasn't really
introduced much of anything since Steve's passing, so I think it's a little too soon to say that Apple is less exciting or missing its spark. It's just been November, December, and January, and Apple normally doesn't release products in November, December, and January.
What they have announced — the iBooks / iTunes U stuff — looked like a minor revolution in its own right, though one admittedly a bit removed from the general consumer market.
I'm excited for the next iPad, which should be a nice iterative improvement (dat display), but I'm even more excited for the next MacBook Pro and iMac, which should be real steps forward (or backward, if you like optical drives — the wailing will be
glorious) for PCs. And I'm most excited of all for Apple's Next Big Thing, which I think will be an app-centric television.
Apple only introduced one "new design" in 2011, so it was a bit of an off year for shiny new Apple products even before Steve's passing. (The exciting things about last year were the businessy stuff — watching Apple take over the world, and seeing the first signs of Apples outside of Apple, with things like Nest.) I think, if anything, 2012 will be more exciting than 2011.
How fast do you think WWDC will sell out this year? Eight
seconds?