Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM
When emojis become the highlight of a developer spoiler, you know it’s going to be a lame show.
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Well, on a related(?) note... 
They wouldn't do such a thing - and have them factoring in so prominently in the promo material - if there wasn't some big emoji/animoji/memoji/wtfoji "news" coming today. If they spend more than 30 minutes on it, then yeah...that'll be unspeakably lame. I just can't imagine that's high on anyone's give-a-shit list, other than a handful of teens. I'm hoping it's part of something much bigger/more exciting. There's talk of a big Messages update/overhaul, but even then...so what? These things already exist. Are we going to get more outfits and eyewear options? Skin tones, probably. The 17 currently available can't possibly be enough by 2021 standards.
What's funny to me is that, at some point in the past few months at Apple, all the top-level execs received an email telling them to craft a new, updated "self-oji" for some upcoming marketing materials. They actually took time to a) ask for this, and b) they all did it. You have to imagine there would be at least one defiant, above-it-all one in the bunch who responded with "piss off, I've got actual
work to do, Tim...". And then he got sent to HR for a stern talking-to/re-programming and suddenly got on board.
They make everyone look like they're about 12 or so (too cute, too round/pie-faced/chubby-cheeked), so it's more of a "show us your idealized pre-teen perception of yourself". Maybe they should be called pedomoji?
PS - I've noticed, as of 9:10am ET (four hours before the presentation) that the online store is still up. I've noticed in the past that it often goes down far earlier on the day of (often down when I wake up at 5-6am), so either a) they've just not done it yet and it'll happen in the next few hours,
or b) this could be a sign that it is indeed a software/preview/OS-only type of show today...all talk, all OS's and services, and no new hardware to sell.
I suppose some middle-ground answer could be "new MacBook Pros unveiled" but delayed ordering for another few weeks/months for whatever reason(s)? But use the occasion for maximum eyes/coverage, and do the whole "available for order on July 20, shipping the second week of August" type of thing. Which they have indeed done before. If the store never goes down, we still could see hardware today, but it wouldn't be immediately available for ordering/purchase. Wouldn't be the first time. *shrug*
I just thought it was interesting that the store is still up so "close" to the event time (closing in on three-and-a-half hours). That's been the case in the past, but, in recent years, they do seem to take it down very early, many many hours ahead of the event. Maybe the web guy forgot?