Apple sues popular Mac Web site

This is rather interesting...

Apple has filed suit against ThinkSecret.com. Apparently their claiming some of the information they got could only have come from someone who signed a confidentiality agreement...

For those of you who don't know, Apple has a tendency to keep any new hardware/software developments secret, and then releases the info (usually) during a Keynote speech at the MacWorld expo... This practice keeps people like me, and many others, in suspense. It really raises the excitement level, especially right before an expo (which Apple will have on the 11th of January).

There are a handful of Apple related rumor sites out there which "leak" information obtained though various anonymous tips. Some turn out to be total lies, some turn out to be partly true, others hit the nail on the head.

This years expo is likely to be fairly huge, with tons of new hardware & software being released. And as usual, the rumor sites are running abound with some information.

This practice makes a lot of sense, as it leaves so many people eager to see what's coming, which draws more attention than any advertising campaign ever could... However, when rumor sites start giving info on some of these, Apple in turn tries to shut them up... It appears Apple is doing this now...

One thing this suit has done in my eyes, is confirm a lot of what is being said. Prior to me reading the story linked above, I actually hadn't been keeping up with what's coming at the Expo. I actually think these rumor sites do more good than harm for Apple, as since I've visited rumor sites this morning, I'm now extremely excited for the expo... Ironically prior to me reading ThinkSecret, I couldn't even tell you what day the expo was on...

Some things that stuck out in my mind, in case you aren't familiar with any of the rumors:

Headless iMac - An iMac with no monitor, selling for around $500...
iLife '05 - An update to the iLife '04 package, likely selling for around $50...
iWork - An revision to AppleWorks, with may office type functionalities...
Flash iPod - An iPod that uses flash based memory, for a much lower price (and much smaller storage compactly)...
iPhone - A phone made by Motorola, with iTunes built in... This in fact may not be shown at the expo now though, as Moto is afraid a preview will give other cell phone companies a preview and enable them to copy it...

There are more than these, but these are what I'm now waiting for... Without the rumor sites, I would have no anticipation... I would be sitting here not even thinking about next Tuesday and what it would bring...