It's Apple season again. The time when the technology world is ablaze with rumours, speculation and predictions about the Next Big Thing that Apple are about to unveil next week. By now, everyone has written up their thoughts on what it will be, how it will work, how it will cope without a keyboard, what it will be great for, or not so great for. (I'm no exception.)

So we're already starting to see the "I'm bored of Tablet talk" posts. And it's going to get a lot worse over the next couple of weeks. We've got the increasing amount of speculation, the "Apple are about to announce…" stories, and the "Today, Apple unveiled…" stories.

Afterwards, we'll have a round of "it's incredible, and I can't wait", along with a dose of "so what— my [insert manufacturer] device can do that already", and a fair amount of "this isn't the Second Coming— I'm disappointed and let down" from people who confused the rumours and guesses of the last month or two with actual Apple announcements.

The interesting thing for me at this stage is what happens outside the tech world— the announcement is the first that most of the 'real world' will hear about it and, unlike us nerds and geeks, they haven't had months to get bored of the speculation and predictions. They won't be hearing about a 10.2" screen with an air of "yes, I know- but at what resolution" or asking questions about OLEDs. They weren't following the news from CES earlier this month, constantly mindful of the shadow that Apple's Tablet cast over half of the show. Next week, they will still be getting their heads around the concept of an iPod Touch big enough to show something the size of a comic book, and wondering whether it's something they might have any use for.

The strange thing is how, even though there's no concrete evidence that the project even exists, Apple have managed to create so much buzz. It's not a fluke; much the same thing happened with the iPhone; everyone somehow knew it was coming, but until Steve Jobs unveiled it, nobody knew anything about it other than there was probably going to be an "iPhone." Again, the story seems to have made it out of the tech media (and tech blogging, twittering and commenting) echo chamber.

Right now, the Tablet is a big story with no news. Unless you've been quietly fed something by Apple themselves, then all there is to report is the rumours and speculation.

There's something going on here that really turns some traditional marketing thinking on it's head. consider this fact- not only have Apple not actually announced anything about the Tablet, but they (overtly, at least) don't want people to talk about the facts surrounding the Tablet.

"News is what someone wants to suppress. Everything else is advertising". former NBC news President Rubin Frank

Yet all the discussions, theories, speculations (and subsequent announcements, reviews and criticism) amount to people telling other people about Apple's new product— the worst kept secret in technology.

All without a single penny being spent on advertising. No posters, TV spots, viral videos, or specially created blogs or twitter feeds or iPhone applications to leak out juicy information to an opt-in, self-selected engaged audience. Just a tiny handful of whispers in the right ears.

All they need to do now is live up to some very high expectations…

The two questions in my mind though— is there anyone else, any other brands who could get away with doing a marketing exercise like this in this way? And is this going to be a "high tide" watermark, or is there any way that Apple will be able to top it the next time they want people to "see their latest creation"?