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First Pictures From Apple’s “It’s Only Rock & Roll” Event

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Apple is already setting up shop for Wednesday’s “It’s only rock & roll” press event that will likely see new iPods with cameras and the return of Steve Jobs to the public eye.

Apple has already hung a big banner on the front of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco — the venue of a press event next Wednesday at 10AM. The company last week sent invites to reporters with the line: “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.”

The banner out front shows a rockin’ iPod chick kicking her feet in the air as she freaks out. The company has also hung a big banner inside the front door with a white Apple logo on a silver background.

There are no other posters visible inside the venue. The center is crawling with security guards.  There are half-a-dozen security guards with Apple-logo shirts at the front, back and sides. Apple will likely have a 24-hour security detail until the event starts on Wednesday.

There’s a TV van already parked to the side on Third Street. The van is likely there to transcode video from the event for distribution via iTunes and Apple’s website, which the company typically does just after the event ends.

The event will likely see the introduction of new versions of the iPod touch and iPod nano with built-in cameras, which has all but been confirmed by dozens of cases for the new devices. There will also likely be a new version of iTunes with built-in hooks to social software like Facebook.

The event will also probably mark the return of Steve Jobs to the public stage. It’s hard to imagine he’d let the event happen without him, even if it’s just a few words at the start. But let’s hope he’s well enough to MC the whole show. He’s been missed in the last year. No one does an Apple event like Jobs.

More pictures after the jump.

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About the author

Leander Kahney

Leander Kahney is senior editor of Cult of Mac, editor of two books about technology culture, Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, and has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Observer in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

Email the author | Read more posts by Leander Kahney.

17 comments

    I can’t wait to see how these new iPods look like, and what else is in store.

    You missed the /wordpress/ on the link to the first image…

    You placed: http://www.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/i_like_it_6.jpg

    instead of:http://www.cultofmac.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/i_like_it_6.jpg

    Uh… hello? Earth to cult of mac.

    “First Look At ‘It’s Only Rock And Roll’ Banner at Yerba Buena Center” has been on MacSurfer.com since early this morning.

    http://www.iphonesavior.com/2009/09/first-look-at-its-only-rock-and-roll-banner-at-yerba-buena-center.html

    Duh!! Second photos would be a better title here.

    My bet is still on “one more thing”. And it will finally be the Beatles cataloge. I mean, it’s only rock and roll …

    “The banner out front shows a rockin’ iPod chick kicking her feet in the air as she freaks out”. Oh, so THAT’s what it is – It was so difficult to figure out, so incredibly ambiguous that I needed it explained to me, along with the massive scoop that is a fat security “guard” dossing about in an empty foyer….

    Guys, has it come to this? I know it’s Monday and it’s a slow news day, but…..

    plenty of jobs in medical coding, get your degree in medical coding and get a job in medical billing. it is easy and i did it myself at http://bit.ly/14YX8y

    Stop being a jerk, Seth Jordan.

    I hope Mr. Jobs is back and healthy.
    We have all missed him.

    I hope that the new iPod Touch finally comes with a built-in GPS.

    A TV van parked outside? I see a 53′ expando high def TV TRUCK. No van.

    Is official is about the new Ipod Touch, How noticed the earphoe connectded on the bottom!. Only Ipod touch have this configuration and form factor.

    “A TV van parked outside? I see a 53′ expando high def TV TRUCK. No van.”

    um that’s a TRAILER – a truck is the bit with an engine in that drives and goes vroom-vroom. truck and van are synonymous.

    Text on photos needs to be much bigger. Cult of douche!

    @Bob: Would you call a Semi trailer a van?

    looking at the poster and the previous posters made, with the earbud cord coming from the bottom….. maybe ipod touch [nano]?

    god you guys are such brats…get over yourself…just look at the pics and make your wishes for the event…and stop bashing everyone

    damn…it’s so old and stupid…HUMAN BEINGS MAKE MISTAKES

    mine today was clicking on this article in my Mail.app

    get over yourselves cuz you suck if you want to argue about truck vs van

    who cares damnit

    i highly doubt that Jobs will ever be THE guy doing the announcements again. that he was THE guy is part of what caused Apple’s stock to plummet when his health went down cause so many folks (especially the media) had and still have this crazy notion that he’s the only brain at Apple. by letting those that actually did the hands on work, present it alongside those hired to actually market said work, Apple is showing the world the peeps that will be there when Jobs retires/kicks it to keep the whole Apple faith alive.

    Jobs might do the ‘welcome and here’s so and so’ or be a part of a ‘one more thing’ last bit but the stage will likely continue to be folks like Phil and Bertrand from now on.

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