Mr. Jobs Will Pull a Rabbit Out of The Hat at WWDC

It’s always a safe bet to assume that we know everything, based on leaks, that will happen at the WWDC keynote. However, with Steve Jobs, playing it safe isn’t the best bet.

The job of Steve Jobs is to make things happen. He has a corporate jet. He gets on the phone with CEOs and works deals. Sometimes it’s a matter of mutual self-interest, and sometimes it’s a beguiling RDF. No matter, Mr. Jobs makes things happen.

I noted today that some think Apple will not announce a deal with Verizon. Others think we know everything there is to know about the iPhone HD (or whatever Apple calls it). I beg to differ.

Informal office NFL pools teach us that the only way to consistently win is to select a few games that the odds makers consider a blowout, and then pick half of them as upsets. Without two or three upsets predicted, you’re just in the middle of the pack, going with the easy guesses, wasting your time.

Apple is in serious competition with Google now. It’s time to pick a few upsets. An Apple deal with a new U.S. carrier is one of those upsets that’s just waiting to happen.

Apple will have other fun things to announce. An Internet music service derived from Lala technology. New tools, perhaps Xcode 4. Then there’s Apple’s Flash alternative named Gianduia. Safari 5 with a plugin architecture. It’s time for an amazing, new MacBook Air, for example.

In the final analysis, predicting WWDC keynotes isn’t about being right. It’s about imagination and enthusiasm. That’s why Mr. Jobs will always pull a few rabbits out of the hat at his keynotes. It’s easy to forget how well he does that.