Opinion piece by techradar Global Editor-in-Chief Patrick Goss
Half a life ago, the inestimable Jonathan Foster, who worked for The Sunday Times and Independent, explained to me why he had quit writing about sports and started down a road that led him to training the next generation of writers at the University of Sheffield.
"I just couldn't face writing yet another colour piece about the strawberries and cream at Wimbledon," he joked.
In the 18 years since I've worked in the seasonal cycles of sports news, I've even spent some time writing about the tennis at Wimbledon, but nothing reminds me more of that anecdote than the annual Apple iPhone announcement.
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We more or less know what's coming on September 9. Despite embargoes and the impression of a cloud of secrecy, Apple stopped being able to truly surprise the world when its wares became the industry leviathans that they are.
And while Jony Ive, Phil Schiller and Tim Cook climb to the stage to eventually show of their own version of strawberries and cream - what will surely be called the iPhone 6S or some variant thereof – I'll be writing up another colour piece and once more scrabbling round to make it feel fresh.
But, while my old tutor's words will once more seem so relevant, I've never felt the same way about this launch. In fact, it probably remains my favourite day to be a tech writer each year.
A host of people will tell you why they don't care about the iPhone 6S launch, why it's going to be exactly like the last one and why it's a disgrace that they can charge that amount of money for the same old fruit year in, year out.
Meanwhile, the techradar team will be as excited as the countless others who do love every second, every ridiculous piece of pomp and grandeur and laugh along with the reality distortion that every Apple launch brings.
This is normally the juncture where someone shouts "fanboi" – and that's OK, too. The point is that it doesn't actually matter whether anyone you know thinks you're crazy or Apple-obsessed for enjoying the launches.
The fact is that these Apple launches represent something that the tech industry needs more big tent pole events that attract new eyes, jealousy, resentment, banter, fun, creativity and excitement.
With at least two of the three or four big tech shows placing the needle firmly in the red of moribund in 2015 (you know who you are, IFA and CES), and high profile brands like HTC, Sony and Samsung simply not attracting the attention or sales their wares deserve, the trusty ol' Apple announcement remains something you can rely on.
Like the NFL draft, the English Premier League's transfer deadline day or, yes, the Wimbledon finals, the hype can sometimes feel bigger and more important than the actual event itself - but that's fine - it's the journey that matters, not the destination.
So when the crappy music stops and Apple execs, who intelligently don't even pretend to hold a candle to the late-great showman Steve Jobs, appear, it's OK to feel a little thrill.
And I'm sure I'll manage to find a new way to big up that fruit again.
