Only a few hours to go...

[GulPlum]

"uilnslcoap" <devin.smither at y...> wrote:

> I wonder at almost everyone's not mentioning tomorrow's possible 
> release date info.  Is it that we're collectively holding our 
> breath?  

In my case, I took the whole story as nothing more than journalistic 
hype - how often do quoted companies get the chance to have their 
annual report talked about anywhere other than the Business pages 
(and thus up their recognition factor)?

I have deliberately been avoiding the subject because Bloomsbury 
don't need any more hype from me. In particular, I always expected 
the announcement of Book Five to be fudged in some way (easy to say 
with hindsight, I know), so I never intended to pay much attention to 
it.

> Is it that we're afraid we'll jinx it if we say anything?  

Speculation without any facts on which to base it (or looking for 
facts on which to base one's speculation) is fun. Speculation in the 
face of deliberate doubt an uncertainty is a mug's game.

> Or am I the only one sitting here with baited breath?  

I couldn't have cared less this morning.

> I'd actually like an answer to that last part.  

That statement is the only reason I'm writing this. 

> Why has it been so quiet around here about that particularly?  Is 
> it that everyone is just resigned to wait and talking doesn't help?

That's the sensible position. 

> And if the info is released tomorrow, will we flood in discussion 
> for a day or two and then just 
> start sitting and waiting (this time with an end in sight)?  

Well, as expected, the information given was pretty much worthless, 
and the slant put on it went in every possible direction. Which is 
exactly what I had expected, which is why I couldn't get excited 
about it.

> I hope 
> tomorrow, no, today (and anyone who would care to respond to the 
> above questions) brings a lot of answers, but mostly I hope we can 
> finally settle on some sort of official date to start counting 
> towards.  

It seems like late autumn is the best contender at present, though I 
wouldn't put it past Bloomsbury to make it summer. As someone else 
has pointed out, it's illegal for companies to misrepresent the facts 
they present in their annual reports (shades of Enron, anyone?) and 
so they've simply been playing it safe, and (rather playfully, IMO) 
given just enough  ambiguous information to allow the hypemeisters to 
say whatever they want. HP5 is "on time" but they've never said 
what "on time" means, so of course we're really no better off than we 
ever were. Which, again, is where I expected us to be.