That is bad news for Apple. The in February, according to the market analyst firm NPD Group. Right now, Apple really could use something people would rush to spend their unemployment checks on.

This is not intended as a knock against Apple. When you have done as much innovating as Apple has in the last decade, you eventually end up with a maturing product line and fewer exciting things to introduce.

I am not ready to say Apple is at the end of a cycle of innovation. I would never bet against the company having something great to introduce for this Christmas, but what if all we get is a basic refresh of the iPod line or maybe a lightly improved iPhone? Will Apple become ho-hum?

It does not look any better on the operating system front.

If you want to see something sleep-inducing, look at the page describing the next major release of Mac OS X, called . The promo copy even admits the release is going to be less than thrilling: