And eventually someone is usually right. Apple really was in negotiations with Intel, they were secretly maintaining an x86 branch of OS X, they really did have a fully touchscreen-controlled iPhone in the works, etc. Rumors aren't always right, but they're not always wrong either. And I find that smart people believing the rumors is generally a good sign that they're about to be revealed as true.
Yeah, practically every Apple product in recent years has been leaked before the official announcement. The difficult part is separating fact from the false rumors and fabrications.
