I'm not one to say what Steve Jobs' tastes are or what kind of
person he is likely to like or dislike (that can be left for his
publicist). However, I can tell you that Steve Jobs and Kasper Jade,
Senior Editor of AppleInsider, could never be
friends. Why? Because Steve Jobs is the most uptight CEO when it comes
to company secrets and unannounced products - and that's just the kind
of dirt that Kasper likes to publish on Apple Insider.
So why is it that a single Mac rumor site can serve over 4.5 million
page views per month, but when you do a search for "PC rumors" on
Yahoo, the most recent thing is hush-hush talk of Microsoft acquiring
Bungie? Because Apple likes to keep discussions about future products
at a minimum.
If you tell a toddler not to do something, he'll do it. Why? Because
he's interested in what will happen if he does. It's the same thing
with Macs and rumors. If Apple didn't insist on taking such drastic
measures to make sure the public doesn't know about its future
products, Mac users might not be as interested (there's room for debate
here).
On the other hand, making sure the public doesn't know about future
products before they are announced is a rather good strategy. For
example, if everyone knew that new iMacs were going to be announced
last Macworld NY (July '00), Apple would never be able to clear out its
inventory, because all of the prospective iMac buyers would be waiting
for the new iMac.
In a way, rumors have become an essential part of being a Mac
addict. It keeps us hooked to the latest happenings in Cupertino, and
it makes the buildup to each Macworld Expo or Apple event at least five
times larger than any PC trade show - perhaps that's why you have to
arrive at a Steve Jobs keynote three hours before it starts to get a
good seat.
If Apple is so careful about making sure company secrets are not
released to the public, how do rumor sites get information on upcoming
Apple products? Do rebellious Apple employees anonymously submit
information to rumor sites? Or is information submitted by sneaky Mac
users who are trying to fool the Mac community into believing them? And
is the information that these rumor sites provide valid?
Ben Apple, of The Mac Junkie,
once tried fooling MacOS Rumors by
sending in a fake report of an upcoming Apple product. It was published
the following day. Sure, rumor sites are good fun, but can't be relied
upon for completely accurate information.
It's a no-win situation when it comes to Apple and rumors. Apple can
either not be so uptight about the whole thing and hope that it's not a
big deal, or they can be uptight about the whole thing and have to sue
every rumor site that hurts its marketing strategy. The best solution
probably lies between these two options.
Somehow, though, I get the feeling that Apple won't be loosening up
anytime soon.
