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Apple's Obsession With Secrecy Grows Stronger
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times has a story on the culture of secrecy at Apple (registration possibly required). Secrecy is not just the prevailing communications strategy; it is baked into the corporate culture that had its origin in the release of the first Macintosh. 'It really started around trying to keep the surprise aspect to product launches, which can have a lot of power,' says marketing veteran Regis McKenna who advised Apple in its early days. Today few companies are more secretive than Apple, or as punitive to those who dare violate the company's rules on keeping tight control over information. Employees have been fired for leaking news tidbits to outsiders, and the company has been known to spread disinformation about product plans to its own workers and sue bloggers who cover the company. Apple's decision to severely limit communication with the news media, shareholders, and the public is at odds with the approach taken by many other companies, and many experts agree that the secrecy that adds surprise and excitement to Apple product announcements is not serving the company well in corporate governance. Some say that recent reports that Steve Jobs may have had a liver transplant, still not confirmed by the company, now makes one of Apple's assertions from January — that Jobs was suffering only from a hormonal imbalance — seem like a deliberate untruth."
But even by Apple's standards, its handling of news about the health of its chief executive and co-founder, Steven P. Jobs, who has battled pancreatic cancer and recently had a liver transplant while on a leave of absence, is unparalleled.
Indeed, very little of the matter comprising Steve Jobs is still Steve Jobs. The man's like a rebuilt Delorian. Am I the only person that shudders when he closes all of his speeches with "Remember, there's a little piece of all of you inside me"?
I guess if I ran a cult I'd be asking for new organs from my younger zealots too.
My work here is dung.
Yes, but according to a leak I heard from a top Apple exec, he will miraculously rise after 3 days and reveal a new iPhone unto his disciples!
How about an article about the medias obsession over Apples obsession about secrecy?
love is just extroverted narcissism
PC: Hello, I'm a PC.
Apple: Hi, I'm a Mac.
PC: Hey, Mac, that's a very professional looking suit you have on there. Quite a change: is it an Armani, by any chance?
Apple: Oh, no. I'm just here to deliver you these papers. See you in court.
*Commercial ends with "Think Different (R)" on the screen.
He died in a car accident in 2006. The Steve Jobs you see today is a look-alike hired by Apple. The whole illness story was fabricated to explain the subtle differences in appearance between the the look-alike and the real Jobs. What's left of Steve is being held at a cryogenics facility in silicon valley. It's all true. Don't believe me? Play the latest iphone commercial backwards. You can hear a voice say "Steve Jobs is Dead".
I was with Apple through the late 90's. Yes, that was an era of leaks -- but more often than not, they came from up top, not from the folks down in the trenches.
What was the difference? If I or a colleague said anything, it was a leak, and we'd be fried. But if someone on top said something, well, that was strategic.
See the difference?
At least you got to keep your job!
Perhaps Apple IS talking about suing Linux vendors...in secret!
mmMMmm...Delicious Apple Fritters.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
Remember when RAM was like $75 a gig? d:
I must be old - I remember when it was $25/meg.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
Don't worry, Microsoft are releasing shit all the time. I'm sure some of it is Ballmer's.
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
Most I ever paid was $120 for 16K (actually, $240 for 32K - I wanted to max out my memory). It was a lot cheaper than the Radio Shack price of $300 per 16K. (Of course, this was dynamic memory, but the Z80 had provisions to refresh dynamic memory.)
Mmmm, but how much is that worth in 2009 dollars?
Wait, bad comparison. How much is that worth in 2008 dollars?