

Apple’s Secrecy on Products and Top Executives - curej
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/technology/23apple.html?src=twr

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tophat02
I won't speak to Jobs' health issues, but with respect to the insane amount of
secrecy involving product launches, I really hope Apple keeps it this way...

...just makes it a whole lot more fun. We all need some intrigue in our lives,
even if it's just from a company that sells plastic gizmos.

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quizbiz
When a publicly traded company is in question (in this case one of the most
widely held and actively traded public companies), "fun" is not the proper
justification. But I do agree with your wider point.

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mishmash
Right, but millions in marketing hype _is_.

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param
"“In this environment, where transparency is critical, the more information
you give the marketplace the better,” said Charles Elson, director of the John
L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
“For a technology company that views itself as innovative, it’s a little odd
that they are getting a reputation for lack of transparency.”

I would have liked more detail on why this is so. Why should a non-government
organization have transparency one-inch beyond what is needed by its
shareholders? Why is more transparency _always_ better? Seems like Apple is
perfectly happy without having any.

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iamelgringo
What I don't understand is if Microsoft was this draconian and paranoid about
controlling the spin on new products, people would be up in arms about how
evil the company is. But, since it's Apple, people shrug, and say, "Yeah, but
they build great products."

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edu
Probably the _great products_ in "Yeah, but they build great products." is the
key. And by this I don't want to imply neither that Apple build great products
nor that Microsoft build bad products, but a LOT of poeple have this feeling,
so...

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MaysonL
And it's more true than the reverse is...

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dkokelley
Deliberately misleading the public about the health of the company's CEO (if
this is the case) is not ok, but the process of using selective and isolated
disinformation to track down leaks is quite brilliant in my mind.

Secrecy is a part of Apple's marketing mix, and a competitive advantage over
much larger companies.

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edu
It's the good old Canary Trap: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_trap>

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kevbin
The New York Times sure is ticked at Apple for leaking Jobs' liver story to
the WSJ. Guess we know which is the paper of record, eh?

