Some folks are thinking a bit too simplistically about the current Apple legal wranglings. Computer users are not going to be changing their operating system based on perceptions about fairness or who is the underdog. The big issue here is that Apple is damaging its relationship with the mainstream press and over what? To put the news agencies First Amendment protections at risk over controlling some piddling leaks, leaks that have only served to boost the Apple hype makes no sense whatsoever. This smells like a personality disorder and not a business decision. Apple is flying high. Apple stock has split, iPod sales are through the roof and the most important development of all, Apple’s share of the personal computer market is surging after hanging on by a thread for so long. This is all great news, but the press loves to see a reversal of fortune. The fallout over these legal wranglings could cost Apple and the Apple brand dearly. An Apple micro notepad computer, set-top entertainment system, breakout into video distribution – who knows what – is not without risk. Good press and lots of press is important if Apple is to launch the next big thing. Sure it would be a shame if that next big thing were announced by some kid from Harvard and not at a whiz bang press extravaganza, but it would be much worse if the bad blood this engenders with the news outlets puts a seriously negative spin on the next slip up that Apple will inevitably make.
Some folks are thinking a bit too simplistically about the current Apple legal wranglings. Computer users are not going to be changing their operating system based on perceptions about fairness or who is the underdog. The big issue here is that Apple is damaging its relationship with the mainstream press and over what? To put the news agencies First Amendment protections at risk over controlling some piddling leaks, leaks that have only served to boost the Apple hype makes no sense whatsoever. This smells like a personality disorder and not a business decision. Apple is flying high. Apple stock has split, iPod sales are through the roof and the most important development of all, Apple’s share of the personal computer market is surging after hanging on by a thread for so long. This is all great news, but the press loves to see a reversal of fortune. The fallout over these legal wranglings could cost Apple and the Apple brand dearly. An Apple micro notepad computer, set-top entertainment system, breakout into video distribution – who knows what – is not without risk. Good press and lots of press is important if Apple is to launch the next big thing. Sure it would be a shame if that next big thing were announced by some kid from Harvard and not at a whiz bang press extravaganza, but it would be much worse if the bad blood this engenders with the news outlets puts a seriously negative spin on the next slip up that Apple will inevitably make.
