Forbes’ Lisa DiCarlo wrote an interesting piece about Apple’s new strategy for 2005 to litigate its best customers. Specifically, she delves into Apple’s suit against ThinkSecret.com.
Make no mistake, there’s a good chance that the source of ThinkSecret’s story about plans for a $500 Mac and new business software did break whatever legal agreement not to divulge the information that they had agreed to with Apple. And, one must assume it is at least partly true, or Apple wouldn’t bother suing.In one fell swoop, Apple has managed to alienate a large portion of their customers while giving away Steve’s big Macworld surprise at the same time. I think that Apple needs to re-focus on the important things: building high-quality products and increasing market share.But, this sort of stuff happens all the time in the tech industry. Sources leak details of forthcoming products to reporters whose motivation is to get credit for an exclusive story. Here’s the difference with Apple: most of its secret product news is not published first by national, mainstream media, but by Apple advocates. These people are customers, fans and Apple-lovers.
This community gives Apple untold free–and mostly positive–publicity and buzz about upcoming products and strategies. They salivate over every upgrade. This is a pre-iPod gang–people who supported Apple before the second coming of Steve Jobs in 1997. Consider that it was Apple enthusiasts who helped drive the market for the iPod after its 2001 release, despite a widely held perception that the $399 price tag was too high.
And, the leak certainly hasn’t hurt the company’s stock price. Since news of the cheap Macs hit on Dec. 28, two investment banks have issued bullish reports on the developments and Apple’s shares have risen 33 cents, to $64.55.
One Response to “Forbes: ‘Apple Bites The Fans That Feed It’”
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February 1st, 2005 at 9:39 pm
Apple has the complete and total right to protect its innovations. Not doing so in the past had resulted in failure. (see Windows) The minute they release a products everyones starts to copy it. They are a leader. By some one releasing their ideas they may find that there are other similar products on the market faster than anticipated. Secondly, without the “skunk works” style that Apple has it would just be another Sony. When you know two years before something is released so when it arrives you just don’t care. Now if they don’t draw the line here the next thing you know the specs to all next year’s hard ware are available to anyone online. Then the magic is gone. You can’t buy the damn thing till it comes out anyway…Be a fan, not a stalker.