Apple = masters of thier own rumors?

[shecky]

Like many of you I am bouncing off the walls waiting for June 23rd. I was wondering what your opinion or experience is regarding Apple rumors. Do you think Apple seeds a lot of this stuff itself? Are they sending out the ocasional rumor from the halls of Infinte Loop in an effort to generate more excitement? I see them removing a lot of rumors from various sites by way of thier legal department, cleary this SEEMS like an admission of the rumor's validity. Do you think this is a calculated move by them?

Or am i just to much of a conspiracy theorist?

<---reads "Catcher in the Rye" again while waiting for WWDC.

 

[pEZ]

Although I think most rumors stem from speculation, it's a definite possibility that Apple starts some of these themselves - just to keep us on our toes. After all, at the MWSF 2003 keynote, Steve Jobs admitted to reading the rumors sites.

That's a great movie, BTW.

 

[iJon]

i dont think so, look at how much powermac sales have dropped because of all these people waiting for 970's? i doubt apple would like it, i know i wouldnt if i wa s steve jobs.

iJon

 

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by iJon
i dont think so, look at how much powermac sales have dropped because of all these people waiting for 970's? i doubt apple would like it, i know i wouldnt if i wa s steve jobs.

iJon

between the press and all the rumor sites, everything gets out in the open

the trick is to guess what is speculation and what is actually true

when i first heard about a sphere like mac, i was skeptical...and then the half sphere lcd imac came out

the weird thing is the day before sj announced it, time magazine in canada published a picture on the web

 

[arn]

I find all the conspiracy theories ridiculous. I don't believe Apple "seeds" rumors.

arn

 

[mactastic]

I don't think its apple. In fact I'm pretty sure rumors don't help apple at all, they can only hurt when the hype is greater than the event, or does something like gut sales for powermacs. Anything that comes from apple is probably from some low level employee who violates his/her NDA. I think the problem is that some of us get too crazy and after reading some of these things over and over, start to believe them as fact. Then they get disappointed when all the rumors don't come true.
The aura of secrecy does generate a lot of anticiaption among people like us, thats part of the reason I like apple, for the sheer entertainment value. But we have to remember this rumor stuff is entertainment, nothing more. I love the disclaimer on the bottom of the appleturns web site:

DISCLAIMER: AtAT is not a news site any more than "Inside Edition" is a "real" news show. We make "Dawson's Creek" look like "60 Minutes." We engage in rampant guesswork, wild speculation, and pure fabrication for the entertainment of our viewers. Sure, everything here is "inspired by actual events," but so was "Amityville II: The Possession." So lighten up

The only real downside I see to apples tight lips are the business types who really need to know ahead of time what is coming. For me, I love the rumor game.

 

[Abstract]

But PowerMac sales would have fallen regardless of rumours of the 970. Its simply not fast enough to suit people's taste. The rumours may have hurt PM sales, but by seeding some rumours, or by strategically having certain rumours removed from rumour-sites, they give Mac users some hope of a better future. Sales of PMs would have dropped regardless of rumours, and starting rumours would only cannabalize the miniscule number of PM sales right now, but will act to spark something........hope. Temporarily cannabalizing their lousy PM sales figure to build hype may be a smart idea.

 

[yzedf]

Grain of salt:

Who is to say that the rumor sites don't just pull them out of their collective xxx'? I thought people knew that just because "it's on the internet it must be true..." isn't. (I am thinking MacB and MacWhispers among others)

MacRumors and ThinkSecret seem to be more cautionary than most in what they post as their own info.

 

[mislabeledstar]

apple doesn't need to "officially" start rumor...... they'vegot enough employees, manfacturers, etc to let shiz slip without their help. plus many rumors, like the 970, can hurt their current sales......... while i am into conspiracies, i don't buy into this one