Does Apple read MacRumors?

[SuperChuck]

Do you think Apple pays attention to the rumor/discussion sites like MacRumors? It seems to me that they would be foolish not to, but then again, Apple often seems to defy conventional wisdom.

I think we often offer a treasure trove of good ideas for software and hardware improvements, and raise red flags before they appear elsewhere.

What do you think? Is Apple listening?

 

[WinterMute]

I know poeple at Apple UK who do, and they take notice, I think Apple would be stupid to ignore live beta testing (or first rev software as it's known...) on this scale, if there's something wrong woth software or hardware, it's often on sites like MacRumors that it first comes to light.

 

[Horrortaxi]

I'm sure they read. Not that we should expect them to post or fill our wishlists, but they read.

 

[Flowbee]

I know that if I worked at Apple, I would certainly check the web to see what kind of rumors are out there. When I worked on the 1996 Olympics, I regularly read Usenet newsgroups to get a sense of pre-Olympics chatter.

Also, every once in a while, a rumor makes its way into the mainstream press, and that can be bad news for Apple. You can bet that someone in Apple's communications department has the job of scouring the rumor sites to keep track of what's being said where.

 

[AmigoMac]

YES, We do...

... and send some of them...!

 

[FightTheFuture]

what do you think would be most effective though - reading opinions, praises, and calamity from this site - or reacting to the feedback from their own site? i do hope apple is watching though - maybe hold off with their small speed bumps and get to work on a 3ghz powerbookG5!

 

[7on]

lol, Apple prolly reads these forums and then does the exact opposite.

Remember all the negative comments that were said about the first iPod and then the iPod mini yet they're practically the biggest money makers Apple has.

 

[tjwett]

Apple monitors these and many other forums regularly. that's why anytime we get an actual piece of leaked info Arn is quickly dealt a Cease and Desist from Apple legal. anyone remember the Mirror Door PowerMac photo?

 

[Powerbook G5]

Damn, if only I were paid to read MacRumors. Hell, if I were just paid to do anything dealing with Apple, I'd go to work happy.

 

[jeremy.king]

Of course WE read what all of our beloved fanatics are saying. Your wish is our command. 3 Ghz powermac. done. 80GB iPod. done. G5 iMac and powerbook. done.

j/k...like I work for apple. I wish.

 

[cjc343]

Apple monitors these and many other forums regularly. that's why anytime we get an actual piece of leaked info Arn is quickly dealt a Cease and Desist from Apple legal. anyone remember the Mirror Door PowerMac photo?

ok... that's just cruel... this site is devoted to Apple and upcoming product releases. People managed to catch a mistake on your website that was only online for about 10 minutes. The G5 specs were released... did you send a cease and desist for that? MDD: So, a picture leaked out onto the web... 99% of the people on macrumors are now going crazy, and you tell them to stop?


Arn: Guess randomly... everytime they send you a cease and desist letter, you know you got it right.

 

[FoxyKaye]

Apple monitors these and many other forums regularly. that's why anytime we get an actual piece of leaked info Arn is quickly dealt a Cease and Desist from Apple legal. anyone remember the Mirror Door PowerMac photo?

Sure do! That whole ordeal was pretty funny, though - I kept imagining some poor Web tech at Apple who was immediately and summarily fired. Then again, at the time, there was so much hype that perhaps it wasn't as much a "mistake" as it was a "teaser".

I think it is in Apple's interest to monitor sites like MacRumors - a lot of us are more verbose and detailed in our cheers, jeers, speculations and other rants and raves then we would ever be if Steve Jobs phoned us personally. I mean, come on, you know? If Steve called me and was like, "Hey girl, what do you think of my company and our products?" I'd be like, "Great! Keep it up!"

Besides, Apple is too small to not bend an ear to we fanatics who take time out of our days to post to these kind of sites. I don't really think that even in the most structured forums online that deal with M$ products, M$ actually gives a damn about what people say (otherwise, Windows would have been open-sourced immediately after NT was released). I like to think that the folks at Apple have some sort of communications liasion whose responsibility it is to cull these sites and bring info to Steve, R&D or whomever, both because Apple *cares* and because as much as I would like it to have more, the company still only retains a (debatible) 5% market share.