Micromanagement isn't always a bad thing. Sure, we imagine it can be a little nervewracking at times to be an Apple engineer or designer, what with Steve hovering over one's shoulder and issuing edicts like "move that button one pixel to the left" or "that shade of blue still isn't lickable enough-- make it shinier" or "only a bozo would think that-- clean out your desk." After hearing about his close personal involvement with typically un-CEO areas like product development and writing commercials, we have to wonder if Steve also makes the coffee, empties the trash bins, and does night stints as an Apple security guard. But after all, it's that kind of hands-on approach to Apple's day-to-day operation that was largely responsible for the company's salvation. Somebody had to get his hands dirty and force things back on track again.

And sometimes Steve's apparent deeply-held conviction that "delegate" is a four-letter word can lead to some pleasant surprises. In particular, it seems that Apple's multibillionaire iCEO still occasionally leaps in to handle customer complaints in person. According to MacCentral, one unhappy customer named Kevin Pedraja who suffered from that "rumored" cracked Cube malady fired off an angry fax addressed directly to Mr. Jobs. The results were impressive; first an Apple representative "promptly offered to replace" the cracked Cube with a brand spankin' new one, and then the customer actually received a phone call from Steve himself. "I was pretty impressed that he would call me personally. Not many CEOs would do that," said Pedraja.

Okay, fine, so Pedraja just happens to be a public relations executive. And his "strongly-worded" fax just happened to include a threat about taking the issue to the press. Surely you're not so jaded and cynical that you think Steve wouldn't have called if his company hadn't been threatened with a PR disaster? For shame! As an unnamed Apple spokeswoman assures us all, "it isn't unusual for Mr. Jobs or other Apple executives to check in with concerned customers from time to time." There you are; Apple said it, so it's true.

Still not satisfied? Well, if you won't take Apple's word for it, how about ours? While we have to remain maddeningly vague about the nature of the issue, one AtAT viewer reports that he, too, received a call from Steve in response to a complaint he made about a recent Apple purchase, and that Steve saw to it that the problem was "made right." That doesn't mean that the man can handle every single customer complaint and personally see that all problems are fixed, but it does mean that Apple is paying attention to its customers and trying to keep them satisfied with their purchases-- which makes us feel all warm and sunny inside. Of course, that doesn't mean you should expect a personal phone call from Steve if, say, your Power Mac arrives DOA. There are only so many hours in the day, and someone's got to fix the photocopier...