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Heart of the Matter (2/14/98)
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Quick, name the number one factor contributing to Apple's recent decline. If you said "the press," you just said the magic woid. (If you said "the no-good scum-sucking dirty lying evil press" you get bonus points for vitriol, if not necessarily for accuracy.) It's the bad press about Apple that leads to lower sales, which leads to more bad press, which leads to still lower sales, etc. But while the press may be the number one factor in Apple's death spiral, it's not the press' fault that things have gone so awry. Yes, they may exaggerate, they may fail to remain objective, but why is the spin on Apple so often bad instead of good? That, according to a great article by Lucas Roebuck over at MacCentral, is Apple's fault.
According to Roebuck, Jobs is no fool-- he knows that the death spiral could just as well be a success spiral, if only he can convince the press to start reporting positively on Apple. Roebuck goes on to state the three rules of winning the approval of the press, along with shining examples of how Apple has broken them in the past, as well as ways that Jobs appears to be trying to repair the damage. If Apple can project a winning and exciting image, while managing to deliver technologies that are even better than any of us are expecting, things may look a whole lot different for Apple come next Valentine's Day.
So not all of Apple's problems can be blamed on the press. In fact, none of them can. Apple's problems are Apple's problems, but the press acts as a huge magnifying glass that amplifies anything wrong. Conversely, of course, it also trumpets good news when good news is there to trumpet. Apple's problem is that it had forgotten how to play the press game. Luckily, they seem to have wisened up a bit recently; let's see if Apple can woo the press back onto their side.
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SceneLink (450)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 2/14/98 episode: February 14, 1998: The details of suave, savvy Steve's attempts to woo the press are finally laid bare for all to see. Meanwhile, Apple's lawyers are plugging gaps in Apple's rumor fence with legal threats, and the annual Apple shareholders meeting (an increasingly dire occurrence in recent years) continues its slide into the uncertain future...
Other scenes from that episode: 451: My Bloody Valentine (2/14/98) Part of Apple's new press policy is to seal the cracks in the company's leak shield. Not long ago, rumors originating from Cupertino came in a steady torrent. And while things aren't even close to watertight yet, the number of people at Apple who are talking about "sensitive" issues seems to have dropped dramatically in recent months... 452: To Those Who Wait (2/14/98) So what's behind the Incredible Sliding Meeting Date? That's the question on everyone's mind these days; according to a Reuters story, Apple's annual shareholders meeting was originally scheduled for February 3rd, but it slipped a couple of times and now seems perched (tentatively) on a mid-April calendar date...
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