Apple controls the media including bloggers to make us believe their products are magical, legendary and revolutionary even when they are not
By Stephen Pate – Are you excited about the new 4.7″ and 5.5″ iPhone 6? Wow! They will be as big as a Samsung Galaxy 4 or a Nokia Lumia 930 and almost as big as a Note 4 and Lumia 1520. That’s amazing eh?
The iPhone 6 will have NFC wireless payments just like 250 other phones that shipped before it. NFC phones: The definitive list Again amazing stuff!
Can’t wait for the iWatch wearable from Apple? Get used to it because the rumors have Apple shipping in 2015. Of course, none of the above rumors may be true since Apple also runs a dis-information campaign concurrent with the rumors.
I’m so excited that Apple has carefully leaked information to build the hype about their catch-up phones and maybe iWatch wearable.
The people at the Apple announcement on September 9th, 2014 have been hand-picked by Apple PR to report only good news about the new Apple products and services. Anyone who reported bad news in the past will not be allowed into the building. We can expect all the reporting to be positive, glowing and gushing.
Apple sends out invitations to special guests, a small group of Apple employees, reporters from major news outlets including Bloomberg News, The New York Times, Reuters, and The Wall Street Journal, and a small group of reliably positive bloggers, including Daring Fireball’s John Gruber and The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple. Apple’s biggest boosters get early tips to expect and publicize the invitations.” 9to5mac
That makes you and I feel we must own these new products, encouraging us to pre-order them or feel left out. Even better, it will pump up the price of Apple’s stock and make stockholders and speculators richer.
Apple’s dis-information
Most of this is dis-information including the photos and videos has been planted by the CIA and Apple to get us all worked up for tomorrow’s reveal. OK maybe not the CIA but the tricks used by Apple’s Public Relations team would make any section head at Langley proud.
9to5mac did an expose of Apple’s tricks that blows the doors off the work Apple has done for more than a decade to convince us they are wonderful. Seeing Through the Illusion: Understanding Apple’s Mastery of the Media
That is not to say Apple didn’t invent and build great smartphones and tablets because they did. However, after reading how they tricked us in the media it feels like having great sex and finding out the other party used date rape drugs.
Apple’s public relations (PR) department is probably the best in the world — certainly more impressive at shaping and controlling the discussion of its products than any other technology company.
Before customers get their first chance to see or touch a new Apple product, the company has carefully orchestrated almost every one of its public appearances: controlled leaks and advance briefings for favored writers, an invite-only media debut, and a special early review process for a group of pre-screened, known-positive writers. Nothing is left to chance, and in the rare case where Apple doesn’t control the initial message, it remedies that by using proxies to deliver carefully crafted, off-the-record responses. 9to5mac
Biased journalists
When you read a positive review of an iPad or iPhone did you know that lead journalists David Pogue (New York Times) and Walt Mossberg (Wall Street Journal) were being fed by Apple?
Pogue, Baig, former Newsweek columnist Steven Levy, and Mossberg (left to right)
The journalists had the inside track with Apple and Steve Jobs. They were flown down to Cupertino to see products before anyone else.
Mossberg was the Personal Technology Columnist for the Wall Street Journal and is now Co-Executive Editor of Re/code. Pogue was lead tech reviewer for The New York Times and is now the chief of Yahoo’s tech section. Ed Baig is a long-time columnist for USA Today. These writers not only have a common denominator of working at major publications, but are also the only three U.S. journalists to have been granted early access to every new iOS device (including the first iPhone and iPad) since 2007. 9to5mac
Killing the enemy
Journalists who criticize Apple’s products or business practices get swarmed or the freeze-out. The message: you can write unbiased stories but it will hurt.
Apple can orchestrate a swarm of other journalists or bloggers to attack your work and integrity.
When Apple realized that The New York Times was gunning to win the Pulitzer Prize for its controversial iEconomy series on the Apple supply chain, Apple’s PR team sent articles criticizing The New York Times to other journalists, according to a person familiar with the strategy. 9to5mac
Off-the-record, the company has warned journalists off of following the paths of other writers, or suggested that a relationship problem with Apple would be avoided if the journalist opts not to cover certain topics. These discussions can be helpful or stifling for the writer, but they’re generally all positive for Apple, which has the opportunity to shape what’s said.
Apple withholds review gear from writers who are fair or negative which freezes them out of covering major events like the product reveal on September 9th.
Apple can already tell what a review is going to say from [a publication’s] pre-coverage, and they’re not going to give you a review unit if you’re not going to play ball.” In other words, Apple feeds the writers who will do its bidding, and starves the ones who won’t follow its messaging. 9to5mac
That puts the major networks, newspapers and tech bloggers firmly in the back pocket of Apple. The first reviews that come from tomorrow’s announcement will blow smoke and ignore anything negative since Apple picked the journalists for their bias.
We’ve been punked by Apple and the media. Even the opinions of users are slanted towards the positive reviews. If you have a problem with your iPhone or iPad, you will tend to blame yourself not Apple since they have concocted such an effective media spin.
Apple makes good to great products. While the iPhone is out-of-date and needs a refresh, the iPad Air is the current best-in-class tablet. Only the Surface Pro 3 can be compared to the iPad Air and the Pro 3 costs substantially more with fewer apps.
If you want to know more, check out the full 9to5mac story. Seeing Through the Illusion: Understanding Apple’s Mastery of the Media
If you are wondering, I own an iPad Air, iPhone 4, iPod Touch and iPod. Follow me on Twitter at @sdpate or on Facebook at NJN Network, OyeTimes and IMA News Buzz. You can also subscribe and receive notifications of new stories by email. Photos from 9to5mac.
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