Apple is notorious for being the most tight-lipped company in the tech industry, only reluctantly half-heartedly acknowledging the current trend of company blogs, ongoing open dialog with customers and other web 2.0 phenomena.

However, in recent years Apple has been more chatty than ever before: Steve Jobs has written a whopping total of 2 blog posts, and even allowed 3 entire posts about the Mobile Me launch before silencing poor David G. 

Traditional Media Communication

Apple’s primary channels of communication haven’t really changed since Jobs returned to Apple in 97 though. They are (in order of importance):

- Live events

- Press Releases

- Traditional media outlets

However these are mostly put to use when large product announcements are made:

The live events are self-explanatory: a Steve Jobs keynote is guaranteed to cause weeks of speculation and coverage all across the internet and news media. These events are supplemented by Apple press releases and Jobs will occasionally even give TV and magazine interviews as well. The “Big Two” tech journalists, Walt Mossberg and David Pogue usually have their reviews ready to go immediately as well.

Why does “the Media” play along? Because an Apple product launch has the potential to be something truly newsworthy and revolutionary. These expectations are amplified by weeks of speculation on the internet, increasing the attention paid to these types of announcements and any stories about them.

“Underground messages”

More interesting though is the new approach Apple seems to be taking in regards to announcements between large announcements. Instead of relying on their traditional outlets, they now use three alternative channels of communication:

- Articles by Steve Jobs posted to Apple.com

- Email responses to complaints sent to stevejobs@apple.com

These types of messages receive attention firstly because it’s so unusual to hear anything besides meticulously prepared PR releases or rehearsed events from Apple. But they also receive coverage because they almost always include some new product news or information as well:

Both of Jobs’ Apple.com articles so far have had a political motive. The first was an attempt to force the music industry’s hand in the DRM wars, the second was a response to negative PR Apple had been hit with by Greenpeace (who carry a substantial amount of authority in Europe). 

The secret is the sauce

But the real secret is the slip of the tongue that is almost always included. “A Greener Apple” included the tidbit that Apple was planning to introduce LED-backlit displays during 2007. That piece would have been a boring bit of eco-fluff on any other company website, the LED backlighting revelation made it a news piece.

Emails to customers purportedly from Jobs seem to serve a slightly different purpose that his “blog” posts: They are usually designed to address customer criticism about a product directly. One revealed that the iPod touch would be gaining calendar editing functionality, whilst two more recent emails have divulged information about the iPhone 3G connectivity issues. Coverage on the internet was against assured by the calendar functionality revelation in the first case and the promise of a new software update by September in the second. 

This allows Apple to address concerns amongst users effectively, without having to go through the embarrassment of publicly announcing shortcomings.

Conclusion

Apple’s legendary secrecy has also been seen as a weakness by some pundits: Whilst other companies will readily comment on ongoing issues they may be having through spokespeople or interviews, Apple traditionally hasn’t. The new avenues of communication they’ve opened up seem to suggest a willingness to address issues more directly than previously – a good move for consumers.