If you read about the launch of the new iPods the other day,you may also have heard that quite a few people out there in the blogosphere are saying that Steve Job's slashing the cost of the iPhone by $200, then immediately offering a credit (not cash back) of $100 to all the Apple freaks who'd stood in line for days, was all carefully scripted.
Which could be true, 'cos he is one devious bugger, but ultra smart when it comes to product announcements and launches. Prominent among the chorus was Robert X. Cringely, who says the whole series of events smacks of just the sort of ego-boosting manipulation toward which Jobs is inclined. "It wasn't an accident. It wasn't a thoughtless mistake. It was a calculated and tightly scripted exercise in marketing and ego gratification.
I think he's right. And when you consider the tons of free publicity, it could have all been very carefully scripted. Anyway, once an Apple freak, always an Apple freak. He won't lose any of the faithful.
George Parker
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