Apple's Disinformation

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Some rumor sites may already be aware of this but the unsuspecting need to know that Apple is engaged in a purposeful disinformation campaign designed to put rumor sites out of business. They are planting rumors, like the recent Apple plasma HDTV rumor, to purposefully impugn the integrity of rumor sites.



I have to apologize for spreading the Apple plasma HDTV rumor. I thought it was real. As I said, Jason O'Grady didn't get it from me, he got it from the original source which was someone within Apple.



Good rumor sites are going to have to obtain independent corroboration of any rumor. There are ways of doing that. For instance, I know for a fact that new stuff is coming out in March, before the end of the quarter. I know what it is but this time, I ain't tellin'. Please don't ask. Yes, iBook and iPod related but I'll leave the details to others. All I can say is, you won't be disappointed. Again, one of the analysts already commented because he knows what I know. Notice how well AAPL is doing today. The new stuff will do little to help Q2 but will give a boost to Q3. Look for better guidance from Apple during the Q2 cc in April.



Sorry if this isn't the right forum to post this. It seems future hardware related. There are already good threads discussing future iBooks and iPods so this shouldn't be a place for that.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 82
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Much more likely they are doing it to plug internal leaks.



    That is, unless these rumors are just, y'know... BS. And always were.
  • Reply 2 of 82
    I also know that Apple will be releasing something soon. What do I mean by soon, you may ask? Well, let's just say that I'm not going to play any semantic games here ... you all must know what 'soon' means, right?



    I can say that it has something to do with computers, and possibly music! Oh, man, it'll be great ...I can barely contain myself!



    Thanks.



    Applemole #49



    PS Hi, Steve.
  • Reply 3 of 82
    jcgjcg Posts: 777member
    Rumors forums are for discussing rumors, so we should not be hard on Rolo becouse the one that he posted turned out to be wrong. It was entertaining, and brought a lot of trafic to the site. It also brought about some serious discussion on what people who visit this board want in home entertainment capabilities with the Mac. Hopefully there were some people at Apple who are high enough to make a difference saw what was said and take some of it into consideration when making discisions about these devices, if not no harm done.
  • Reply 4 of 82
    I'm going to start a new site which only reports rumours of rumours.



    Gleeful hyperbole will be expressly tolerated.
  • Reply 5 of 82
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Rolo

    Some rumor sites may already be aware of this but the unsuspecting need to know that Apple is engaged in a purposeful disinformation campaign designed to put rumor sites out of business. They are planting rumors, like the recent Apple plasma HDTV rumor, to purposefully impugn the integrity of rumor sites.



    More likely they were planting dis-information (if in fact they were) in order to find out who was leaking. This is their perogative.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Rolo

    Notice how well AAPL is doing today. The new stuff will do little to help Q2 but will give a boost to Q3.



    It may have something to do with the iTunes user-base news today. (Not to mention people recovering from the panic of last week.)
  • Reply 6 of 82
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    They are becoming like RIAA by the day. Planting bullshit rumours to... put them out of business.
  • Reply 7 of 82
    fahlmanfahlman Posts: 740member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by audiopollution

    I'm going to start a new site which only reports rumours of rumours.



    It's been done already
  • Reply 8 of 82
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    I own appleinsiderinsider.com
  • Reply 9 of 82
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Apple throwing off rumor sites to protect trade secrets?! How dare they?!
  • Reply 10 of 82
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    I sincerely doubt it. Would it even be legal? There are pretty tight regulations about the information that publicly-traded companies like Apple release. I bet that planting really juicy rumors - which could certainly affect the stock price - is covered under those regulations. Furthermore, setting up high expectations for an Expo that are then only dashed with the real announcement doesn't seem like very smart business to me.



    The more parsimonious explanation is that people like to mess with other people, and starting rumors that everyone then talks about is gratifying in a childish way, Rolo...
  • Reply 11 of 82
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    Apple throwing off rumor sites to protect trade secrets?! How dare they?!



    Apple planting information that could possibly influence stock prices?! How dare they not?!
  • Reply 12 of 82
    buckeyebuckeye Posts: 358member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Rolo

    For instance, I know for a fact that new stuff is coming out in March, before the end of the quarter. I know what it is but this time, I ain't tellin'. Please don't ask. Yes, iBook and iPod related but I'll leave the details to others. All I can say is, you won't be disappointed.



    CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



    This doesn't make any sense. If you are trying to regain your credibility, you might not want to waste people's time with these kinds of posts.



    Instead, if you actually know something this time (which we all suspect you still don't), why don't you prove it by posting what is coming out? Don't hide behind your own BS, tell us what "new stuff" we should get excited about.
  • Reply 13 of 82
    Quote:

    Originally posted by buckeye

    CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



    This doesn't make any sense. If you are trying to regain your credibility, you might not want to waste people's time with these kinds of posts.



    Instead, if you actually know something this time (which we all suspect you still don't), why don't you prove it by posting what is coming out? Don't hide behind your own BS, tell us what "new stuff" we should get excited about.




    No kidding. Hell...even I know new stuff is coming too (and I don't know anything). I could even guess, with decent probability of success of being right, when.
  • Reply 13 of 82
    rolorolo Posts: 686member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BRussell

    I sincerely doubt it. Would it even be legal? There are pretty tight regulations about the information that publicly-traded companies like Apple release. I bet that planting really juicy rumors - which could certainly affect the stock price - is covered under those regulations. Furthermore, setting up high expectations for an Expo that are then only dashed with the real announcement doesn't seem like very smart business to me.



    The more parsimonious explanation is that people like to mess with other people, and starting rumors that everyone then talks about is gratifying in a childish way, Rolo...




    Hmm, you have a point. Parsimonious. Does that make your mouth pucker?



    All I know is what I heard. I remember reading some years ago that Apple was considering using disinformation to throw rumor sites off track. Maybe now they're making more of an effort. They want to keep a very tight lid on new product announcements, as you all know. It doesn't seem able to control the Taiwan media, though, or any "legitimate" media outlet, for that matter.



    The ironic thing is that big time stock analysts that cover AAPL do pay attention to rumors and you see them crop up in their reports on occasion. You'll also see rumors pop up in the mainstream media and there's nothing Apple can do about that. It's a double standard for Apple to come down on rumor sites.



    Anyway, it isn't hard to get hints of things to come. One analyst recently mentioned a "true" video iPod. We've been hearing about that for a while now. Something with a larger screen so you can actually watch the thing for more than a few minutes. Another MBP, 17". A couple of iBook replacements that could be totally different from the white chiclets. Maybe some new deals for video downloads. Maybe a media event in March to introduce some new goodies. Inquiring minds want to know.



    We're just a bunch of Apple, Mac & iPod fans who want to have some inkling of what's going on. Problem is, Apple's in an incredibly competitive market so it's helpful for them to keep things under wraps so they can get a leg up on the competition. Still, it's really cool to discuss new stuff and it sure doesn't hurt Apple to know what its fans want.
  • Reply 15 of 82
    objra10objra10 Posts: 679member
    still resisting the urge to ban this guy.



    there are two categories of people on rumor sites. People who know something (who usually don't say anything - or when they do, they actually say SOMETHING), and those who are talking out of their butt hole (ie: Rolo).
  • Reply 16 of 82
    rolorolo Posts: 686member
    MOSR, FWIW, has an update that mentions a bit of what I'm hearing. As I said, Apple isn't above spreading false info out there so take any rumor you hear with more than a pinch of Kosher salt.



    What I'm hearing is that the new iBooks will be very different from what we're used to. They might even still be called iBooks. MacBook kind of sucks. Also, a true video iPod with a larger screen, say, 3.5". I don't know what aspect ratio. No other details are known at this point but we should be hearing more about this soon. The iBooks and iPod could, and I stress "could," be announced together in a special media event in March. Hope it's less than 2 months away.



    I know this is sketchy but that's all I have at the moment. I can only speculate about the Mac mini. I still don't even know what chip will be in the new iBooks. Could be a Core Duo at a lower speed or a Core Solo. Whatever it is, battery life will be very important. Again, I'm just speculating, but I'd really like to see a driveless, low cost iBook ultralight for education.
  • Reply 17 of 82
    rolorolo Posts: 686member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OBJRA10

    still resisting the urge to ban this guy.



    there are two categories of people on rumor sites. People who know something (who usually don't say anything - or when they do, they actually say SOMETHING), and those who are talking out of their butt hole (ie: Rolo).




    Go ahead and ban me, if you want. I don't need to put up with BS nonsense like this. I posted a real rumor, didn't know it was fake, neither did Jason O'Grady and others, and then came back and said I thought it was a fake rumor spread by Apple, and then came back today to confirm that it was a false rumor spread by Apple. Everything I've ever said here for the past few years has been honest and straightforward. If all you can do is make me out to be something I'm not, twist what I say, and say mean, stupid things, to hell with you, I'll ban myself.
  • Reply 18 of 82
    macroninmacronin Posts: 1,174member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Rolo

    Go ahead and ban me, if you want. I don't need to put up with BS nonsense like this. I posted a real rumor, didn't know it was fake, neither did Jason O'Grady and others, and then came back and said I thought it was a fake rumor spread by Apple, and then came back today to confirm that it was a false rumor spread by Apple. Everything I've ever said here for the past few years has been honest and straightforward. If all you can do is make me out to be something I'm not, twist what I say, and say mean, stupid things, to hell with you, I'll ban myself.



    Dude, it was the way you said it...



    All those forceful "Got it?!?" statements did little to reinforce your point, just made you out to be an arrogant arse...



    As for the iBook replacements, I still say Apple needs to go dual core across the ENTIRE product line...



    And as for the MOSR stuff, he is (and has always been) a joke...



    I believe I accused you & Ryan Meader of being one and the same at one point before MWSF'06...



    I think I still stand by that statement...



    Cheers!
  • Reply 19 of 82
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    Good lord, here we go again. First it starts out you might know something.



    Then a hint is given about a couple of things it could be.



    Then people start to demand that you put up or shut. Up.



    Then slowly the whole thing comes gushing out.



    Dude, if you think it is coming out in March, at least have the decency to start this thing next month. Two months of this is just crazy and self gratuitous.



    Can someone open Temporary Insanity, let Rolo sneak in and then close the door?
  • Reply 20 of 82
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BRussell

    I sincerely doubt it. Would it even be legal? There are pretty tight regulations about the information that publicly-traded companies like Apple release. I bet that planting really juicy rumors - which could certainly affect the stock price - is covered under those regulations. Furthermore, setting up high expectations for an Expo that are then only dashed with the real announcement doesn't seem like very smart business to me.



    ....




    I am no expert in corporate responsibility, but I highly doubt that Apple is breaking the law. The misinformation is being given to people who are contractually obliged to keep it secret, not to publicize it. Let us not forget that manufacturers of big-ticket items like automobiles routinely disguise their developmental products while testing them in public.



    As for Rolo, I think that he needs to find a rock and hide under it. He has been given false information that he then distributed. My guess is that Apple tailors its misinformation so that it can identify the source of the leaks. If this is the case, then Apple knows who he is. If he is not the one who signed an NDA, then Apple has identified the last link in Rolo's chain who did. The bottomline is that it is highly unlikely that any information from Rolo will ever again have any credibility.
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