It"s no secret that when another year rolls around, rumor blogs begin firing up with various "sources" and other bits of information. However, an ex-employee of Apple has revealed that the company starts some of these rumors on its own, to help build up a bit of publicity.
According to an article posted on The Mac Observer, written by John Martellaro (previously Senior Marketing Manager at Apple), a senior executive would inform him that, "We need to release this specific information. John, do you have a trusted friend at a major outlet? If so, call him/her and have a conversation. Idly mention this information and suggest that if it were published, that would be nice. No e-mails!" Martellaro continues to note, "The communication is always done in person or on the phone. Never via e-mail. That"s so that if there"s ever any dispute about what transpired, there"s no paper trail to contradict either party"s version of the story. Both sides can maintain plausible deniability and simply claim a misunderstanding. That protects Apple and the publication. In the case of yesterday"s story, Walt Mossberg was bypassed so that Mr. Mossberg would remain above the fray, above reproach. Also, two journalists at the WSJ were involved. That way, each one could point the finger at the other and claim, "I thought he told me to run with this story! Sorry.""
The article lists reasons in which Apple would do something like this, listing price range reactions, worrying competitors, and also to drum up hype to ensure the right number of people show up to its events. It"s also always ensured that nobody can suspect the company of stock price manipulation, as displayed by the recent WSJ article about Apple"s tablet PC which was posted late Monday night. Regardless of what happens, all will be revealed come January 27.