Sunday, December 23, 2007
Apple's heavy hand shuts down ThinkSecret
What do you think about the latest news that Apple has negotiated with the Apple rumor web site ThinkSecret to shut down for good. This is because of repeated leaking of Apple plans for future products and releases. The details of the agreement were not disclosed. But it seems to me that they bought them off. This seems to me that instead of silencing the free press, Apple should police their own employees for leaking the information to begin with. In my opinion, this latest tactic from Apple is not keeping with the good image Apple has built up over the past. A bit disappointing.
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4 comments:
But you know, Stitch, is it that much different of a concept than buying out a competitor? I know I'm always disappointed when a large company buys out its closest competitor because it makes the "free market" a little less free! But it's perfectly legal for companies to do that. The guy from Thinksecret didn't seem all that broken up about the buyout, which means the terms were probably pretty good. So in this case Apple uses some cash to put itself in a more competitive position (trade secrets remain secret until Apple makes the announcement). It would seem that everyone is happy - Apple plugs a leak, and Thinksecret is a little richer. What do you think?
Uhhh...Lo, do I sense a little Apple, Inc. rationalization going on here? Would you feel the same way or say the same things were it Microsoft that bought out a company that tended to spill the beans on upcoming MS news? Just wondering. :-)
In terms of the actual acquisition/snuffing out by Apple of this ThinkSecret site, I am not so sure I feel that it's that big of a deal. I can understand the company's desire to be able to keep some things hush, hush as it develops new products. Also, it's not like Apple crushed another company through predatory pricing or something of the like. Like you said, Lo, the ThinkSecret guys are probably pretty happy about the whole thing.
Stitch, while in principle I agree with you on Apple's need to work with its employees on these issues, I would say that it's nearly impossible to keep all employees acting in the most appropriate behavior.
Finally, I imagine there will be a site soon out there to take ThinkSecret's place, making this move my Apple quite a temporary measure.
-Le
I understand the point that Apple can work with a willing party to close down your site. And it certainly isn't the same as a company buying a company to shut them up about maybe disclosing shady business practices. So from that stand point the buyout is not as big a deal. But as Le points out, a new site will pop up and take ThinkSecrets place as long as people want to speculate on what Apple is planning for the future. So this buyout really is money down the drain. I guess I don't get a warm feeling when a company tries to control the media. Or for the President for that matter.
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