[Loose Cannons] Sturm and Drang

It's amazing how Mac users can work themselves into such a frenzy over things that, if thought out, would become amazingly trivial.

ZDNet broke the story last week of "Ad Agency Threatens Mac Media." Apple, probably acting through plausible deniability, has sent its ad agency flunkies at Chiat/Day, to the Mac magazines.

In a scene that will probably be filmed for Godfather 4, Chiat/Day "made them an offer they couldn't refuse." Or, at least, Apple hopes they won't refuse.

And regardless of whether they do or don't, you'll know soon enough. Because print mags have a 3 month lead time, by the time Macworld Expo San Francisco 2001 rolls around, you can bet your meatballs that those mags with Apple ads signed on the dotted line.

But to see the Mac web tell it, Apple is guilty of a sin greater than The Seven Ones combined. In actual fact, all Apple is doing is deciding where to spend its money, just like you do every day.

You don't shop at stores whose policies you don't agree with, do you? You don't watch TV shows you don't like, do you? Or listen to music that offends, right?

It's not as if Apple is doing something out of the ordinary, either. Take a look at your local newspaper. If it's like most, there is a weekend supplement called "Homes" or "Real Estate." And, if it's like most, the vast majority of those pages are taken up with thousands of dollars of ads for various agents and agencies.

Now, over the next few weeks, months or years, watch your local paper and see how much coverage it has of real estate issues. See how many "crooked agent" stories they do. See how often you hear about scams in the real estate industry from your local paper. You won't find any.

This kind of thing has been going on for years. The mythical "separation of church and state" in the magazine industry is no more real than in the newspaper industry. The problem is, Apple is doing two things wrong.

First of all, they are asking for a written statement from magazine people to the effect that they won't publish rumor or speculation. And the second is that they got caught.

It was stupid of Chiat/Day to ask for a written statement. Any magazine publisher worth his or her salt wouldn't be caught dead signing such a statement, even if they tacitly agreed to it.

Besides, it is relatively easy to make the point without anything written down. All they had to do to make it plain was to pull an ad after a negative story came out. The word would get around just fine. And it's not like Apple needs the Mac magazines. The mags themselves are already indirectly advertising for Apple just by the content alone.

Speaking of getting the word out, why can't the geeks over at Slashdot even get their information straight? They took this story and ran with it, looking like the proverbial headless chickens.

There is a huge thread, obviously from folks with little better to do, ranting and raving about this new policy from Apple. One of the more delicious quotes is "They place an ad with a rumor site presumably because they are getting traffic consisting of people interested in the apple platform..."

Guess what? Apple has never placed an ad with any of the so-called rumor sites. Apple rarely advertises on Mac web sites in general. This policy is directed at the Mac print mags.

And we offer up a challenge right here and right now to any Mac print magazine Editor in Chief. And, coincidentally enough, it's free spin control for you.

State publicly, first thing tomorrow morning, that you are completely against this policy and that your editorial decision making process is not up for sale and that you can not and will not be bought by Apple and/or Chiat/Day and that Apple and Chiat/Day cannot put prior restraints on the content of your magazine.

The beauty of this is that, in 3 months time, when Apple ads*do appear in your mag, we all won't look at it suspiciously and think you sold out.

Good plan, huh? Email us and we'll tell you where to send the checks.

Speaking of restrictions, did you know Apple is restricting posts on its own forums? This from MacFixIt:

"Thank you for your recent post to the Apple Discussions area regarding Mac OS X Public Beta. Apple does not offer online discussions for Mac OS X Public Beta software, and your post was removed. To submit feedback on the Mac OS X Public Beta, or to report an issue you have encountered, please visit the Mac OS X Feedback page."

So it seems that Apple wants you to try out OS X Beta but doesn't want you to talk about it in public. Which makes sense. After all, have you seen all the bitching, whining and complaining on various forums and mailing lists over something as minor as paying $30 for the beta? Why would Apple want to wade through all of that just to get beta reports?

Look, here's a tip: if you don't want to pay $30 for the Beta CD, DON'T.

To the best of our knowledge, Apple hasn't threatened, cajoled, forced or arm twisted anyone into beta testing OS X. And if you do pay the 30 bucks, you look like a real idiot complaining about it afterwards.

And it's not like Apple's forums are the only place to voice your opinions, ill-informed as they may be. Applelinks has them, MacCentral has forums as do MacNN and MacFixIt. If you want to complain about Apple, there's your soapbox. Just don't expect Apple to listen.

After all, Uncle Steve knows what's best for all of us, doesn't he? Just stop getting your knickers in a bunch over it.

Loose Cannons Out!

cannons@applelinks.com

November 20, 2008