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Steve Jobs emails 'are real' claims Boy Genius Report, says Apple PR lied to press
Earlier this week we reported on a story that had been doing the rounds -- another Steve Jobs email thread with an irate customer. Like many other stories about Jobs' emails to customers, this yarn centered around a user disappointed with his iPhone 4's service, and Steve's flippant responses. The first time we saw the story crop up, we were suspicious of its validity (and frankly, newsworthiness), and we became even more suspicious after AppleInsider ran an article claiming that the source of the supposed emails had been shopping the tale for cash (Engadget was not contacted by the source). We did eventually cover the story, but only after Apple itself responded to the tale, claiming -- first to Fortune and then to us -- that the emails were false, and the exchange had not happened. That struck us as particularly newsworthy, because in all our years of reporting on Steve Jobs' wild personal emails (of which there are many, many examples), we'd never heard Apple refute that the emails were coming from him. Now, Boy Genius Report (where the original story appeared) has fired back, emphatically claiming that the emails are real, and that the proof is in the original message headers which the site has been given access to by the source. BGR goes one step further as well, and essentially accuses Apple PR of spinning this story to news outlets to suit its needs. And let's not mince words -- the claim is that Apple PR is lying to the press. The proof which BGR offers is no more or less convincing to us than the site's previous post on the subject; email headers and timestamps can be faked. Still, it is notable that Boy Genius is pushing back on this story, and we certainly don't believe the blog would knowingly publish a false email thread. As TechCrunch points out in its take on the matter, PR reps often give vague, sugarcoated, or misleading information to news sites, but there has never been a time when Apple's PR has outright lied to major publications (that we know of). That would be a mess of epic proportions, and we can't really fathom why they would go to the trouble. The company has obviously let stuff like this slide for years -- this seems like an odd time (and a relatively minor story) to get up in arms about it. We've reached out to Apple for further statement on this, and will report back as soon as we hear something. In the meantime, take a look at the source link and see what BGR has to say on the matter.
Joy of Tech creates Steve Jobs Email Reply Generator
Did you ever have one of those days where it seems like everyone is getting an email from Steve Jobs but you? Well, worry no more! The Joy of Tech has created the Steve Jobs Email Reply Generator. Using a series of drop-down menus, you can compose an email to Steve Jobs, like mine to the right. Then you can create Steve's reply and choose which device he sent it from. Reading through all of the drop-down menu options is pretty funny. However, the thing that stops short of making this gag really funny is that you can't actually send the email to yourself (or any gullible friends). You can only look at it on the screen -- which kind of defeats the purpose of an "email generator." Anyway, props to the talent at Joy of Tech, and thanks for reminding me how much I loved Mad Libs as a kid!
Jobs: No Mac app store coming
Whether you love or hate the closed nature of Apple's iPad and iPhone app stores, you can't deny that they've helped Apple's touch devices become the hits they are. From time to time, Mac OS X app developers have expressed fears that Apple may implement a Mac app store and only allow Mac apps built to run on OS X to be sold through it. The benefits of this would be a universal store front and QA assurance though Apple. However the draw back (and it's a doozie) would be end of the Mac's open development platform. Well fear not, developers. Steve Jobs has officially put an end to these rumors before they spiral out of control. Fernando Valente, developer at Chiaro Software emailed Steve Jobs and asked it the rumors of a Mac app store and no software running on OS X without authorization from Apple were true. Jobs' answer: "Nope." Apple knows that what works well for one OS platform wouldn't work well for another, so everyone can breathe easier.
