Fake Steve has a pretty scathing view of the Apple PR machine

Chauncey Dupree
|
January 16, 2009
|
Share

Dan "Fake Steve" Lyons has penned a pretty nasty (but in many ways true) piece about the Apple PR Machine:

That's what happened to the poor guy at CNBC.   Sure, he got his share of "exclusive" 10-minute spots with Steve Jobs. You can find them on YouTube. They look like training videos for a correspondence course on bootlicking. Now, of course, the CNBC guy says he's outraged. He sputters about how Apple has been irresponsible and "deplorable." His pals at Apple won't care. They're already moving on to the next useful idiot. Among the Silicon Valley press corps there is no shortage of them.

We wonder if Newsweek will get any more advanced copies of Apple hardware to review.  All signs point to no.

Comments (20)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 11:21am

The problem with Dan Lyons is, he's a d*ck. And he doesn't care.

9to5Mac Lube (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 11:27am

indeed! a total prick

fishbert (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 12:04pm

I don't have a TV, but every once in a while I encounter a clip of an interview from a cable news program... and it reminds me why I don't have a TV.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 3:34pm

Take off those apple tinted glasses and see the real world. Dan has objectivity and guts to critically examine the subject. You guys are beyond naive. People live and then they die. Steve doesn't design products or write the code. Yes, he is great CEO but thats it.

Anyway, I hope Steve gets better but at the same time I hope Apple gets some fresh new blood and ideas on the helm. The era of Jobs is over.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 3:56pm

yeah....some real creativity like they have at Microsoft

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 8:02pm

WTF? What the hell MS has to do with this? I don't have a single PC and I don't use one anywhere. I've been using Mac's since the day they came out. However, I'm far from being a fanboy. A hint of objectivity is preferred here.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 7:40pm

here's the problem. he was arguing that somehow Jobs' health was a farce, and that they should have told everyone right away what his health was. But his health is his problem. If you only buy Apple stock because of Steve, you are the idiot. Apple is about the company philosophy as a whole. Steve has tried to make it harder for people to love apple because of HIM, and more because of APPLE, INC.

And "Fake Steve" is a douchebag, to be polite.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 8:06pm

His health is his problem only if it doesn't effect AAPL. Is it effecting AAPL? Be honest now.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 1:41am

OK, the answer is YES. The real question is: who's fault is that? It's not the fault of Jobs nor of Apple. The blame can be squarely placed on

1. investors who jumped on the AAPL bandwagon without understanding a thing about the company

2. tech media writers who for years have had a chip on their shoulder regarding the success of Apple since the return of Jobs, or simply don't like him personally (the group to which Lyons belongs)

3. Wall Street "analysts" and speculators who feel stupid every single time when they get their Apple predictions wrong, and somehow exact "revenge" on the company by manipulating the stock price

Jobs is the public face of Apple, so much is clear. Fact is, though, that Apple has been run by Cook, Schiller, and crew for years now. If this were any other company, the stock would still be hovering around $150 or more by now.

Mister G (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 6:23pm

Dan repeatedly says that Apple and Steve Jobs has lied about his health condition. WTF??? Where exactly is his proof? The guy has survived one of the worst cancers you could have.

To say that Steve and the Board has lied to shareholders is to say that they don't give a rats ass about Apple, Inc. Now I ask you, does that make sense and are there people who really would believe that?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 7:52pm

You can't be serious?!?! You honestly think Apple's current brand image doesn't manifest itself in Steve Jobs persona? What do you think would happen to AAPL if Apple PR comes out with press release saying Steve Jobs has terminal cancer? Its clear they are trying to gradually ease the fanboys like you and investors into realization that Steve Jobs is gone. Since in US there are no clear guidelines regarding reporting policy of top execs health and personal issues they can pull it off. However, its not that clear cut since it can be seen that Steve Jobs has exceptional immaterial value to the company so in this case they should be reporting his health issues in clear manner. A person thinking that "hormonal imbalance" changes into something substantially more severe health issues in single week must be total idiot. All of his symptoms are linked to pancreatic cancer. Please research information regarding pancreatic cancer yourselves and please don't believe everything Apple PR machine is telling you.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 12:45pm

First of all, I'm not a fanboy. I'm a cancer survivor. Have you ever had it? Or any other terminal disease? Maybe you should do some of the research you are advising me to do. Unless you are a doctor or have had cancer yourself, how the hell would you know anything about how your health can turn on a dime, day to day, week to week. You said it yourself, "all of his symptoms are linked to pancreatic cancer". Anything can happen and the answers aren't always there when you want them regardless of how good or how many doctors you have taking care of you.

My post had nothing to do with Steve's persona or the Apple brand image. I was simply addressing the fact that I have seen no factual, documented proof that Steve and the Apple PR machine has lied from day one about his health problems. Your statements are full of assumptions with no facts, only opinions. And since I'm considered by you to be a "total idiot" for believing that "hormonal imbalance" can change in a single week, maybe you can educate me on how you came to the conclusion that it's not possible. And also, what "truth" is it that you want Steve and Apple to fess up to that would have made things better for Apple and its shareholders?

One final thing, it's not cool to assume things about people over a simple post. I'm not a fanboy or an idiot. I came here to join a discussion over a very controversial subject and that's it.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 16, 2009 - 7:35pm

For a while I read and enjoyed Dan Lyons as Fake Steve - until I figured out that Lyons was an overweening prick. Also, as an employee of Newsweek, a rag if ever there was one, Lyons should never question another reporter's integrity.

Andras (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 1:57am

I liked the comment about the two different kinds of approach to cover Apple. I think that's a very valid point. Journalists have been manipulated by Apple so many times in the past. When it comes to PR and marketing, Apple is indeed a bully - and a big one. One that starts law cases as a daily routine, makes survival for 'non-compliant' sources difficult. How many times have their legal team threaten sources by publishing leaked images? But after all, they have been playing their little games all along. Quality is another issue. Honestly, I have never owned an Apple computer that didn't have some quality or design problem. I am still shocked that for Apple, misaligned keys on the unibody MacBook do not count as a manufacturing defect. On a computer, that is being marketed as a 'magic' in design. How about the cracked iPhone case or the 'CrackBook'?

Apple chose to follow a strategy, where their CEO is part of the package, you get. To shareholders, Apple should be fully accountable. Health is personal - if it doesn't affect the value of my investment. Otherwise, I think we are entitled to know, what is happening. On that, Apple has made a mess.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 19, 2009 - 12:34am

I fully agree. Regarding the products it seems Apple is positioned on leading edge which tend to bleed. Some of the products are shipped too early which causes problems for end users. You have chipping paint on TiBook, leaking cooling on G5, cracks on iPhone and MacBook, display problems etc. Its very unfortunate especially if the manufacturer isn't ready to replace the defective products without a fight. I have personally been in a situation in I had threaten Apple with legal action if defective product isn't replaced. Regarding the Apple marketing policy they have chosen a route which promotes Steve Jobs into Howard Hughes like iconic leader. Due to this policy for many consumers Steve Jobs is Apple and therefore he is not a private but public figure and therefore his health is public matter effecting Apple Inc. stock.

some guy on the internet (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 5:07am

All of you chasing "truth" and "full disclosure" about Jobs' health... ask yourself one question. What would you do with the knowledge? Would you dump all your stock? Would you sign up for a class-action lawsuit? Will you throw you hands up in the air and run around shouting "The end is near!"?

Jobs may be intertwined with Apple's image, but he's human. At any point since he became CEO, he's faced the same mundane risks as all of us -- succumbing to disease, being killed in an accident, or even being murdered. He is not immortal; he cannot live forever.

You can muster up all the righteous indignation you want, but disclosure of his health will not change his fate, nor will it change yours.

Have enough respect for the man to let him fight this with dignity.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 12:50pm

AMEN!!! It couldn't have been said any better. RESPECT; DIGNITY!!!

Legend (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 11:59am

The thing about journalists, is that most of them have no idea what they are talking, writing or broadcasting about. For some reason, they seem oblivious to this fact. Tech industry journalists have to know more about their subject than many of their non-tech peers, but the other common trait I see in journalists is they don't let things like details, or in many cases facts, get in the way of a good story. From the most insignificant village newspaper to worldwide multinational news corporations, the get things wrong or twist the truth to grab a sensationalist headline. Laziness is another plague among media outlets in the twenty-first century. Lack of accurate fact checking or research.

Journalists often think nothing of using people to get ahead in their careers, I see no problem with Apple or anyone else beating them at their own game.

Its about time someone did.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 3:20pm

I hate posting to blog comments but here goes...

Dan IS a dick. He's also smug and arrogant. Aside from that he IS 100% correct. He is doing a distasteful and entirely dickish task of exposing just how truly useless the media is. It's not a shocker. When was the last time they even got a weather forecast even half right? The airways and newspaper pages are chocked full of analysts, pundits and reporters spouting ignorant nonsense but mainly just justifying their incomes.

Marketing is manipulating perception and to do they they stroke and coddle those who shape it with press events, product launch parties and secret "leaks" for those who are entirely dependent on that access for their jobs and who can get those careful crafted messages in front of as many people as possible.

Just because Apple is successful at it doesn't make them evil, it just makes them good. Everyone does it. They just don't do it with the same level of brilliance.

It's all about getting the words you want people to hear out there to the people you want to hear them. The only rumors Apple complains about are the ones they didn't start.

You can characterize it any way you like. Dan chose to state the obvious in his own dickish way.

DW (not verified) | January 17, 2009 - 7:04pm

++

"The fact is, in the eyes of the media, Apple is the corporate equivalent of Barack Obama—a company that can do no wrong." (Dan Lyons)

My love of Apple products aside, Lyons hit the nail on the head with that statement. I'm often shocked by the things Apple gets away with while the media's turns the other cheek.