Holiday Gift Guide »

Apple PR Claims Steve Jobs iPhone 4 E-mail Exchange is Fake

By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, July 1st, 2010 at 5:43 PM
steve-jobs-email-fake

Can we possibly squeeze any more drama out of the Apple iPhone 4? First it was the Gizmodo leaks and the legal problems that came along with it, then the antenna and reception issue, now we have allegedly false e-mail exchanges circulating the web intended to reaffirm our perception of Steve Jobs’ arrogance and curt public interaction. The iPhone 4 has been available to the public for a week now, but the drama never seems to cease.

This morning, an e-mail exchange was posted on Boy Genius Report between an iPhone user identified as “Tom” and Steve Jobs. In the e-mail exchange, the angry iPhone user went off on an anti-iPhone tirade and made threats to leave AT&T and abandon his iPhone for the Android platform. Anyone reading general customer responses on the web could sympathize with Tom, and thus make the tone and phrasing of his e-mail very believable. Even the alleged responses coming from Steve Jobs were believable as his terse responses have become famous for aggravating customers and loyal users. However, according to Apple PR, it wasn’t real.

Fortune reports that Apple “empathetically” denied Steve Jobs’ role in the exchange. Additionally, AppleInsider reports that a similar mail thread was offered to them for an undisclosed sum, leading others to believe that this particular bit of news was paid for.

Before we write this one off and call it case closed, there is still a small chance that the actual conversation took place as reported by BGR. After all, the best an Apple spokesperson could do was to deny the exchange in an effort to keep public relations as best as they can be after this iPhone 4 debacle. The standard issue response of “we can neither confirm nor deny” would only fuel or confirm public suspicion.

Whether this was fake or not, the important takeaway here is that some users are genuinely frustrated with their iPhone 4 experiences and they feel jilted by Steve Jobs, who hasn’t helped the situation at all with his brief, unsatisfying responses. At this point, Jobs and Apple are really beginning to test our patience by simply telling us to “stay tuned.”

I say, “Hurry up!”

[Via: Fortune]

About The Author

Marc Flores

Marc has been a mobile fanatic for the better part of a decade and has had more devices pass through his hands than he would care to count. Originally from Los Angeles and briefly in San Francisco, Marc now lives in Brooklyn where, unlike Will Park, he longs for simpler times and simpler technology. All the while, he writes about gadgets and wireless technology as he tinkers, hacks and ultimately breaks most of his gadgets in the process. Marc has written about the mobile industry for Boy Genius Report, MobileCrunch, Laptop Magazine and has had his work appear in the Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo, CrunchGear and more.

  • 1stkorean

    Thank You Marc for NOT swallowing the spin cycle coming out of Apple. All of these snide curt comments are things jobs would have no problems saying to anyone anytime.

  • Will Dexter

    I would be real careful about declaring it a hoax (not that you did). The evidence (screenshots) presented clearly indicates Apple's domain and other details. However, it is also possible for all those elements can be fabricated. A way of proving whether it was or was not real is by asking Apple to release their own portion of the email (which I think they will not do).

  • max

    It doesn't matter how much you shout or scream or ask for results in a minute. Analysing any issue on a device as complex as an iphone is going to take time. The testing itself(to identify the problem) could run into weeks. With all the "rudeness" and "attitude", I think Apple is a pretty darn good company, and knowing them, I'm sure they have their best whizkids working on this one. As an iPhone 4 user, I wouldn't worry too much. I"m pretty sure Apple can be rude, but at the same time, no company can afford to lose customers.