Why Apple does not blog

Slashdot It! The first thing this minor controversy highlights is how potentially dangerous it can be for developers to announce anything in advance. Company blogs are the Pandora’s Box of such pre-announcements, even when not intended as such. Once something is stated in an official blog, the proverbial cat is difficult to stuff back into the bag.

The other thing about blogs is that written text fails to capture the full range of rich human communication. It's easy to take more offense than is necessary to the wrong choice of words. Minor and casual criticism can quickly ferment into a difficult stink, and attempts to bury it can often just make it worse.

Blog entries are like emails that cc: to the entire world.

If anyone is still wondering why Apple does not encourage its internal developers to maintain blogs, here's a good example of how the good intentions behind sharing information can result in unpleasant, unintended consequences.

Apple is already assailed for not delivering products it has never even hinted at; if the company automatically assumes responsibility for rumors, imagine its predicament if it were to cast ideas for future products into the permanent record of a blog.

Apple uses secrecy to generate interest and garner publicity right when it will best help sales. In contrast, Microsoft has long used published plans of future products to generate publicity.

By focusing on the future rather than the present, Microsoft can continually position its competitors' products against ones it may choose to sell in the future.