At the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit on Wednesday, Al Gore made a reference to new iPhones to be released in October. There’s probably a good reason for that intentional mistake.
Al Gore, who is on the Apple Board of Directors, is quoted by the editor of Stuff Magazine, Toby Shapshak, as follows. “Not to mention the new iPhones coming out next month. That was a plug.”
Why would Mr. Gore say such a thing when we know that ordinary Apple employees can get fired for leaking product plans?
There is a time for Apple, during development, to keep things close to the vest. However, when a product launch is imminent, there’s a time to start creating a fever. It’s one thing for a publication to cite unnamed sources, but it’s quite another for a well-known, yet detached public figure like Al Gore to spill the beans unofficially on behalf of Apple. This provides a kind of stamp of approval on Apple’s controlled leak via other publications, and yet doesn’t give away too much related to whether there will be multiple phones.
Some mystery and speculation remains to fuel the fires, yet we can really count on the announcement soon.
Other companies are constantly wondering how Apple creates such a stir over its product launches and gets so much free press. Having someone like Al Gore on your board to smile, wink, and make such an unofficial comment is one way to do exactly that.
October 4th, it is.