For the past month and a half, Apple has kicked up quite a stir with the release of its new line of iPhone’s and iPads. Part of the reason for that frenzy is their new “updated” software with every new release, blowing past benchmarks and speed and performance. Although many of us may wonder how it’s possible to double your speed every time like clockwork, Qualcomm former Chief Marketing Officer tells us exactly how Apple does it – they don’t. Mr. Anand Chandrasekher, has called the new A7 chip  a “marketing gimmick” believing  it to provide “zero benefit” to the consumer. In a world where marketing campaigns of  many companies are under attack for twisting and hiding the truth, shouldn’t a reliable  source be allowed to speak their peace of mind more than anyone? Apple has marketed  this new chip to be “revolutionary” (as it always does) so although having a competitor’s  opinion may be biased, they still have a better knowledge of the industry than the average  Joe’s thoughts. Marketing should be based on true facts and figures, and if Apple gets  called out on it, people shouldn’t be demoted for it.  As consumers, is it really plausible for  something to increase it’s speed  exponentially, so consistently? How “fast”  will it get before it’s too fast? Mr. Chandrasekher has an excellent point about this chip being a marketing gimmick. By falsely advertising the performance levels of Apple’s new products (either by completely false numbers or manipulated tests), Apple is betraying the trust it’s loyal consumer’s have for the technological giant. Although people may not necessarily be glorified for making such serious accusations, demotion is a bit of a shock in terms of responding to such an incident. More importantly, Qualcomm is actually a competitor to Apple now, so it makes even less sense as to why they would punish an executive for criticizing the opponents.

source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57609038-37/after-apple-64-bit-a7-criticism-qualcomm-exec-reassigned/

It cannot be denied that in recent years, the amount of news “leaks” have grown exponentially, so much so that many of us are no longer surprised by it’s presence in the daily news. For the purposes of keeping this post within a relative and defined topic area, I will talk about new technology. Perhaps the most obvious example would be Apple. At the moment, they are the ones that receive the greatest media coverage in regards of new product releases, and are closely scrutinized every quarter of the year. However, it becomes suspicious when, without fail, every new product release is preceded by a product or product part “leak”. We might remember the thrilling tale from Gizmodo, http://gizmodo.com/5520438/how-apple-lost-the-next-iphone, who allegedly obtained  the “picked up” prototype iPhone 4 in a bar. While many cannot help but remain puzzled  as to how this serious breach of secrecy occurred, it nonetheless gained a fair amount  of coverage. Fast forward to 2013, and once again Apple has had a “leak.” What turned  out to be stunningly accurate pictures of the new iPhone 5s were found days before the  release of the iPhone itself, with many wondering just what Apple was doing to keep it’s  products hidden from the spotlight until debut. The detail in this leak was truly  comprehensive. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/165955-iphone-5s-leak-  points-toward-colorful-silver-ringed-fingerprint-scanning-home-button 

This leads us to the question: “Is Apple doing this intentionally?” Well it really is a matter of perspective, but I personally believe that the leaks are controlled. This is really free marketing for Apple, having leaks stir up a frenzy for it’s products and potentially helping to drive up its share price in the coming days before the product release. Although a little unfair for it’s competition (if Apple really does plan these leaks), it is nonetheless an amusing notion for us to ponder. Just how on earth does a technological powerhouse suffer from so many leaks?