Leave Us Alone – Apple Tells Student?

What a way to start Monday with Steve Jobs asking a student to “Leave us (Apple) alone”. It is being reported that Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs has asked a journalism student in an email exchange where he asked her to stop her communications but asking her to leave them alone.

Long Island University senior Chelsea Kate Isaacs emailed Jobs last week after she had not received any response to her numerous requests from Apple’s public relations department to answer a few questions regarding the iPad for her project she was working on. She said, “I humbly ask why Apple is so wonderfully attentive to the needs of students … and yet, ironically, the Media Relations Department fails to answer any of my questions which are, as I have repeatedly told them, essential to my academic performance.”

Jobs replied to her mail and in his brief remark said, “Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry.” Issac fought back in another email saying, “I never said that your goal should be to ‘help me get a good grade’. Rather, I politely asked why your media relations team does not respond to emails, which, consequently, decreases my chances of getting a good grade. But, forget about my individual situation; what about common courtesy, in general – if you get a message from a client or customer, as an employee, isn’t it your job to return the call? That’s what I always thought. But I guess that’s not one of your goals.”

Jobs was quick to reply this time with a much more precise email which read, “Nope. We have over 300 million users and we can’t respond to their requests unless they involve a problem of some kind. Sorry.” Issac fired back another email where she said she was indeed an Apple customer and has a problem which only the Apple’s media team could answer. “Now, can they kindly respond to my request (my polite and friendly voice can be heard in the first five or 10 messages in their inbox). Please, I am on deadline,” she said.

The final reply came from Jobs and a simple, “Please leave us alone.”

Tech Cruch doubted the authenticity of these emails as it was reported that Isaacs was at the center of “some shady Internet fame seeking business”. Tech Crunch pointed out this poston a website which doubted Isaacs true intentions. Regardless of if this were real or a hoax, many agree that Steve Jobs was right, it was a customer having a few questions and not really an issue with their device and he or Apple was in no way obligated to answer their questions.

You can read the Tech Cruch article here.

You can read their entire conversation below.

From: Steve Jobs

Date: September 16, 2010 6:27:36 PM PDT

To: “[email protected]”

Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs – Student Journalist Concerned about Apple’sMediaRelations Dept.

Please leave us alone.

Sent from my iPhone

—————————————————–

On Sep 16, 2010, at 5:32 PM, [email protected] wrote:

You’re absolutely right, and I do meet your criteria for being a customer who deserves a response:

1. I AM one of your 300 million users.

2. I DO have a problem; I need answers that only Apple Media Relations can answer.

Now, can they kindly respond to my request (my polite and friendly voice can be heard in the first 5 or 10 messages in their inbox). Please, I am on deadline.

I appreciate your help.

—————————————————–

From: Steve Jobs

Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:10:12

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs – Student Journalist Concerned about Apple’s

MediaRelations Dept.

Nope. We have over 300 million users and we can’t respond to their requests unless they involve a problem of some kind. Sorry.

Sent from my iPhone

—————————————————–

On Sep 16, 2010, at 4:37 PM, [email protected] wrote:

Thank you for your reply. I never said that your goal should be to “help me get a good grade.” Rather, I politely asked why your media relations team does not respond to emails, which consequently, decreases my chances of getting a good grade. But, forget about my individual situation; what about common courtesy, in general — if you get a message from a client or customer, as an employee, isn’t it your job to return the call? That’s what I always thought. But I guess that’s not one of your goals. Yes, you do have a creative approach, indeed.

—————————————————–

From: Steve Jobs

Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:19:13

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs – Student Journalist Concerned about Apple’s Media

Relations Dept.

Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry.

Sent from my iPhone

—————————————————–

On Sep 16, 2010, at 3:22 PM, [email protected] wrote:

Dear Mr. Jobs,

As a college student, I can honestly say that Apple has treated me very well; my iPod is basically the lifeline that gets me through the day, and thanks to Apple’s Final Cut Pro, I aced last semester’s video editing project. I was planning to buy a new Apple computer to add to my list of Apple favorites.

Because I have had such good experiences as a college student using Apple products, I was incredibly surprised to find Apple’s Media Relations Department to be absolutely unresponsive to my questions, which (as I had repeatedly told them in voicemail after voicemail) are vital to my academic grade as a student journalist.

For my journalism course, I am writing an article about the implementation of an iPad program at my school, the CW Post Campus of Long Island University.

The completion of this article is crucial to my grade in the class, and it may potentially get published in our university’s newspaper. I had 3 quick questions regarding iPads, and wanted to obtain answers from the most credible source: Apple’s Media Relations Department.

I have called countless times throughout the week, leaving short, but detailed, messages which included my contact information and the date of my deadline. Today, I left my 6th message, which stressed the increasingly more urgent nature of the situation. It is now the end of the business day, and I have not received a call back. My deadline is tomorrow.

Mr. Jobs, I humbly ask why Apple is so wonderfully attentive to the needs of students, whether it be with the latest, greatest invention or the company’s helpful customer service line, and yet, ironically, the Media Relations Department fails to answer any of my questions which are, as I have repeatedly told them, essential to my academic performance.

For colleges nationwide, Apple is at the forefront of improving the way we function in the academic environment, increasing the efficiency of conducting academic research, as well as sharing and communicating with our college communities.

With such an emphasis on advancing our education system, why, then, has Apple’s Media Relations team ignored my needs as a student journalist who is just trying to get a good grade?

In addition to the hypocrisy of ignoring student needs when they represent a company that does so much for our schools, the Media Relations reps are apparently, also failing to responsibly handle the inquiries of professional journalists on deadlines. Unfortunately, for a journalist in the professional world, lacking the answers they need on deadline day won’t just cost them a grade; it could cost them their job.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Chelsea Kate Isaacs

Senior

CW Post – Long Island University