TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Cliff Edwards, commenting on Apple’s plans to open retail stores in 2001:

Indeed, rather than taking on the retailers who ought to be its partners, Apple would do better improving how it works with them. A good step would be to end the “think secret” approach that shrouds every new-product announcement. Covert operations worked beautifully when Jobs first arrived on the scene; his charismatic stage presence and Apple’s eye-popping designs created priceless buzz. Now, retailers complain that the secrecy prevents them from doing advance advertising to hype sales and clear out inventory. “They are the most secretive company I’ve ever done business with,” says one top retailer. “They should let the news leak out, to convince the world how exciting their stuff is. That’s how everyone else does it.” Maybe it’s time Steve Jobs stopped thinking quite so differently.

How everyone else does it, indeed.