Fruit-themed toymaker Apple might not be able to beat anyone to the punch on technology but is instead simply better at manipulating the media than its rivals.

Mac Observer managed to corner a former Apple marketing man and discovered a tale which shows the US press in such a bad light it is a wonder that they don't hand in their press cards and join Jobs' Mob. Last week the Wall Street Journal said that Jobs' Mob was set to release a $1,000 tablet in March. While it was similar to every piece of speculation that has been around about this tablet for the last two years, it quoted a senior Apple source.

According a former marketing brains behind Jobs' Mob John Martellaro said the story had all the hallmarks of a controlled leak. He said that he had done something similar in the past. What would happen is that a senior company executive would ask him to release specific information to a “trusted person” at a major media outlet. Martellaro would "idly mention" the information in a telephone conversation, and to suggest to a reporter that publishing it would be "nice." E-mail correspondence was not allowed.

If there's ever any dispute about what transpired, there's no paper trail to contradict either party's version of the story. Both Apple and the publication are protected. Instead of the story going to the newspaper's top technology hack it would go to an underling to prevent him being made to look stupid. The story was leaked late Monday, after the stock market closed, so no one could suggest there was an attempt to manipulate Wall Street. Martellaro said that Apple leaked stories in this way to “to light a fire under a recalcitrant partner”, to float the idea of a $1,000 price point, to panic or confuse a potential competitor, or to get analysts and observer expectations to make sure the right kind and number of people show up at an event.

The upshot of this is that while Apple rumours on its tablet get a lot of traction, rivals offering identical or cheaper products are ignored. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer showed a tablet to CES yesterday and the media largely ignored it. The tablet has what is believed to have the same functionality of the Apple machine but had been kept under wraps by Vole.

In fact the media actually went as far as comparing the product to Apple's bit of vapourware which no one has officially seen. Generally the feeling was that while there is a media storm over the Apple tablet there is sod all being written about the technology itself. If another company produces one which has identical functionality it is dismissed as “just another tablet”. Yet in a few weeks when Apple announces its gizmo the American press will be there applauding with the riff raff.

Expectations have been so manipulated that it is impossible to see the technology from the hype. What is alarming is that it is press, often cynical at similar manipulations from politicians, which is supposed to help consumers navigate their way through such manipulations. With Apple the masters of media hype and spin, it has turned every media outlet into a marketing employee. It is not surprising that Apple is able to hawk over priced PCs on an ignorant public many of whom think they have a good deal.