Yes, Virginia, there is an Apple legal department

The feature this girl wanted amongst other things, was to get lyrics on her iPod. If you use the Yahoo widget iTunes Companion http://widgets.yahoo.com/gallery/?search=itunes+companion&x=0&y=0 you get this feature.

Arild

This makes no sense. Are they psychic? "This letter contains product suggestions! Don't open it!"

How the hell do they know if the letter has product suggestoins or not? There's no way to know unless you OPEN IT. That's the whole point.

yeah... maybe this is the 'real world' but it doesn't mean we have to like or accept it that way. i remember sending stupid letters when i was a kid, too. i always got form letter replies, but at least they were polite. i hate rude people.

I once sent a letter to Apple with an idea for the iTunes phone (we're still waiting). And, of course, I got the letter. I wouldn't have called it 'harsh' though it was cold. They just basically said they can't even look at letters that contain suggestions for new products, and they outlined their (legal) reasons. Fair enough. I was disappointed that they didn't even look at the letter. It's not like I had sent any drawings or anything that could have been patented. But, as has been pointed out, this is par for the course in corporate America (and probably most of the developed world). One question though, doesn't Apple have a "feature request" link somewhere on their website where you can recommend things you'd like? I'm sure they used to.

http://www.apple.com/legal/policies/ideas.html

Apple did nothing wrong. True, I don't think it would have hurt for an Apple lawyer to include a small personal note along with the standard response to explain it in nicer terms, since it was quite obvious that a very young person wrote the letter. But, there are reasons for the standard response that Apple has generated and sends out to people who submit ideas (the above link is included in the letter that the girl got, and pretty much sums up what a few others have said in the previous comments).

BTW, I think that it was really unprofessional of the one anchor (the guy at the desk at the beginning and end of the video) to say something to the effect of "I bet Steve Jobs is watching this and feels like an ass right now" at the end of the report. What a jerk.

I remember having a similar experience fifteen years ago with Lego, only their letter was a little nicer.

I remember a few years ago I contacted Steve Joswiak (Director of iPod & iTunes marketing) about making a change to the Apple iTunes Music Store. Never got a letter like this, in fact I actually have a 4 or 5 email conversation with him. Interesting.

american tv is just hilarous :)

seriously, what they expected from Santa c.. heu I mean Steve Jobs ?

of course the big enterprise apple computers just answered the typical corporate letters explaining apple doesn't want the risk of using people ideas and get legal problems afterward.
it's a very common answer she got. the laws in fact "force" companies to send preventive letter like this to avoid problems.


but for the kids,
maybe corporate could send two letters when children wrote them. a nice and educational letters aka "we are not bad but we have adults problems, santa claus is hard at work" (I'm joking, just something easy to read and helping to understand legal practices)
and the legal one for parents, to be safe.

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well, I love how medias want to sensationalize everything. beside the harms medias do, it's very funny.

I already wrote a letter to CBS about this, got a reply from the journalist who didn't seem to answer anything I wrote. (hypocrasy? :p)

_____
Dear CBS,

One of your stories has recently been brought to my attention, on April the 12th you published a story (therein a video report) about a 9 year old girl that wrote a letter to Apple Computers voicing her suggestions and ideas to improve a multimillion dollar product.

Apple replied with a very professional and non-threatening, just simply direct legal letter, which anyone with any business sense would recognise is to protect themselves if they just so happened to ever include any of the girls' pointless ideas in a future design, and have them notice, and make a huge freakin' fuss about it.

Consider the chance that everyone who sent in ideas was thanked, and then by chance or natural evolution of the product (providing people aren't suggesting half-wit ideas, and some of them turn out to be decent) Apple may wish to implement a feature, even if the concept and idea to do so didn't come from an external source, because that external source sent in a similar idea they now have a litigatious opportunity.

It saddens me that your video report was shed in such a light that the common people are so prone to instantly tag along with sympathy for the little girl. She deserves everything she gets for that letter... she's learning about business letters in school, and she damn well got a real one back. Does she honestly expect a personal response from Steve Jobs praising her for an idea that is already implemented? Yes, already implemented, lyrics on the iPod girl? It's been done. Maybe if she was such a "fan" of the company she'd know this.

I bring you to consider the legal position of Apple if Steve Jobs did infact praise the girl for her ideas, or even respond in a different way, he'd be freakin' stupid. America is full of people who love to jump at every chance to sue, you guys should know this in the media. Take a look at how her parents made a huge fuss over getting a letter back, imagine what would happen if they thought they could exploit Apple for an idea they insisted their daughter "invented".

So, if you want to see how lyrics can be put on any iPod since 2001, try right clicking on the songs in iTunes and hitting the lyrics tab. Then guess what? Hey, your iPod can show that songs lyrics when you press the middle button whilst it's playing. Thank god for the genius 9 year olds we have spotlighted in the media...

Signed,
xxxxxxxxx
__________

first of all the girl had the most unoriginal ideas, cause there all already a ton of ways to get lyrics on your ipod. second of all HOW SPOILED IS SHE, she already has a imac and ipod nano. third (let me quote) "i think apple should let you have lyrics to sing to and stuff", maybe a little grammer from the teacher?