Keeping up with the rumors

So, this is the way of business today: a form of corporate espionage is now mainstream, above-board and covered in the press. Item one — a story in Tuesday’s New York Times about the anticipation around the release of Apple’s new iPhone 7.

The story focused on rumors that the new version will, somewhat controversially, lack a headphone jack. Said the Times: “We know about this potential absence thanks to a global information chain, one that shadows the supply and manufacturing chain that produces Apple’s products. The shadow chain is intended to ferret out Apple rumors: promoting them, discussing them and then discussing them some more, long before they become facts.