Type of site News Website thinksecret.com Launched 1998 | Available in English Alexa rank 4,203,999 (April 2014) Current status Offline | |
Think Secret, founded in 1998, was a web site which specialized in publishing reports and rumors about Apple Inc.. The name of the site was a play on Apple's one-time advertising slogan, "Think Different". Think Secret's archives reached as far back as May 3, 1999. On December 20, 2007, it was announced that the site would eventually shut down as part of a legal settlement. The site officially shut down on February 14, 2008, and now shows a forbidden error when trying to access it.
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Predicted Mac Mini release
In December 2004, Think Secret published rumors of a new Mac and a new piece of word-processing software.
Apple files suit
Apple subsequently sued Think Secret editor "Nick dePlume", claiming that the site's reports violated trade secret law. The rumors were confirmed on January 11, 2005 at Macworld in San Francisco when Apple's CEO Steve Jobs introduced the Mac mini and the iWork productivity suite.
Editor identified
Prior to Think Secret's legal troubles, the identity of its editor was unknown outside the Mac journalism community, as he had always written under the pen-name "Nick dePlume". It was later discovered by bloggers at Black Vortex that his real name was Nicholas Ciarelli.
Suit settled, site to discontinue publishing
The lawsuit with Apple was settled on December 20, 2007. The site said that, "as part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published." Think Secret was officially shut down on February 14, 2008, giving a Forbidden error upon entering the site.