Meant to indoctrinate workers with iPad story?

Apple is set to hold a company-wide, town hall-style meeting sometime today, several sources claim. The topic is believed to be the just-announced iPad tablet, though beyond this no details have been disclosed. The meeting may however be similar in tone to one held in 2007, before the launch of the iPhone.

At that event, CEO Steve Jobs is said to have told workers that the iPhone would change the cellphone industry. He has also allegedly called the iPad the "most important thing I've ever done," which would make a new meeting echoing the old one a natural step. If so, all workers with a minimum level experience at Apple -- likely a year -- could receive a free iPad. The handout would serve the dual purpose of appeasing employees while fostering word-of-mouth.

During the iPhone meeting a worker is said to have asked about product cannibalization, and potentially revealed how Apple can justify the simultaneous existence of the iPhone, the iPod and now the iPad. If there's going to be cannibalization of Apple, Jobs explained at the time, the company wants it to be by Apple. The implication may be that by sharing features, it is harder for outside products to trump any one device.

by MacNN Staff