“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. That’s because, in Apple’s case, they already have,” Brian Caulfield writes for Forbes.

“Apple is renowned for its secrecy. Employees are given different code names for new products so they can’t gossip about them in the company cafeteria. Vendors and parts suppliers are punished if they leak any news. Blogs that publish news about new products have been browbeaten by lawyers and even bought out,” Caulfield writes.

“If Apple is trying to keep information away from its competitors, however, it missed a spot. That spot’s name is Eric Schmidt. He’s Google’s ( GOOG – news – people ) chief executive, and he sits on Apple’s board of directors,” Caulfield writes.

“Google announced this week it will soon offer an operating system for PCs and netbooks, a move that pits Google squarely against Apple, whose business is built around its own OS X software. And that’s only the latest Apple business Google has aped,” Caulfield writes.

Full article here.