Apple + Lawyers = Little Girl's Tears
This story explains why so many people in marketing sincerely despise lawyers. Click through to the story, it's worth a laugh.
The legal need behind Apple's policy of not accepting unsolicited product suggestions is, of course, perfectly clear. On the other hand, I'd think it a good rule of thumb that whatever a company's legal needs, you should be able to meet them without stumbling on public relations landmines. The comments thread on Apple Insider flies between two extremes--roughly, "why should a 9-year-old writing a public company expect anything but the adult-world response" and "have a heart, people"--but I don't think the answer is really all that difficult. I've worked in a correspondence shop (that is to say, managing lots of form-letter replies), and it's common sense to write towards your audience. If you're talking to children, being simple and positive is the order of the day.
I'm coming to realize that this isn't a lawyer's first instinct. But replying to a third-grader with legalese from a corporate counsel isn't necessary and there's no profit in it.
(Article updated and expanded a few minutes after it was first published)
