Raising the Level of Discourse
Even if Apple feels it is wrongly criticized for, say, doing X, if only they would answer “Of course we do X, it seems obvious to us why, but here are three good reasons for us to do so”, then it would silence the press that made the dumb criticism, while allowing more serious outlets to follow up with “Yes, but then why do you do X even when Y?”
The iPhone 4 antenna and the App Store make good examples. Apple certainly could raise the communication to a higher level, but there seems to be little immediate incentive for them to.
Thanks for the plug! (and for not spoiling the solution ;)