What's the easiest way to get ahold of Steve Jobs? Don't bother calling Apple PR or looking for a quote in the business press. Just email him, apparently: Apple's super-secretive boss appears to be increasingly responding to individuals' notes, which then inevitably get leaked to the Mac/gadget sites and made public.

The most recent: Last week, Jobs allegedly told a Gizmodo reader that Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T) were "discussing" how to offer a "tethering" option for iPhone subscribers. This would allow someone to use their iPhone's 3G Internet access on a laptop, either over wifi or Bluetooth, if they couldn't get to a wifi hotspot. From "Steve"...

We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

Also recently, Steve supposedly alerted someone that Apple would be trying to fix the iPhone's reception problems...

We are working on some bugs which affect around 2% of the iPhones shipped, and hope to have a software update soon.

Steve

...and told someone else that another update would fix some iPhone app flakiness, too...

This is a known iPhone bug that is being fixed in the next software update in September

Is this really Jobs? Impossible to know either way -- Jobs didn't return our email seeking confirmation, nor did Apple's PR department. But it does make sense that a CEO would want to be in some, limited interaction with his customers -- and this seems like an easy way for Jobs to show he's listening without actually having to talk to anyone.

And at least once, a Jobs email has revealed (minor) details that aren't yet public -- but proved to be right: A bug fix coming to the iPod touch calendar. From Macrumors, last October:

MacRumors forum user DavidJearly emailed Steve Jobs, asking about several features that are lacking on the iPod Touch. This included issues with full image syncing, notes, disk mode, lack of calendar input and lack of games.

Steve Jobs reportedly replied and addressed the last two issues:

David,

Nothing can be done about the games. The new iPod touch is a completely different animal inside than the old iPods and the games just don't translate. The inability to edit and add calendar events is a bug that will be fixed in a future software update.

Best,
Steve

But then again, Steve's history of supposedly replying to some emails could be enough to inspire a few attention seekers to pen some fan fiction. And it's not too difficult to "predict" that Apple would want to fix the iPhone's bugs in a software update. In other words, it's entirely possible some (or all) of these are fake.

See Also:
Is Apple Losing Its Touch? The Numbers Say No
Comic Book Ban Shows That Apple Needs An Appeals Court
Apple's iPhone 3G A Month Later: Excellent, But Not Euphoric