Steve Jobs doesn't respond personally to customer e-mails very often. But when he does, his words are interpreted, re-interpreted, decoded, deciphered, examined and re-examined a thousand times. Over the last few weeks, about a dozen of the Apple CEO's replies have surfaced in the blogosphere. Customers asked questions like: When is the next MacBook coming out? What features will the iPad have? Why is Apple suing me? Jobs typically responds with laconic replies like "no" or "yep" or "not to worry." That's about all it takes for a massive feeding frenzy to ensue, with tech bloggers scouring the emails for clues to veiled company secrets. Here's a look at some of the terse remarks that have inspired endless extrapolation.

'Not to worry'- in response to a customer complaining about Apple's lack of focus on its Macbook and Macbook Pro laptops.

• That sparked a flurry of excitement as many techies perceived this as a sign that Apple will update its laptops in the next few months.

• Of course, many of these blogs are always saying Apple is "just about" to unveil new hardware. When Geek.com reported the news they acknowledged that just last week they incorrectly predicted a hardware update that "Sadly" never "came to be."

'yep'- in response to a customer asking if Apple will make a universal mailbox on the iPhone so users can receive all their mail in one place.

• This e-mail has been deemed Jobs's "most welcome" response, as bloggers anticipate a new feature for the iPhone. As the macNN staff explains, "At present, iPhone users have no choice but to check each account separately. An updated Mail client would be most likely to arrive with the iPhone 4.0 firmware, anticipated for this summer."'No'- in response to Jezper Söderlund, a Swedish customer asking if the WiFi-only iPad could be tethered to the iPhone (i.e. share the iPhone's Internet connection).

'No'- in response to Jezper Söderlund, a Swedish customer asking if the WiFi-only iPad could be tethered to the iPhone (i.e. share the iPhone's Internet connection).

• Seith Weintraub at 9to5 Mac dug up the header information of the e-mail to confirm the email was authentic. It also told him what iPhone version Jobs uses. "Jobs is still rocking that 3.1.2 iPhone," Weintraub writes.

• Breathlessly, a blogger at 7ele adds "The full email headers Söderlund forwarded to AppleInsider appear to indicate that Jobs sent his one word reply at 8:30 AM from his iPhone."

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John Hudson