Paul Schiller Answering Questions on Twitter

"Last week, we reported that Apple's Phil Schiller has gotten a verified account on Twitter, and since then, his popularity on the short form social networking service has apparently skyrocketed. Rather than just retreat to the shadows, he's stepping up into the limelight, sharing insights and answering questions of all kinds from Apple fans. It's pretty awesome, actually -- he's sharing everything from his favorite apps to why you have to put in your iTunes password every time you install a new app (for security's sake -- Apple wants your approval for every piece of software on your machine). It's cool to see a senior member of Apple not named Jobs getting so hands-on with Apple's customers."

This is great news.  I'm hoping this is a sign that Apple is taking a more open stance on communication with its customers.  While I doubt we'll ever see Steve Jobs on Twitter, it's nice to see Phil Schiller there.  I wonder if this has anything to do with the integration between Ping and Twitter.  Any thoughts?