

Why I'm Angry About the iPhone Leak - mrshoe
http://blogazineapp.com/articles/iphone-leak.html

======
ryandvm
Ugh. What a load of shit.

In the grand scheme of things, this whole ordeal is utterly insignificant.
Watching these bloggers furiously wipe the foam off their mouths for Apple's
sake is pathetic. Nevertheless, Apple brought this upon themselves.

Apple treats their products like they're little Holy Grails. Insane levels of
security, meticulously choreographed press releases, dramatic introductions by
the electronic Jesus himself. What do you expect to happen when they screw up
and leave one at a bar?

In the end, none of it _really_ matters and the world will go on spinning.
Apple will sell them like the little hotcakes they are. Gray will go on to
have a completely successful career (might not get to have any more pre-
release units). And Gawker will go on "creatively" scooping stories.

Perhaps the only injury from the entire affair is to the bloggers and tech
news junkies that aren't going to get to play out their familiar 41 minute
"new Apple product" masturbation routine...

~~~
philk
Agreed. Apple products are cool and all but there really is much cooler stuff
going on out there than a marginally upgraded iPhone.

------
sunir
Arguing that the media shouldn't publish factual information because it
impacts a company's bottom line is a dangerous argument, even (especially) if
the company affected is one that you like.

~~~
baddox
Very true. I agree that plastering the Apple employee's info all over the
place was tacky, but I see nothing wrong with publishing their story. People
love it when wikileaks breaks huge stories involving governments, armies, and
corporations, but they get upset when a (lackluster and predictable) Apple
secret gets leaked by a tech/gadget journalism website. I personally enjoy
both.

~~~
FlorinAndrei
Agreed. Publishing the story about the device, fine. But it takes a real d-bag
to leak the name of the engineer who lost it.

------
gamache
The article fails to make a convincing case on exactly what Gizmodo damaged by
releasing information about the phone.

Leak or no, this phone is most likely going to sell like hotcakes, and the
builders at Apple should do just fine. It's not like the product launch is
ruined in any way... Steve Jobs will be A-OK on stage presenting it.

Virtually any tech publication would report on an iPhone prototype, and it is
not their moral duty not to.

(I don't think Gizmodo needed to name the Apple engineer who lost the phone;
however, this is not a topic presented by the article.)

~~~
andreyf
_It's not like the product launch is ruined in any way, and Steve Jobs will be
A-OK on stage presenting it._

Can't disagree more. You're saying Steve is going to go on stage and pretend
like he's "unveiling" something everyone knows everyone in the room has seen?
I'd expect that from any other CEO, but Steve is smart enough to not reek of
bullshit in front of his most loyal customers.

Apple's not just selling a phone, it's the entire lifecycle experience: that
includes the buildup, the unveiling, the opening of the presents. It's
precisely like Christmas, and Steve Jobs is Santa. For those of us who buy
into this ritual, what Gizmodo did is like tell us exactly what our Christmas
present will be in August.

If Jobs is as big of a perfectionist as I think he is, even if they intended
to, there's no way they're introducing that phone on June.

~~~
fname
_Apple's not just selling a phone, it's the entire lifecycle experience: that
includes the buildup, the unveiling, the opening of the presents. It's
precisely like Christmas, and Steve Jobs is Santa. For those of us who buy
into this ritual, what Gizmodo did is like tell us exactly what our Christmas
present will be in August_

So what? It's about time that Apple was welcomed to the real world product
leaks that happen every day with companies with size of Apple. I think the key
here is how Apple deals with it now that everyone is watching.

~~~
allyt
> I think the key here is how Apple deals with it now that everyone is
> watching.

Andrey predicts [1] that the new iPhone launch will be canceled (or delayed?),
and that Gizmodo will pay dearly for the leak.

1\. [http://andreyf.tumblr.com/post/540380259/two-points-about-
th...](http://andreyf.tumblr.com/post/540380259/two-points-about-the-iphone-
prototype-leak)

~~~
orangecat
Canceling the launch would be utterly insane. Steve is not going to throw away
millions of dollars because somebody exposed the "secrets" of a slightly
modified exterior and front-facing camera.

------
jrockway
Information wants to be free. If you don't want someone to know about
something, don't take it out to a bar. And especially don't leave it sitting
around in the bar where anyone can take it. If you show something to a bunch
of people, it's not a secret anymore.

Apple fucked this up, and they have only themselves to blame.

Gizmodo did what their readers wanted. They worked hard (to the tune of
$10,000) and got an exclusive story that no other media outlet got. If nuclear
launch codes were left in a bar, the media would be congratulated for breaking
the story. But if it's a telephone, then everyone should be quiet and say
nothing about it? Why? Why does the government deserve more scrutiny than a
publicly-traded megacorp? Because Steve Jobs likes saying "one more thing"?

I'm not convinced.

(Uh oh, dowmodded because I hate Apple. What a shock.)

~~~
philwelch
"If nuclear launch codes were left in a bar, the media would be congratulated
for breaking the story."

Well, not if they scanned the launch codes and posted them online for everyone
to see. That's not the only fallacy either--the government losing nuclear
launch codes in a bar is a story because it proves the government can't
protect nuclear launch codes, Apple losing a prototype iPhone in a bar is only
a story because it gives us some idea of what the next iPhone might look like.

Incidentally, paying thousands of dollars for something you damn well know
isn't legally owned by the person who's selling it to you is wrong. If it's a
book of nuclear launch codes and there's a legitimate story to be told it's
outweighed by a greater good, but where's the greater good here?

~~~
jrockway
So the media can only cover subjects that lead to a "greater good"? Why not
hold Apple to the same standard -- they can only keep their phone model secret
if it does so for the "greater good".

Oh wait, maybe businesses -- even the media -- are motivated by something
other than the greater good.

~~~
philwelch
That's not even remotely what I said. What I said is that trafficking in
stolen goods is wrong unless it's justified by a greater good.

------
Adaptive
_Did they even consider the hundreds of people whose blood, sweat, and tears
went into building that device?_

Of course they didn't. Nor does anyone else. Apple anonymizes their
engineering team for the most part. No more signatures on the inside of our
Macs. The public knows Steve Jobs and Jon Ive and that's about it.

It's been clear for a long time that Apple would love to commoditize not just
their internal engineering but their developer community as well. I say this
impartially. It makes sense given their trajectory and control over the
distribution channel.

------
gte910h
I'm getting really angry with people about this whole thing: It's called a
free press people. While they skirted the law, I doubt any DA would touch this
affair (prosecuting the press when no one is physically harmed is a generally
losing proposition; ditto for the sources of the press when they're not
government employees).

If Apple doesn't release the phone due to the leak itself, they're silly. And
you don't become one of the biggest companies in the world via silliness. I
don't hate or love Apple. I'm a realist. Guess what: Apple is made up of
realists too! They're going to release the phone still

Sure, some of you actually have talked yourself into liking the ultra-secret
nature of Apple's product cycle. Good for you. A huge other portion of reality
hates it. It makes that group of people make poor buying decisions (such as
people who don't realize you never ever give Apple items for Christmas,
because they're likely going to be superseded by the next thing in a release
in a month).

Even if everyone DID like the secrecy and theater: Guess what, Gawker is a
for-profit company, just like Apple. They do things for money, just like Apple
(section 3.3.1 people? Is your memory that short?). Gizmodo was presented with
a prototype. They'd be remiss to not run with it, after finding out it wasn't
stolen (in the common understanding of the word, not the quibbling "but by
California code 2309482 it is stolen" sort of manner). Gizmodo is a company
that makes money by selling the eyeballs of people looking at interesting
information. This is exactly what they SHOULD do when presented with this.

Apple took a business risk in field testing phones. Guess what, sometimes the
bad thing happens. That's why they call it risk. In this case: the bad thing
did happen. Honestly, the fact people were still talking about 3.3.1 even
after the iAd and other 4.0 items being unveiled makes me wonder if this was
an intentional leak to regain the control of the news cycle for Apple.

And as to the guy who got outed: Honestly, I think Giz was doing two
legitimate things (but likely hurting a random person in the process). 1> They
were establishing the authenticity of the phone. By pointing out 'hey, it is
from someone at Apple' they dispelled the rumors of this being a faked up
phone. 2> They were revealing how they came to get it, dissuading the police
and Apple from finding out through legal discovery processes. Apple could have
argued industrial espionage if more details weren't out there, but by
publishing it all, Gizmodo likely pulled the legs out of any legal proceeding.

Do I think the self serving saving their own ass was a good thing? Not the
nicest thing, but I think it was a realistic business decision which was good
for the business, just like 3.3.1 was for Apple, and just like publishing this
whole story in the first place was for Gizmodo.

~~~
flogic
This whole thing is a giant un-story. The internet drama has far outweighed
it's significance. This isn't the first iPhone; it's just a prototype of an
n+1 version iPhone. It's not like we didn't know Apple would come out with a
newer model. I doubt halfway competent cell phone engineers would have trouble
guessing what it would look like.

------
tghw
If this is really the case, he should be enraged at the mere existence of
sites like Gizmodo and Engadget. But, clearly, he's not. For some reason Apple
is held to a different standard. Are the employees of other companies not
skilled enough to deserve the same protection? Are they just common labor?

This whole notion of outrage on Apple's behalf (for the moment, ignoring the
poor engineer and his very public outing) mystifies me. This is the first time
I've seen such a reaction by so many people feeling bad for a multi-billion
dollar corporation.

Just because Apple's policy is secrecy doesn't mean we have to cover our ears
and close our eyes when they let something slip. Sure, Gizmodo's handling of
the whole situation was dubious, but in the long run, I can't see any way that
this actually hurt Apple.

~~~
hernan7
Lots of people seem to be trying to live Steve Jobs' life vicariously.

------
astine
"They posted a video on YouTube with a smug smile on their face as they
unveiled the iPhone a couple of months before Steve Jobs could. They stole his
thunder. They rained on his parade. They spoiled his secret."

The poor man... I mean, it's not like he'll ever be able to a product reveal
again, is it? </sarcasm>

Serious, I'm not going to argue that Gizmodo should have done what they did,
but I have a hard time feeling sorry for Steve Jobs missing out on the
opportunity to present yet another product to world in a massively self-
glorifying fashion, with thousands of fans singing his praises. He does it
every few years; he can miss one.

------
fr0man
Gizmodo's behavior may have been reprehensible, but I have a VERY difficult
time shedding tears over the so called 'damage' this does to the Apple
employees that worked on/are working on the device. Boo frickin' hoo. The
phone isn't going to sell a single unit less because of this. Nor will the
people who worked on it have any reason to feel any less pride in their work.
I'm sure the thing is going to rock. _sigh_

~~~
Naga
Except of course the engineer that Gizmodo publicly humiliated, of course.

~~~
fr0man
Yeah, that part was completely unnecessary and unfortunate.

------
drats
Come on, it's a hardware update on a phone that changes the shape a little.
Yes you can say you don't agree with Gizmodo and think it reflects badly on
them. But that's only worth a passing comment in a pub with friends or a
comment here on HN in what _should_ have been the one and only thread about
it. But instead we get a deluge of threads about it and people writing "why
I'm angry" blog posts. This kind of stuff isn't really different to celebrity
news and doesn't belong on HN at all.

------
jcl
If Apple's strategy for building things requires strict secrecy, they must be
prepared for occasional failures in that secrecy. This was simply an accident,
bound to happen eventually. Apple can cope with it; otherwise, they wouldn't
be using this strategy.

I find it amusing that Gizmodo is portrayed as the destroyer, here. They are
creating value in their own way; it's a little ironic that the blogger bemoans
the lack of builders after writing an entire article tearing down Gizmodo's
work.

If Apple fans really wanted to be surprised when the new iPhone was unveiled,
_why did they read the Gizmodo article?_ Surely the readers are just as much
to blame for the "destruction" of value as Gizmodo and Apple.

------
zppx
This line resumes everything:

"They posted a video on YouTube with a smug smile on their face as they
unveiled the iPhone a couple of months before Steve Jobs could."

I do not think he is angry because of Gizmondo (low) standards of decency,
because they apparently released an entire report about the guy (I just do not
read Gizmondo, so I did not read the post), he's just mad because Jobs will
not present an orgasmic keynote for Apple fans.

~~~
flogic
Which silly because this phone isn't news. Steve might pimp it during a
keynote but it would be a lame center piece.

------
philk
Getting angry that a company is going to have a little less marketing buzz at
launch seems a like a bit of an overreaction.

Apple make some awesome phones. This one will do just fine on its merits.

------
jjs
Is Steve the only person in his life who truly understands him, the only one
who can surprise him with a wonderful present he's sure to like?

All the shiny toys in Cupertino won't help you, Mr. Blogger. You need a
_girlfriend._

------
jarek
This analogy would work better if Gizmodo destroyed the prototype, all of its
blueprints, and murdered the engineers behind the project.

Or, for that matter, did anything but hold a pin to an over-inflated hot air
balloon.

------
smutticus
What about the possibility that this was done intentionally by Apple? They're
famous for these kinds of intentional leaks.

I don't know anything more than anyone else here I'm just speculating.

~~~
drats
Who downmodded smutticus here? That's just ridiculous. Modded back up.

------
mortenjorck
I enjoy a good spy photo of a mysterious new product. It doesn't ruin the
surprise for me; it enhances it by keeping me guessing.

Gizmodo ruined both for me this week. It just felt unfair, even
predatory—acquiring the device itself through shady means, photographing it up
and down in high resolution, dissecting it and macroing each component; it
turned what was a game into something unnecessarily serious. It turned a coy
tease into pornography.

I had to imagine the Apple designers and engineers who had made this thing
their focus for the better part of a year, cringing as their unfinished work
went through the wringer of Gizmodo's pageview circus.

~~~
hugh3
_Gizmodo ruined both for me this week._

If the launch of a new consumer electronics product is something that can be
"ruined" for you then I would suggest, sans malice, that you perhaps need more
stuff going on in your life.

~~~
mortenjorck
Do you play games? I do. Consumer electronics unveilings were one that I
enjoyed until a blog decided to stop playing for fun.

------
seven
I am not at all angry about the iPhone leak. I could not care less.

Am I the only one that suspects this leak to be just a PR stunt?

~~~
robobenjie
This has certainly gotten more attention and buzz than the real launch of the
3GS, and it seems like the phones have less of a difference. Who's the victim?

------
latortuga
Anybody else consider maybe Apple allowed this whole fiasco intentionally
(viral marketing style) to take press away from the TOS change that the
blogosphere has been frothing about for the last few weeks?

------
DrSprout
Marketing is necessary to a degree, and insofar as marketing gets potential
consumers knowledge of devices they may want, it's important that marketing
happen.

But what this blog is essentially saying is that Gizmodo ruined Apple's hard
work of marketing the phone by publishing pictures of the phone. That's
absurd. If publishing pictures of a device in a neutral manner depresses a
device's reputation, that device is not as reputable as its marketers would
have you believe, and their work should be torn down.

------
eplanit
I worry for the fan-boys. I really do.

------
hexis
This iPhone incident has been a low point for Apple blogging. I think that
when an Apple blog is teaching us why stealing is wrong, or publishing
California laws, then I think that Apple blog is doing something other than
Apple blogging.

