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Gizmodo gets its hands on new iPhone
A man displays his iPhone
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Jason Chen
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Kai Ryssdal: Losing your cell phone isn't really that big a deal. We've all done it, some of us more than once. Left it at work, or the gym, maybe at a restaurant. Last month in Silicon Valley a very important cell phone was left behind at a bar -- what is widely believed to be a prototype of the new iPhone that Apple's officially going to release in a couple of months. The phone wound up in the hands of Jason Chen, the editor of the technology website Gizmodo.com. Jason, it's good to have you with us.
Jason Chen: Good to be here.
Ryssdal: Suffice it to say this is not the way that Apple and its product launches are usually covered.
CHEN: No, they definitely do not want people seeing it until Steve Jobs gets on stage and tells them this is the new iPhone.
Ryssdal: So how did this one happen? I mean, how did this come to pass?
CHEN: Well, a software engineer left it in a bar after I think he had a little too much to drink on his birthday. Someone else found it, and they offered it to us, which we paid for. And then we took it back to our offices and took it apart and examined it to make sure it was the real thing. And from what we saw, it definitely was.
Ryssdal: How do you know? I mean what convinced you that this was an actual Apple prototype?
CHEN: Inside the phone, in the components, it actually says Apple on various pieces. And if that wasn't enough, which it should be, Apple actually wanted it back, and claimed that it was their property. That definitely says this is a legit piece of hardware.
Ryssdal: Yeah, they actually sent you a letter yesterday that said we understand you have something of ours, we want it, right?
CHEN: Right, exactly. And then shortly after that we returned the phone to them.
Ryssdal: Let me ask you this, Jason. Obviously this worked out well for you. You spent $5,000 to buy this thing from the guy who found it in the bar where the kid lost it. You got lord knows how many hits on your website from Apple aficionados and other journalists and just plain curious people, so it has kind of worked out well for you this technology scoop that you got.
CHEN: In terms of scoops this is one of the largest ones you can get. Because of how secretive Apple is, and how closely they guard their products before launch. Before this you used to only get images or a blurry video of people in factories maybe sneaking a little peek, but to get this kind of detail, I haven't seen before. And it would probably be fair to say it's hard to see this happening in the future, especially with Apple tightening their security and trying not to let this happen again.
Ryssdal: They have actually a history of giving people their devices, and letting them use them, isn't that, right? Just to test them out in the real world.
CHEN: That's true, and that's why this was leaked in the first place. They have their engineers that go out and test it in real-world conditions to see how reception is on the train, or in a bar, for example. So they need to have actual real-world data to tune their products. So it's unfortunate that he left it when he was out on a testing run, but I don't know if going to bars was part of his testing criteria.
Ryssdal: Yeah, Steve Jobs probably disapproves of that one. What did you learn about the 4G phone itself? Is there anything whiz bang that we're going to get in June when this thing comes out?
CHEN: Besides the battery being slightly larger, I would say the biggest feature is the camera on the front, which is a video camera, so you can do video chats with, say, other phones or even with computers most likely. So you can hop on Skype or hop on iChat and do a little conversation while you're on the go and show people what you're looking at and see what they're looking at. So it's more of a personal conversation than just talking on the phone even, because you can visualize and see who you are talking to.
Ryssdal: You going to buy one?
CHEN: Definitely.
Ryssdal: Jason Chen. He's the editor of the website Gizmodo, talking to him about the new 4G iPhone prototype that he got his hands on. Jason, thanks a lot.
CHEN: Thank you very much.
So a guy from Apple left one of the new iPhones in a bar. It was found by another patron who tried to return it to Apple and ended up selling the item to Gizmodo for $5,000. Now some people are touting phrases such as "grand theft" and "buying stolen property"? Really? So if I leave my ballpoint pen somewhere and someone else picks it up I can charge them with theft? If they sell that pen to a third person then the buyer can be charged with buying stolen property? Give me break. I say this was property was abandoned by Apple's employee assuming this isn't all some sort of skewed PR stunt. Jason Chen of Gizmodo might be under investigation for trumped up charges thanks to Apple but I doubt the case will go anywhere. The judge that signed the search warrant and the San Mateo Police would get torn apart if it were to go to trial. Oh yeah - how much did Apple's stock increase when information on the new iPhone hit the news? No one seems to care about that.
I was very dismayed after hearing about the stolen iPhone. Why? Never once did the topic of ownership and morals enter into the discussion. If you accidentally forget your wallet at a restaurant, does the waiter then announce "Hallelujah, it's my lucky day"? What makes a mobile phone fair game? Very disappointing. (But I love the Flower Haus!)
Ha, ha! Apple got you! I agree with Andres: this is a total Apple publicity stunt to preview the new iPhone and generate some premarket buzz. Plus, its release will coincide with the third quarter earnings targets Apple promised.
Has anyone cared to ask why, if the iPhone we REALLY just lost in a bar, the seller didn't just hop on eBay? And, why sell it to Gizmodo for a measly $5k, when I'm sure Apple's competitors would be willing to pay at least 100 times that?
Plus, who randomly picks up cell phones in bars? And, how would a random bystander recognize the phone as a nextgen iPhone? I bet most people give it to the bartender? This story stinks to high-heaven of set-up.
It seems I am not the only one wondering about the multiple felonies committed here: grand theft, receiving stolen property, and obstruction of justice. I have now heard several news stories about the Kewl New Gadget -- why have none of them mentioned the legal, moral, and ethical issues?
Kai,
A few things You didnt even ask Chen if buying stolen property is unethical. You also did not ask if comitting corporate espianage on behalf of anyone in that space crossed the line? How much is Chen going to sell his detail notes and photographs for?
Also, don't be a rube. You are far beyond that. How about asking someone from Apple how much it takes to stage a leak like this? I would suspect they outsourced it for the sake of plausible deniabilty.
Sad to know that Marketplace is now willing to look past the plausible and the eithical to support a puff piece that could not have been better scripted an agency hired to execute it.
I agree with Fraz Ismat. When I heard who you were having on, I initially shut the radio off, but turned it back on in the hope that you would address some of the ethical questions raised by the story. Unfortunately, you disappointed me. Gizmodo purchased obviously stolen property, then published the name of the poor engineer it was stolen from, and then when Apple asked for it back, claimed they didn't realize that there had been anything shady about it. I kicked them out of my news feeds long ago for (admittedly) flat-out making stuff up about Apple product releases. Brian Lam and Jason Chen are neither ethical nor reliable sources of information.
Not cool, Marketplace, not cool at all. You gave a national forum to a party that, according to California law, participated in the *theft* of a device. If I had "found" your laptop, dissected it, and returned it to you after putting your personal photos online, would I get to be on the radio too?
You'll have to forgive me as I'm an auditor by trade and a skeptic at heart, but has anyone thought that perhaps this developer "accidentally" leaving his prototype iPhone at bar could be a scripted move by Apple? This iPhone leak has definitely been the Apple buzz this week and has overshadowed the (sometimes harsh) critics of the iPad. Just food for thought.
