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Boom... How a company played the whole iPhone rumor industry for fools

B

Big.Mac.Daddy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2012
629
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http://day4.se/how-we-screwed-almost-the-whole-apple-community/

Looks like these guys played a little experiment on whether or not we were gullible enough to believe a random rumor and every rumor site bit :p

Makes you really stop and think about the validity of these taller iPhone 5 rumors :rolleyes:

P.S. don't care about hearing whether you didn't believe the rumors or not, anyone could easily say they didn't to try and appear smart with no way of verifying it.

Edit: Here's another article detailing the rumor sites falling for anything http://gigaom.com/apple/how-an-apple-rumor-gets-made/
 
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Doesn't change my thoughts on the rumors. The rendering of the screw was the first time we had seen or heard of that. It had no substance. We've been seeing these iPhone 5 display and hardware leaks for a few months and they've been so consistent. They have actual rumors to go along with them and even videos. THEY have substance, not a one-time rendering of a redesigned screw that anyone can make with 3D rendering software.
 
As cynical as the Day4 exercise was, it demonstrates how fast a totally unsourced image from an internet forum can be repackaged and given credibility just by appearing on a popular Apple news source
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Day4 says it’s just trying to encourage readers to think critically about what it reads on blogs.
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"But but but... those iPhone 5 mockups are totally the real thing though!" :rolleyes:
 
Big.Mac.Daddy said:
Makes you really stop and think about the validity of these taller iPhone 5 rumors :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Seeing as how the iPhone 5 rumors have come about in a totally different way, no, it really doesn't make me think at all.

(Had you made your point with "the Apple television," yeah, I'd have agreed with you. But the iPhone 5 is a poor choice to argue here.)
 
It's scary how fast and easy misinformation spreads on the internet. I remember when Bin Laden was killed, and an incorrect MLK quote (accidentally mashed with a Facebook status) spread like a virus.
 
ok...but this really doesn't say anything about the parts we have seen videos of...after reading the first few comments I thought it was going to be something about how the videos and everything were faked.
 
Big.Mac.Daddy said:
I know right? Why don't we make a mockup of a short but FAT iPhone 5 and spread the rumors the same way the taller iPhone 5 rumors have spread? :p
Click to expand...

It would be put off as false until we saw parts, videos, and other rumors supporting it. Until then, we would have no reason to believe it.
 
It's different to have a rumor based on renders compared to having the actual housing and logic board of the phone. I agree, though, people are gullible and will take a rumor for fact even when it lacks sufficient evidence.
 
batting1000 said:
We've been seeing these iPhone 5 display and hardware leaks for a few months and they've been so consistent. They have actual rumors to go along with them and even videos.
Click to expand...

This is a classic. An actual rumor as opposed to an imagined rumor? :confused:
 
Givmeabrek said:
This is a classic. An actual rumor as opposed to an imagined rumor? :confused:
Click to expand...

No. Actual rumors as in multiple ones from reliable sites with reliable sources. Not some run of the mill site that claims a certain device will be released on some random date (unless other sites can confirm it).
 
batting1000 said:
No. Actual rumors as in multiple ones from reliable sites with reliable sources. Not some run of the mill site that claims a certain device will be released on some random date (unless other sites can confirm it).
Click to expand...

Yeah but nothing has been confirmed...
 
Heck, even when all the facts ARE available to check, almost no one ever does.

Easy examples:

1) The recent brouhaha over Google supposedly asking the government to make Apple's patents public domain. (Nope, not even close. All you had to do was read their statement to see that the headlines were totally made up out of thin air.)

2) All the headlines saying, "Apple gets patent on multi-touch!" every time any kind of touch related patent comes out. (The trouble is, people don't read the claims which are the only thing patented. They also look at all the pretty pictures included in the description of a device that uses the patent.)

There's almost nobody out there with the deep knowledge to be a real tech reporter these days. Most just echo what everyone else says, no matter how ridiculous.
 
Big.Mac.Daddy said:
Makes you really stop and think about the validity of these taller iPhone 5 rumors :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I prefer not to believe in this rumor. This rumor is coming from China where they can copy/duplicate anything withing days... Last year there was a similar rumor about the 4s no as strong as this one but it end up been nothing.

I work in the electronics component business and China counterfeiters are screwing up all markets big time.
 
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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."

And I have doubts about the first part.
 
Big.Mac.Daddy said:
P.S. don't care about hearing whether you didn't believe the rumors or not, anyone could easily say they didn't to try and appear smart with no way of verifying it.
Click to expand...
I really don't care if you care or not. Live by the rumors/die by the rumors. Precisely why I don't count on them. Nothing matters to me if it isn't an official announcement. It has nothing to do with "appearing smart" so much as maintaining reasonable expectations. Anyone griping about hype only has his/her self to blame for it.
 
I never even heard of this rumor, but I must say the premise of this thread is a little ridiculous. With this screw, we have a 2D blueprint of said product. With the current taller iPhone leaks we have physical bits and pieces of the purported phone. The latter is just a bit (read a hell of a lot) more convincing than some picture. We know what the next gen phone is going to look like. Keep holding onto your hopes though if you must, just like so many did with the iPhone 4. :rolleyes:
 
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