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Apple Demands Prototype iPhone Back

sjo said:
The finder did try to return it to Apple. Apple didn't want to know anything about it until the headlines were all over Gizmodo. Only after that they reacted. If Apple is uncapable of getting message from whoever answers the phone there to who should handle the case then shame on Apple. Huge shame on Apple. Not the finder.
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Just b/c no one at Apple's switchboard thought he was for real does not mean Apple was relinquishing it's property rights to the phone. The finder started off on the right track but then went wrong. He should have either dumped it at the police or stored the phone away and sent off an email to Apple legal... or even emailed Steve Jobs, he seems to be answering emails these days.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Legally if you find property you must turn it in to the police and wait x amount of days according to the state statute or local code.
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As I understand it, in this case, the finder must take reasonable steps to return the item. Reasonable in this case means phoning Apple etc. This was done.

If the owner later contacts the finder, then they are obliged to return it.
And that is precisely what is going to happen.

Gawker may be boorish. But they are not totally stupid.

C.
 
polignac said:
They killed the next iPhone revision. Thanks to them wanting their 15 seconds of fame, the whole world suffered.
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Good God. The melodrama, the wrongness.

It's not the next iPhone revision - it's a bloody test shell with older internals than we'll get anyway - and the whole world isn't suffering because of it. We've learnt, essentially, nothing useful about the 4G from this.

It was probably a controlled leak - what have Apple lost from this? They've gained a ton of publicity about their upcoming device - though granted, I'm not sure how many people outside of the tech community care - and given away no real information.

MacRumors is gonna be a pants place to be over the coming months if all we hear is bleating about the design. Anybody who's ever followed a car through its testing prior to public release knows exactly what the issue is with the case.
 
I don't think Apple staged this.

What would Apple have to gain by purposely releasing this 'accidentally'? Don't they have enough press and anticipation for iPhone 4.0 anyway? For a company that prides itself on control a messy 'intentional' leak like this is uncharacteristic. It makes them look bad. Wouldn't they'd rather release it on their own terms?
 
CooKieMoNs7eR said:
Here is a picture of the letter sent to Gizmodo

applelegaltogizmodo.jpg



and here is the link to the article


uh ohhh this might be the Real iPhone 4G coming this June/July...
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Sorry but I smell BS , don't believe it
 
Carniphage said:
As I understand it, in this case, the finder must take reasonable steps to return the item. Reasonable in this case means phoning Apple etc. This was done.

If the owner later contacts the finder, then they are obliged to return it.
And that is precisely what is going to happen.

Gawker may be boorish. But they are not totally stupid.

C.
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Depends on state property law. It's more drawn out than a few phone calls.
 
twilson said:
Is that the one that protects your right to free speech from being prevented by the US GOVERNMENT?
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O.M.G. :eek: Somebody that actually knows what freedom of speech laws are actually about, instead of spouting 1st amendment rights (or similar, depending on country of origin) without having a clue. I'd thought I'd never see the day. Shocking. :D

(for the clueless: a company or person suing you for something you said, wrote or published is not an attempt to limit your 1st amendment rights; only when the gov't comes after you, it is)
 
jav6454 said:
They'll just release either:

a. This one in different form factor
b. Back-up phone and leave this one till next gen.
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Your posts are a little cluless at times.

They'll release this phone, as we have seen it. It's a shame the design got leaked, but honestly, they're not going to redesign it just because of that ffs.
 
Ed91 said:
"They're going to see it anyway, so who cares about how they get it?" :rolleyes:

Really though, this has spoiled the wait for me. I'm pretty pissed off about the way Giz has gone about this, and I can see Apple souring relations - no event invites to Gizmodo etc.

They could have easily taken pics / vids, given the handset back to Apple, then released "hands-on" review closer / after the announcement of the device, or kept releasing small teasers to sustain hits. What they did was completely blow it. I actually hope Apple finds a way to screw them for this.
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This. Was. Staged. What you're feeling is completely irrational, though, given you've been a member of a rumours site for three years.

kthx.
 
ValSalva said:
I don't think Apple staged this.

What would Apple have to gain by purposely releasing this 'accidentally'? Don't they have enough press and anticipation for iPhone 4.0 anyway? For a company that prides itself on control a messy 'intentional' leak like this is uncharacteristic. It makes them look bad. Wouldn't they'd rather release it on their own terms?
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Make people thinking about buying a Nexus one re-think and wait. I agree Apple usually likes to announce products on their terms -- but if they organized this it is their terms. Apple might want to leak the deets of the next phone out there now without being "official" b/c a demo-able phone is ready yet.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Depends on state property law. It's more drawn out than a few phone calls.
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As I understand it, the Californian laws apply.
Gizmodo would be dumb to have gone public, without first checking they were on solid ground.

The interesting thing is the delay. Why did they wait so long?
Either they did it to check facts, get their lawyers to make sure it was safe.

or

They delayed the release at Apple's request.

C.
 
Me: Hello Steve?

Steve: Hey Fran! What's up?

Me: Hey I found this iPhone in a bar that looks like one of those prototype you were showing me the other day.

Steve: Oh Dear! Can you please bring it back?

Me: Sure, I'll see you later!

So glad I know Steve and I knew this was the actual next gen iPhone so now everything is sorted out.
 
Well, this proves nothing. Seems like more of a hype-building method to me. I'm almost positive this was a controlled leak-- and as much as I like the design, I believe we'll see something entirely different come WWDC. It's just not like Apple to take this so calmly.
 
Carniphage said:
As I understand it, the Californian laws apply.
Gizmodo would be dumb to have gone public, without first checking they were on solid ground.

The interesting thing is the delay. Why did they wait so long?
Either they did it to check facts, get their lawyers to make sure it was safe.

or

They delayed the release at Apple's request.

C.
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Why would Apple call for a delay, do you think? I think Giz wanted to do everything they could with the device-- hands-on, teardown, etc, so once they went public and Apple saw they had it and asked for it back, they could comply but continue to post information about it. You'll also notice they didn't bother to release all the info at once-- they're liking the increased traffic. The $5k they spent on this phone is just publicity-- a solid investment as far as they're concerned. They've got everybody checking Giz for iPhone information now, with a little luck they'll pull in a few extra regular readers.
 
lifeinhd said:
Why would Apple call for a delay, do you think?
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Because when information moves into the public domain requires critical and precise timing.

Four weeks ago the press was awash with iPad news. This would have muddied the waters. Apple don't want customers lusting after one gadget, when they have not had a chance to buy the first one.

Whatever the reasons for the delay, it benefitted Apple more than it benefitted Gizmodo.

Which is why I think that Gizmodo delayed at Apple's request. And we won't see any nuclear missiles flying out of Cupertino.

C.
 
Gizmodo rules.
I am so glad they got the phone early and dissected it (didn't it remind people of movies when a space alien hits earth and is dissected by scientists)

It is not stolen property. A guy who works at apple brought the phone out with him and lost it. Nobody stole anything. Gizmodo hasn't done anything that is illegal.

Apple is seething, trust me. They will sue. They will not get anywhere with a suit, and they won't sue until after the release of the iPhone HD, so as to stop fanning the flames on this story. They will end up settling out of court for some minuscule amount like $5000 which Gizmodo will happily agree to since legal bills will cost thousands a day. Then people will get the message that Gizmodo paid Apple an unknown amount, implying an Apple victory.That is the way Apple operates. Gizmodo will have to shell out big $$ for attorneys and while Gizmodo will not lose, others sites out there will get the message that Apple will tie them up in court if they similarly post spy shots/etc on Apple products.

So damage control. What is Apple to do?
1) Keynote cannot occur as planned. Everything (except the name) is known about the device. And even the name (iPhone HD) is kind of known.
2) Steve Jobs won't be doing the iPhone keynote. Talk about embarrassment. He may prop up Scott Forrestal to announce it.
3) OR maybe Apple will announce iPhone early- like real early- like in a few weeks. Maybe no formal announcement at all. Just an updated webpage like when Apple updates Macbooks. Why do they need a keynote for every iphone intro?
4) Could apple shelve iPhone 4HD? Doubt it- too far along. Too many people finishing contracts would leave AT&T without a new iPhone.

Great job Gizmodo, but Steve Jobs holds a grudge and Apple will hate you in perpetuity. But it is their own fault.
 
sjo said:
The finder did try to return it to Apple. Apple didn't want to know anything about it until the headlines were all over Gizmodo. Only after that they reacted. If Apple is uncapable of getting message from whoever answers the phone there to who should handle the case then shame on Apple. Huge shame on Apple. Not the finder.
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Thank you, I meant to write this, but there is no need. Let me repeat it, so it would be told again.

IT WAS NOT A THEFT, THEREFORE THERE IS NO CHANCE THAT GIZMODO COMMITTED A CRIME.

As I said earlier, if you want to be anal and take any action (if you have the right and competence), pray that the device got damaged when they took it apart. Otherwise, Gizmodo acted in good faith and in a reasonable manner, isn't that the case? But I hope that they will ask for evidence that the handset really belongs to Apple and why Apple Inc denied that it did before.

There should be some law against corporations abusing this sort of hype!:)
 

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lifeinhd said:
Why would Apple call for a delay, do you think? I think Giz wanted to do everything they could with the device-- hands-on, teardown, etc, so once they went public and Apple saw they had it and asked for it back, they could comply but continue to post information about it. You'll also notice they didn't bother to release all the info at once-- they're liking the increased traffic. The $5k they spent on this phone is just publicity-- a solid investment as far as they're concerned. They've got everybody checking Giz for iPhone information now, with a little luck they'll pull in a few extra regular readers.
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Exactly this. They're extending that period as long as they can to make sure they get as many clicks as possible.

The biggest issue I have with Gizmodo is outing the poor guy. If that story is even true.
 
LIke I said, pretty stupid to put your face right next to the destruction of someone else's property.
 
This story has been a real strange series of events. It really feels like a publicity stunt or even huge focus group for Apple to guage the feelings about the design. I've been following Apple for some time now and know of the security lengths they go to, but something just doesn't feel right about it. Quite a clever stunt really. Gizmodo got an exclusive and plenty of traffic, Apple got vital feedback. Maybe the phone is not ready for sale, but Apple wants to fool us and they've got a different direction to take? Maybe they want to tell potential customers that we are going to want it before it is released. Stop people from moving over. I dunno. Just speculating but I'm sceptical of everything I read these days.

On the plus side, I thought the phone was really sweet and can't wait for June to see what they release. It's gonna kick the crap out of my dated 3G.
 
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