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Circumstances Surrounding Lost Next Gen iPhone Detailed

If this isn't a planned leak by Apple I hope they sink Gizmodo and the whole Gawker network!! Paying for something that was lost? Shouldn't that be against the law? The stand-up thing to do would have been to contact Apple...

I really hope Apple planned this...:(
 
Giz has def got more than $5000 worth of press out of this. But naming the guy. That is really shallow. And don't diss Giz. They are one of the best tech sites around.
 
O and A said:
i'm sorry but that was a dick move. did they really have to name the guy who lost the phone? thats pretty messed up.

I mean obviously he let apple know he lost hte phone and he was dealing with those consequences. Now to publicly humiliate him? Thats really not neccesary. As oppose to possibly being fired from apple, gizmodo has now possibly ruined his future career.
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You know the rest of the world is not as uptight as Apple and Steve are.

Look around most company month and months ahead of a role out have it all laid out. Only company I see it almost like a cult is Apple, last time I looked Oracle or even Microsoft was not paranoid about this stuff.

Now we know its not Apple they could care less, they know their stuff will sell, but we do need to keep Steve ego up, he does have to have that ah and oh. :rolleyes:
 
BrianMR said:
They should have left it with the bar's lost & found. Taking it, then selling it... sounds like theft to me.
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Very true. As soon as he left the bar with it in his possession, he's stealing it. He should have handed it in to the staff.

Then receiving money for said stolen property, which means he had to hawk the stolen property to buyers. $5,000 won't even begin to cover his expenses once Apple's legal department do their utmost to get the courts to throw the book at him to set an example.

Gizmodo, knowingly receiving stolen property. That's a crime in any country, even for journalists. If it was information maybe, but property is a felony. And they took photos of said knowingly stolen property and put their logo on the pictures. May as well videotape yourself stealing a car. ;)

Nothing either Gizmodo or the thief should be feeling proud of if you ask me.

Sort of ruins it all as well for everyone else. Like opening your christmas presents early. Half the fun of new Apple products is in the anticipation and guessing.
 
Bad for the employee. Unless it was intentional. In which case it sets an odd example for other Apple employees.
 
troop231 said:
Why would he be fired now if Gizmodo is the one who revealed his identity? Unless the guy sold it to Gizmodo or something.
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Are you kidding? He will be fired into orbit. There is no way that was an intentional plant.
 
kiljoy616 said:
Why do you hope, how does it turn you on to have someone sued.

There was no stolen phone, some dropped the phone, someone picked it up and sold it to someone else. Knowing the guys name could constitute and ethical issue, but there was at no time anything that shows they where deliberate trying to steel anything.
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The phone became stolen property when the source sold it to gizmodo and didn't turn it into the police station or did something to return it besides ask around.

If I lost my car keys and someone found them and found my car and asked around if they knew who keys they were, but no one knew and then took the car and sold it, would that be legal? I don't think so. The source sold something that wasn't his. And gizmodo bought it knowing the source didn't own it.
 
kiljoy616 said:
Why do you hope, how does it turn you on to have someone sued.
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Justice. I don't like people trading in stolen goods and corporate espionage. I work in the industry and I would not want my company to be on the receiving end of such a story.

kiljoy616 said:
There was no stolen phone, some dropped the phone, someone picked it up and sold it to someone else. Knowing the guys name could constitute and ethical issue, but there was at no time anything that shows they where deliberate trying to steel anything.

Now go pick up your Apple paycheck.
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As the articles show they clearly knew the guy who sold the phone did not own it, so I feel it is a legal issue as well as an ethical one. Why are you so proud of being unethical?
 
This is apple pr machine. Nothing about this adds up. The guy should have frantically returned looking for the phone, apple should have tracked the location, and it shouldn't have been out in the wild with a guy in a bar.

It seems to point to an arranged drop where the apple employee deliberately "left" it on his barstool and didn't return.
I guess we will know for sure (a) if the guy gets fired and/or (b) if gizmodo does not get the invite from apple for future releases.

All that said, if it was a pr stunt, why?
 
scaredpoet said:
Either that dude is so fired, or this was an intentional plant of a fake device to trip people up.
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I have been told several times that taking any prototype hardware off the Cupertino campus or even taking it out of the bomb shelter is a firing offense. I cannot see anyone in the iPhone firmware group being so stupid.

My guess is that this is an intentional plant and would not be surprised that this is not the first attempt to do a plant that actually took to a media line. It is amazing how many things are opened up in public and are just ignored. Kinda like a UFO landing in Times Square in 1951 and no one cared.

Odds are it is a hardware prototype that is not the direction that the final design went and is a designated Red Herring. Glad to see a pub in Redwood City get some free press!
 
Apple will never ask for this phone back, nor will they ever comment. Confirming this as the new phone will freeze 3G S sales even worse than they would be otherwise. Sure many know a phone is coming, but by not knowing the changes it is not such a risk to buy a 3GS. This will hurt, however, but perhaps not as much as a direct confirmation.
 
leftyno9 said:
this story makes no sense.

if you had a prototype iphone you would be checking every 5 seconds to make sure you hadn't lost it. theres no way he just left it in a bar. he either sold it or was told to leave it in the bar
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Or maybe he just had too many to drink like the story said. Alcohol... it's always you.
 
As much as I like seeing a little tease before a product release, Gizmodo and the person that found the phone should be held accountable if they violated any laws. Its one thing to have an insider slip out a couple of photos or video that gives a glimpse of a new product, but to sell, buy and then disassemble a product you know to be proprietary to a company is in my book unethical. As much as gizmodo may think this falls under their purpose, damaging companies that produce the very technology gizmodo covets is simply foolish and wrong. Now, that said, it sure does stink like something is not right with this situation. This could still prove to be a PR ploy of some sort. If charges are not brought, I'm guessing that all parties were complicit.
 
awmazz said:
Gizmodo, knowingly receiving stolen property. That's a crime in any country, even for journalists. If it was information maybe, but property is a felony. And they took photos of said knowingly stolen property and put their logo on the pictures. May as well videotape yourself stealing a car. ;)
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What is the legal threshold for "grand theft"? $5000 might just make it a serious felony. :)
 
CFreymarc said:
I have been told several times that taking any prototype hardware off the Cupertino campus or even taking it out of the bomb shelter is a firing offense. I cannot see anyone in the iPhone firmware group being so stupid.

My guess is that this is an intentional plant and would not be surprised that this is not the first attempt to do a plant that actually took to a media line. It is amazing how many things are opened up in public and are just ignored. Kinda like a UFO landing in Times Square in 1951 and no one cared.

Odds are it is a hardware prototype that is not the direction that the final design went and is a designated Red Herring. Glad to see a pub in Redwood City get some free press!
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Finally someone that has a brain! I love your post at least your able to think rationally about the whole leak unlike some people on this board. Common Sense lives :D
 
*LTD* said:
This isn't iPhone news.

It's an obituary.
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:(

that poor dude.

there is no way this is an intentional leak from apple. this has ugly printed all over it.

edit: also:

"According to California law, the iPhone is stolen even it was accidentally left at a bar. The finder is legally obliged to return it to Apple. Instead, they sold it to Gizmodo, who at the time of purchase knew it was Apple’s property."
 
lu0s3r322 said:
definitely taking their exclusivity about this too far
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Yes there is something very strange about how this guy lost it, these guy just happen to find it, and it all ties really nice together, in an area where most people probably could care less about an iphone or any phone for that matter to keep it.

I left my phone about a year ago here in Dallas and went back about an hour later and the manager of the starbuck had it. Some saw it and just turned it in. If I found a phone I do admit I would not keep it, I just turn it in, some may not but seem strange to me the whole spy vs spy story. :confused:
 
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