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Well I got a reply back from Gizmodo...

Dammit Cubs

Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
2,127
731
My original email:
To Gizmodo and the author of whom wrote all iphone related articles regarding "Gray Powell"

You're a douche.

Sincerely,
Non-douche reader who wouldn't put the poor guy's name all over the internet world. Gizmodo = new low in technical blogs.
Click to expand...


Gizmodo's response:

Hello,

Powell is now under the public eye, which will protect him against
Apple firing him (We believe he's still employed and Apple didn't fire
him when they found out, a month ago. He's a valuable engineer). It's
embarrassing, yes, but it's like insurance. If Apple fires him, they
will get a huge PR backslash.

But let's not forget: 1) He lost one of the most valuable gadgets in
the world. And 2) the story—and his name—was going to be reported by
other media. We had the facts before anyone else. It was our job to
report on it.

You should look at the bigger picture..

j.
Click to expand...

Maybe I should relook at the whole scenario again. I was douche trigger happy.
 
i think gizmodo is in the right here. apple already new who leaked it, plus other sites like cnn or whatever wouldve eventually reported his name. so whatever.
 
I appreciate you where looking out for him, and that was a nice thing for you to do :) but they where right, it was a kind of insurance for the guy if Apple decided to come down hard on him. In another light while Apple may be mad they will love the PR this has done for them.

Oh, and another thing. This smells like one of the infamous Apple "controlled" leaks. Something is really bugging me about it.
 
Looks like you are a Cubs fan so you are probably used to blurting out things before thinking...like World Series baby! :p :D

J/K I had to -White Sox fan here.
 
Macjames said:
Oh, and another thing. This smells like one of the infamous Apple "controlled" leaks. Something is really bugging me about it.
Click to expand...

This is nothing like how Apple has leaked information in the past. This is not a controlled leak. I wish people would stop latching on to the phrase "controlled leak". Sheesh.
 
Dammit Cubs said:
My original email:



Gizmodo's response:



Maybe I should relook at the whole scenario again. I was douche trigger happy.
Click to expand...

I agree with you about the douchyness.

But other media outlets would have reported his name.

Now I'm pissed that they are patronizing and openly mocking the guy. (That article about it being his birthday is low.)
 
The phone was under his full control and it was 100% his fault for losing the iPhone. Why are we sympathizing him?
 
smithrh said:
Unprovable hypothesis.

Giz=douche.
Click to expand...

I agree. If they had the info, how were others outlets going to report on it unless Giz is the one leaking his personal information. It's a terrible excuse.
If Apple is going to fire the guy, they will fire him. They have enough reason to dismiss him. He is not being spared by the media attention he's getting. I'm disappointed by Gizmodo's level of reporting. Not because of the leak of the iPhone, but mostly because of outing the guy. Just lame.
 
The real 'douchebag' here is the guy who originally found it, didn't make an effort to return it, and sold it to Gizmodo.

People are scapegoating Gizmodo for doing it's job: reporting.
 
chembox said:
The real 'douchebag' here is the guy who originally found it, didn't make an effort to return it, and sold it to Gizmodo.

People are scapegoating Gizmodo for doing it's job: reporting.
Click to expand...

Maybe read a little more. He made an effort to return it by asking around the restaurant and even taking time out of his day to wait there in case the guy came back.
Without a name to follow up on, i really cannot blame him for giving (or selling) Gizmodo the scoop.
Should a random pedestrian be loyal to apples secrecy policies?
 
You've never misplaced anything?

chembox said:
The phone was under his full control and it was 100% his fault for losing the iPhone. Why are we sympathizing him?
Click to expand...

You are exactly right. I just hope that if the editor of Gizmodo or others out there making this guy look bad ever lose something, it is both reported and ridiculed.

We have all misplaced our keys, a phone, something. Very few of us ever had it written up in the press and it threatened our jobs. Sure, the phone is a story...but as a former television news reporter myself, it is wrong to suggest the guy who lost the phone is worthy of identification. It adds nothing to the content nor context to print the guy's name. It's just petty.
 
This Powell fellow should hold a press conference and let us know what exactly happened that fateful day in redwood city :D
 
The news is the new iPhone and the story of how it was lost. But IMO, not the identity of the apple engineer and all his acquaintances.
Who's next, the guy who sold the phone to them? It's silly and unprofessional. It's funny how blogs want to be treated as real media, but then they go off and pull a stunt like outing the poor guy who lost the phone.
 
pixelated said:
Maybe read a little more. He made an effort to return it by asking around the restaurant and even taking time out of his day to wait there in case the guy came back.
Without a name to follow up on, i really cannot blame him for giving (or selling) Gizmodo the scoop.
Should a random pedestrian be loyal to apples secrecy policies?
Click to expand...

I think it's a strange coincidence that the things he said he did to return it are all things that can't be documented or really confirmed/denied by anybody. If I find a lost phone, I first ask anybody in the immediate surrounding area if they know whose it is (which he supposedly did). Immediately after that I'd go in the recent calls list and call someone and tell them. (which he didn't do). I highly doubt he had intentions of returning the phone. He probably saw an iPhone laying there and picked it up figuring he could sell it on craigslist for $500 or so, just like 75% of people who find iPhone's would do.
 
STEVESKI07 said:
.... He probably saw an iPhone laying there and picked it up figuring he could sell it on craigslist for $500 or so, just like 75% of people who find iPhone's would do.
Click to expand...

i'm glad that there is at least that 25% of people who would actually turn it in to the bar or try to call owner or a contact, not everybody is that dishonest, to just sell it off.
 
pixelated said:
Maybe read a little more. He made an effort to return it by asking around the restaurant and even taking time out of his day to wait there in case the guy came back.
Without a name to follow up on, i really cannot blame him for giving (or selling) Gizmodo the scoop.
Should a random pedestrian be loyal to apples secrecy policies?
Click to expand...


You really don't see the difference between "can't find the owner" and "accepting cash for the item"?

There's, like, no gap there in your mind? No middle-ground or other choices? It's just all the same thing?
 
LivingLarge said:
i'm glad that there is at least that 25% of people who would actually turn it in to the bar or try to call owner or a contact, not everybody is that dishonest, to just sell it off.
Click to expand...

The 25% thing I said was just a ballpark guess. I think it really depends on the area you are in when you lose it. If I lost it at a bar by my house I'd say I have a good chance of getting it back. My roommate has a blackberry and has lost his 4 times and has gotten it back every time, but it's not quite as desirable as an iPhone. There are some areas where I'd say it's very unlikely to get it back though.
 
STEVESKI07 said:
The 25% thing I said was just a ballpark guess. I think it really depends on the area you are in when you lose it. If I lost it at a bar by my house I'd say I have a good chance of getting it back. My roommate has a blackberry and has lost his 4 times and has gotten it back every time, but it's not quite as desirable as an iPhone. There are some areas where I'd say it's very unlikely to get it back though.
Click to expand...

thats a fair statement. good and bad folks out there, i just hope a good one finds my phone if i lose it :)
 
-aggie- said:
Because people make mistakes and people lose things. It's called empathy.
Click to expand...

Also people get fired, or laid off on a daily basis. Getting his name public was the best thing to happen to his career. The guy is talented enough to get hired on with Apple pretty much right out of school, he won't have a problem getting a new job if Apple cuts him. It'll be even easier now that his name is out there.

The mistake is laughable, and if Apple really fired him for this simple mistake than Apple is a company which I'd never want to work for. I'd hate to see what happens to the guy that gets Steve Jobs the wrong flavored coffee. Gizmodo said it best... "After all, it's just a f***ing iPhone and mistakes can happen to everyone—Gray Powell, Phil Schiller, you, me, and Steve Jobs."

Besides, Apple knew the phone was missing less than 12 hours after the device was left in a bar. If he was going to be fired it'd of happened by now.
 
Said it before and I will say it again the story is riddled w/ b.s they do not know how the person that sold them the phone got it. Once he got it though and saw Gray's fb page he probably made up a story from there. So to call this guy out is not helping him one bit.
 
I've found phones before. The first thing I do is go to the contacts list and look for Mom. Or Dad. Or Sweetipie. Or Babycakes, Shnookems, Googlybear, etc.

Next I go to missed calls and usually there are ten or fifteen from a single number made from the guy missing the phone or a friend of his. If not, I start at the top.

If one is going with the 'controlled leak' conspiracy theory, one could assume that the guy who 'found' the phone was a part of it. Apple doesn't leave anything to chance and IMO that would include 'losing' a prototype phone hoping that a random person would know to go to a gadget blog site so that it could be dissected and shown to the world.

If Apple is indeed behind the whole thing (and that doesn't necessarily mean Jobs) then the 'random guy' who 'found' the phone did just enough to claim he tried to get the phone back to it's owner before going to Gizmodo, knowing his attempts would be brushed off as a hoax.

Again, all of the above only comes into consideration if you believe that the entire situation is a setup by Apple.
 
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