Perhaps an unwarranted amount of press is being devoted to the case of the lost, and then found, iPhone 4G prototype. To recap the scenario, an Apple insider with a prototype for the next iPhone to be released lost the prototype in a California bar. He never found the iPhone, and it eventually fell into the wrong hands (or right hands, depending on which side you are on). It didn’t take long for Gizomodo to pick up Apple’s iPhone 4G prototype and start picking and prodding at it. News of the iPhone spread like wildfire, and Gizmodo’s technology blog began seeing more hits than ever before.
The next chapter began when the San Mateo police department entered a Gizmodo blogger’s home with a search warrant. The sheriff’s department confiscated nearly two-dozen pieces of electronic equipment that they believed to be relevant to the case. The case referred to here is Gizmodo purchasing property that they knew did not belong to the seller. This may seem like a bit of a stretch, as who in their right mind wouldn’t purchase an iPhone prototype before it was ever released? But stretch or no stretch, Apple appears to be more than displeased with the situation, and they certainly do not seem willing to merely laugh the situation off.
Just because Apple is not laughing at the situation, however, does not mean that others are not getting their fair share of amusement from the whole debacle. Even Comedy Central’s John Stewart has taken a few stabs at the scenario. In Stewart’s routine, he called Apple, “Appholes,” and made jokes about the police busting down doors on behalf of Apple. He continued to tell Steve Jobs to “chill out” before ending his dialog.
Here again, it wouldn’
t seem as if Apple is getting a laugh out of any of this. Suppose Apple would have taken a different tack on this. Another alternative they could have chosen would have been to let the whole thing slide, and go on about business about usual. But apparently, they believe – and perhaps for good reason – that the leak of the iPhone 4G prototype will inevitably cause them to lose out on profits.
If we think back to before the iPad was released, the anticipation was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Consumers were pretty certain that Apple had something up its sleeve, but nobody knew quite what it was. By the time the new tablet computer was unveiled, consumers were chomping at the bit to get in line and purchase an iPad. This mystery and expectation value served Apple well with the iPad, and undoubtedly they wanted to capitalize off of it once more with the iPhone 4G.
Of course, the question is, whether the iPhone 4G would ever have created as much pre-release buzz as the iPad. The fact that there is already an iPhone on the market undermines the theory that consumers are waiting around anxiously for the 4G to be announced. It’s only an assumption that Gizmodo’s blog posts actually caused real damage to Apple; there is always the possibility that the blog posts did more to create a buzz than to injure Apple in any way. All of this has yet to be determined, and we will see more to come in the future.
