The Future of Gizmodo and Responsible Journalism / Blogging
During the last week, the tech world has been all a buzz on the next generation iPhone (iPhone 4th Generation). With blogs posting pictures of a phone that was left in a bar to actual video and tear down followed by the final outcome of a letter from Apple's Executive Counsel demanding the return of stolen property, there have been positive and negative views in terms of how this whole thing was handle. Jason Chen went on video showing the actual iPhone 4th Gen, then hours later Gizmodo posted a story on the actual individual that left the iPhone at the German Beer Serving Pub. Granted because of this, Lufthansa is offering an all expense paid flight in business class to Germany for the poor Apple Engineer, but I feel it's still a little harsh that Gizmodo publicly harassed the guy. Who knows, Mr. Powell will be forever infamous just like the little kid who cost a team the championship. I don't know. To date, Gizmodo has been accused and admitted to purchasing the device for a purported $5,000. It has been pointed out by others (prominently John Gruber of Daring Fireball) that these acts were a clear violation of law. Codes in California were even outlined and discussed concerning the transaction and sequence of events that transpired during the resulting loss of the 4th generation iPhone.
It has come to my attention that this entire mess, now comically dubbed iPhonegate, while it did generate an absurd amount of page views on Gizmodo, was mishandled. I have to admit that I am, what some might call, a geek, a tech fan boy, a lover of Apple and such but there is a line to be drawn. I believe that media outlets, have a responsibility; a civic duty to the companies we all love.
The secrecy that Apple goes through to product their product launches and hide their work from competition is second to none in the industry. This is also a reason why we get so excited and that excitement was taken away by the greedy. What kind of "umph" does Steve Jobs and the rest of the crew have? I'm sure they are scrambling around to get together some new slides (probably some depicting Gizmodo in a bad light.) sidenote: are they still going to be invited to the conference?
Admittedly, I can't wait to fall in line all over again, buy two iPhones, one for me and the other for my fiance, and start video chatting. I want to know more about the new iPhone but that's what the pent up demand and interest lead to... anticipation and excitement. Leaks are completely different and are approached as rumors which make it fun. With the devolution of almost all the surprises, June/July 2010 is going to be less exciting.
It would have been a smart move to keep it amongst themselves and "do the right thing" for this slip up crossed the line. If you want to read all about the next iPhone...check out Gizmodo's iPhone page!
