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An apology...

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Re: An apology...

#11

Post by staunch »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #3
swilliams wrote: post #2

What reason did gizmodo have to release the identity of the engineer that lost the phone? To "prove" that their story was more real? Did they even consider what's going to happen to that guy? Every gawker website feels like it is just barely a half step above a tabloid, and in some cases, less than that (cf, Valleywag). Behaving this petulantly is not a very good way to discourage the popular perception of bloggers,…

Apple knew whose phone it was, this story doesn't harm him there at all. It may even help prevent him from being fired or retaliated against, now that his name is public. It could help or hurt with future employers, but I'd guess on balance it helps. Probably won't be trusted with prototypes again, but that was going to be the case either way. Not to defend gizmodo, they seem pretty borderline in the whole thing.

Just because they added a few sympathetic lines to their post doesn't mean they actually give a shit about what happens to the guy. They had no altruistic motivations in releasing his name. They did it for page views (i.e. money).

Re: An apology...

#12

Post by sunchild »

sunchild wrote: post #6

I actually did the same. I rarely get disgusted enough to resort to censorship, but Denton's craven, smug pageview whoring is just begging for the ban hammer. Also, putting comments down for the day reminded me that Gawker Media is nothing without comments.

Also, this ... http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/04/20/teenager-beat-iphone-...

Re: An apology...

#13

Post by gte910h »

khelloworld wrote: post #8

Gizmodo not only ruined it for Apple and the engineer, it also ruined the fun for Apple fans like myself anxiously looking forward to the rumored-filled days just before the next device unveiling in June. :-/

Wait, you like accidentally buying stuff that's about to be replaced with a better model?

Re: An apology...

#14

Post by razerbeans »

Seeing the name-drop of the Apple engineer on Gizmodo made my jaw drop. I couldn't believe that they would do such a thing. This no doubt casts a shadow on his career and life. It's a reckless attempt by what appears to be a subpar site to make itself somewhat legitimate. In this respect, they've failed miserably.

Re: An apology...

#16

Post by Psyonic »

gte910h wrote: post #13
khelloworld wrote: post #8

Gizmodo not only ruined it for Apple and the engineer, it also ruined the fun for Apple fans like myself anxiously looking forward to the rumored-filled days just before the next device unveiling in June. :-/

Wait, you like accidentally buying stuff that's about to be replaced with a better model?

No, but he likes watching the internet explode with speculation that the new iphone will cure cancer and world hunger, at the same time.

Re: An apology...

#17

Post by fairramone »

razerbeans wrote: post #14

Seeing the name-drop of the Apple engineer on Gizmodo made my jaw drop. I couldn't believe that they would do such a thing. This no doubt casts a shadow on his career and life. It's a reckless attempt by what appears to be a subpar site to make itself somewhat legitimate. In this respect, they've failed miserably.

Not entirely true. I ask EVERYONE I interview what their biggest screw up has been career wise. If they don't have anything interesting to share, I don't want them working for me. This guy has a great story to tell and a real lesson learned.

Re: An apology...

#18

Post by techiferous »

staunch wrote: post #10

The Gawker network (which includes Gizmodo) is run by well known scumbag Nick Denton. He's a leech and a bottom feeder. Don't hold your breath waiting for anything positive out of him.

"scumbag, leech, bottom feeder"

Describing actions that Nick Denton did that you didn't like would advance this discussion, but I don't see any value in name-calling. I really don't like these sorts of comments on Hacker News.

Re: An apology...

#19

Post by khelloworld »

gte910h wrote: post #13
khelloworld wrote: post #8

Gizmodo not only ruined it for Apple and the engineer, it also ruined the fun for Apple fans like myself anxiously looking forward to the rumored-filled days just before the next device unveiling in June. :-/

Wait, you like accidentally buying stuff that's about to be replaced with a better model?

I don't even own an iPhone. I hope that answers your question.

Re: An apology...

#20

Post by TomOfTTB »

jsz0 wrote: post #9

They very possibly did the guy a favor exposing his identity not only to insulate him from hasher retribution but also as pretty clear evidence it was an innocent mistake. No one would leave their identity on the device if they had personally conspired to sell it on the black market. I don't think it's that big of a deal. If the device was being field tested Apple was accepting the risk of theft/loss. If it had been…

I don't see how this does either of those things. On insulating him, it's not like Apple ever cared what public opinion was. They just spent the last week basically pushing back against their own developers. So if they want to fire him they'll do it public opinion be damned.

As for proving it was an innocent mistake. I don't think it does that either. If I were an Apple engineer and I just sold the newest iPhone prototype I'd ask the news site that broke the story to claim it was someone else too. Plus, it's gawker media so most believe they would be dishonest enough to lie about their source.

I'm not saying that's what he did but if I was already suspicious of him that story wouldn't make any difference.

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