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Comment by gamache | Hacker News Reader

The article fails to make a convincing case on exactly what Gizmodo damaged by releasing information about the phone.

Leak or no, this phone is most likely going to sell like hotcakes, and the builders at Apple should do just fine. It's not like the product launch is ruined in any way... Steve Jobs will be A-OK on stage presenting it.

Virtually any tech publication would report on an iPhone prototype, and it is not their moral duty not to.

(I don't think Gizmodo needed to name the Apple engineer who lost the phone; however, this is not a topic presented by the article.)

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They damaged the reputation of the guy who lost it. If Apple decided the breach was serious enough to warrant termination, how does that affect the hireability of somebody whose major claim to fame is "lost secret prototype while drinking and exposed company secrets to hailstorm of press?"

Why I'm annoyed at Gizmodo is the harping they did on this guy's personal life. Shortly after releasing the iPhone story, they then ran a story on the guy who lost it, including screenshots of his Twitter page. Then, for no apparently reasonable explanation, write another post with just the Twitter screenshot showing how it was his birthday.

What the hell, Jesus Diaz (main writer of all the iPhone-related posts)? Does the phrase "full disclosure" mean you have to be a dick, too? It seems like a pretty petty way of increasing pageviews, but suppose I shouldn't expect more integrity from a Gawker Media site.

It's not like the product launch is ruined in any way, and Steve Jobs will be A-OK on stage presenting it.

Can't disagree more. You're saying Steve is going to go on stage and pretend like he's "unveiling" something everyone knows everyone in the room has seen? I'd expect that from any other CEO, but Steve is smart enough to not reek of bullshit in front of his most loyal customers.

Apple's not just selling a phone, it's the entire lifecycle experience: that includes the buildup, the unveiling, the opening of the presents. It's precisely like Christmas, and Steve Jobs is Santa. For those of us who buy into this ritual, what Gizmodo did is like tell us exactly what our Christmas present will be in August.

If Jobs is as big of a perfectionist as I think he is, even if they intended to, there's no way they're introducing that phone on June.

So what? It's about time that Apple was welcomed to the real world product leaks that happen every day with companies with size of Apple. I think the key here is how Apple deals with it now that everyone is watching.

> I think the key here is how Apple deals with it now that everyone is watching.

Andrey predicts [1] that the new iPhone launch will be canceled (or delayed?), and that Gizmodo will pay dearly for the leak.

1. http://andreyf.tumblr.com/post/540380259/two-points-about-th...

Canceling the launch would be utterly insane. Steve is not going to throw away millions of dollars because somebody exposed the "secrets" of a slightly modified exterior and front-facing camera.

They don't call it the reality distortion field for nothing.

Can't disagree more. You're saying Steve is going to go on stage and pretend like he's "unveiling" something everyone knows everyone in the room has seen?

Nope, he's going to go on stage and deliver a presentation which will whip the fanboys into a froth world-wide. And he's going to do it in front of a hall full of carefully chosen audience members. Standard Operating Procedure.

The fact that Gizmodo scooped his reveal might be a game-changer for a lesser CEO, but Jobs is the best presenter in the business.

Now that the honeymoon has ended, just buy an Android phone and move on with your life.

I like new gadgets and everything, but I don't care about the build-up. I like the HTC Evo 4G. I added my email address to the "tell me when it's ready" list. When I get the email, I will walk over to the Sprint store and pick it up. I will enjoy the phone just as much as if it was announced by some CEO in a turtleneck... and I can even plan for the purchase in advance!

There are some things in life worth thinking about. What resolution the screen of a new telephone is going to be is not one of those things.

It's not up to the rest of the world to make sure your little rituals aren't disturbed. Leaks happen. If you want somebody to blame for spoiling your Christmas look to Apple. Though I suspect it won't be a problem anymore since they'll probably be sending out a Secret Service detail with these things from now on.

Rubbish ... this is not a revolutionary product like the original iPod or iPhone launch ... it's just an update after all.

Apple's not just selling a phone, it's the entire lifecycle experience

You know what, if this makes you want to buy Apple stuff, it's really frickin' sad ...

Last time Jobs went on stage, everybody knew about the iPad down to its exact specs and what magazines were going to be available on it.

Didn't seem to hurt the sales nor the excitement one bit.

There’s plenty of evidence of Steve unveiling products that have leaked without problems. Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsn27J_tlo

As he calls it, it’s just a case of ‘premature specification’.

Are you saying that you won't buy the phone because Gizmodo told you about it before Apple? If so, how do you justify that? If not, why does any of this matter?

But would any tech organization buy stolen company secrets and property?

It is highly arguable that Gizmodo came upon the iPhone prototype legally. And in the case that you can run a story on an iPhone prototype for $5000, gaining 20M+ page views without stomping all over any laws, I would say that any smart tech publication would do the same.

Smart maybe, but not ethical. They may have gotten 20M page views, but their not in my feed anymore.

You should probably frame your question this way, "Which tech organization wouldn't buy stolen company secrets and property?"

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