Category: Journalism

Bruce Sewell, Senior Vice President & General Counsel wrote this letter to the blog:

It has come to our attention that GIZMODO is current in possession of a device that belongs to Apple. This letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple. Please let us know where to pick up the unit.

Brian Lam replied:

Happy to have you pick this thing up. Was burning a hole in our pockets. Just so you know, we didn’t know this was stolen [as they might have claimed. meaning, real and truly from Apple. It was found, and to be of unproven origin] when we bought it. Now that we definitely know it’s not some knockoff, and it really is Apple’s, I’m happy to see it returned to its rightful owner.

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Craig Hockenberry:

The person at fault is the shithead who stole the phone, not some overworked engineer drinking beer.

Yet Gizmodo won’t publish that person’s name. Despicable.

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The AP is reporting that Gawker paid $5,000 for the iPhone 4G prototype Gizmodo posted photos of this morning.

Additionally, Gizmodo has posted a follow-up story outlining how the phone ended up in the wild in the first place. In this story, there is no mention of how the device ended up in Gizmodo’s hands, just how an Apple software engineer left it at a bar back in March.

Here is there version of the story, from the guy who first found it, until now:

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Chairman Gruber just linked to Gawker’s Nick Denton tweet about the iPhone 4G prototype that was posted on Gizmodo this morning:

Yes, we’re proud practitioners of checkbook journalism. Anything for the story!

That is a bold statement. And one that has gotten a lot of people into trouble in the past — ABC comes to mind quickly.

While I’m not sure that what the gang over at Gizmodo does is legitimate journalism*, this doesn’t help their case much. Paying for a story is a big no-no to most journalists. Of course, Gizmodo have stepped over the line before, as have several blogs in the attempt to be first with a breaking story.

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Steve Jobs, in an email to Tao Effect’s Greg Slepak:

We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform.

I’m not one to put a stamp of approval on everything Jobs says, but I think he is right on the money on this.

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Business Insider:

One big trend that’s apparent: big media and entertainment companies are doing very well in top free apps, but are barely present in top paid apps, whether by number of apps downloaded, or by the gross revenues from their apps.

Of course, the iPad has only been out since yesterday, but this doesn’t bode well.

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The Denver Post:

Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder not only documents the war in Afghanistan with traditional digital cameras, he also used an iPhone camera, carried in his flak jacket pocket, coupled with a Polaroid film filter application to photograph the daily lives of Marines, Afghan soldiers and fellow journalists during the military offensive in Marjah, Afghanistan.

Each shot is fascinating and gut-wrenching, all at the same time.

[via Gruber]

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Shawn Blanc:

I remember writing that first post as if I published it yesterday. I so clearly recall the first time I felt the novelty of writing something combined with the adrenaline rush of publishing it. Even now, four years later, I still feel that same novelty and that same rush every time I publish a new article.

[…]

Publishing a weblog has been the best thing I could have done for my writing. It is a format that really works for me: I enjoy it, I’m challenged by it, inspired by it, and frustrated by it. I love it and I hate it. Some days I cannot wait to sit down at my keyboard, while other days I consider quitting altogether and spending all that new free time building furniture. And but so the blend of emotion is sort of my proof that I ought to keep growing and writing.

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NPR’s David Folkenflik:

ABC News is facing sharp criticism over the disclosure that it paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Florida woman who now stands accused of killing her own daughter.

The $200,000 payment in August 2008 to Casey Anthony was used for exclusive rights to reproduce family photographs and videotape of her then-missing 2-year-old, Caylee.

The pictures and footage were used on Sept. 5, 2008, as the heart of a story on ABC’s Good Morning America and a full-hour treatment later that night on the prime-time newsmagazine 20/20. Casey Anthony was charged with child neglect and endangerment that day. The next month, she was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder.

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Gruber has posted two snippets from Windows guru Paul Thurrott, regarding copy and paste on mobile devices:

Unreal, indeed.

Boom; roasted.

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Nine out of the latest 20 stories on Macworld’s front page aren’t related to Apple.

Most of those nine are cross-posted from other IDG sites. I understand that Macword is a sister publication of non-Apple sites, but I think the ratio is a little bit off. Even more annoying is seeing the same items in Macworld’s and PCWorld’s RSS feeds. I’ve unsubscribed to both.

Don’t get me wrong — I really like Macworld’s Apple coverage. I just wish their site wasn’t bogged down with stories about Twitter and Google.

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