Apple: leave Gizmodo alone

Jason Chen and I were just exchanging emails about ten days ago over what turned out to be a minor blip of a story not related to this one (actually it was about Adobe), but despite that fact, I really don’t know Jason or the rest of the guys at Gizmodo. And while I generally respect their work, I haven’t been shy this past week when it comes to publicly shaming them (along with any other industry journalists that went along with the terminology) for referring to that Apple prototype found in a bar as being “Apple’s next iPhone” when they’ve been doing this long enough to know that the odds of the real next iPhone having more than a casual resemblance to the prototype are pretty low. And for the record, I currently have no opinion about the journalistic ethics of buying that prototype from the individual who claimed to have found it; ask me about it again if I ever find myself in that situation.

But while Gizmodo has in my opinion done iPhone users and the Apple community no favors by publishing the specs and photos of that device, the raiding of Jason Chen’s home by the police is so far over the line that it sends chills down my spine. Felony warrants? Seizing his computers? Did this guy report on an unannounced Apple product, or kidnap Steve Jobs at gunpoint?

What bothers me most is that from local authorities’ standpoint, this case would be considered nothing more than a lost or stolen cellphone; there’s no way the police would be pursuing this case this vehemently unless Apple is actively encouraging them to do so. I could understand Apple looking at this “iPhone 4G” fiasco and deciding that Gizmodo is never getting invited to another Apple press conference, or never again getting its questions answered by Apple’s PR department. But this over the top. Apple has dealt harshly with journalists in the past who’ve intentionally ruined the company’s upcoming product announcements – including baseless lawsuits that were ultimately dismissed – but attempting to criminalize journalism is a new level of inappropriateness towards the media, even for Apple.

I’ve got a number of journalist friends in the Apple and tech communities, many of whom I’d probably instinctively want to stand up for in this situation before even evaluating whether I thought they were right or wrong. But I don’t even know the Gizmodo guys, nor do I like what they’ve done as far as reporting on this Apple prototype when there was no non-self-interested point in doing so. But common sense says Jason Chen didn’t steal that phone or commit an actual crime here, and for police and warrants to be involved is chilling. What next? Now that I’ve admitted at the top of this story that I’ve exchanged emails with Jason in the past month, are the police going to come bang on my door and take my computers away as well?

Bill Palmer
Editor in Chief
Beatweek Magazine

About Bill Palmer

Bill Palmer is Editor in Chief of Beatweek Magazine. His editorial contributions include interviews with musicians and iPhone industry coverage.