The iHustle
By Peter Rojas 
posted December 24th 2004 3:19PM
posted December 24th 2004 3:19PM
Remember the P-P-P-Powerbook? This is like that, but way sadder: some NYU student who didn't think to properly
inspect the inside of the box before he paid $200 for what he thought was a stolen 17-inch PowerBook from some hustler
in Astor Place, found out the hard way what it's like to be outwitted by a crackhead. Instead of a $3,000 PowerBook,
what he found inside the box was a fake laptop made out of a gray garbage bag and some cardboard that had been
spray-painted silver. They'd even gone to the trouble of scrawling a fake Apple logo on the top in Wite-Out. It's nice
to see someone taking a little pride in their work, isn't it?
[Thanks, Stern]
The authors look like they'd be just as easy to rip off.
G5 laptop? Where can I sign up!
Then they insist on calling it an iBook even though it comes right out of a box that says "17-inch PowerBook"
and then they inform us that memory now comes in Mhz!
Yeah, I saw that, but Vice isn't a tech magazine, so it's not like I expect them to ever get details like that right.
Actually RAM does come in megahertz. Look into it... SDRAM DDR 3200 is rated at 400Mhz for example.
Pure gold lol, I sold my real 12" PowerBook Rev A for $500 just last week :)
Reminds me of the idiot that bought an XBox Box. Merry Christmas!
As I posted on their site, the author needs to be a little more aware...
"He hadn't investigated it at all, but I had been looking for a cheap computer and was in the area, so, why not?"
"What did you think it was going to be, a brand-new computer with GarageBand, iMovie, Microsoft Office, and 250MHZ of extra RAM? What a fucking idiot that kid was..."
'Nuff Said
take that stick out of your ass, phillip, so he mistaked ram for mhz, who gives a shit? the point was made.
'nuff said, nerd.
"and then they inform us that memory now comes in Mhz!"
It's called a joke.
"but Vice isn't a tech magazine, so it's not like I expect them to ever get details like that right."
No you're right, they're a humour/culture magazine (hense the joke noone got), and one that everyone should be reading. In fact, if one is not on the back of your toilet right now you shouldn't even be reading this but out picking one up (they're even free).
Hey Mister! Do you have one with one whole gigapixel of video you can sell me? Do I need to supply my own memory card? This takes SmartMedia, doesn't it?
About 12 years ago I was targeted with the same scam in NYC. The dude comes up and offers you an incredible deal on a camcorder, still in the box. You assume it's "hot," but what do you care... you could end up with a $1500 camcorder for $150! The temptation certainly was there for me. Ultimately I said no and walked away... quickly.
About two hours later while waiting for the subway, I saw on the bench the identical box opened up, with a bunch of rocks inside.
Damn, and come to think, I only got 150$ for the one I sold in SoHo, today! Oh well. Guess, I'll have to start hanging around NYU more often!
this proves the ignorance of apple users and the type of people apple attracts, hahahhaah
hey josh i had the same thing happen to me i swear, i think i was on spring or something, working and doing some transfer, i asked the guy to lower it to 80 for me. But then as i looked closer at the box it seemed like he had simply cut out some advertisement for a panasonic camera advertisement from a circuit city mag. funny shit, i even told him to open it for me he refused, and i left instead also. hahah what a sucker this apple guy is
I'm calling shennanigans on this. Nobody is this freakin' stupid. Not here in New York, anyway. (And yes, I was an NYU student once too, and I was never this dumb.)
Funny web site. Obviously not a true story.
i'm pretty sure this is a real story, it happens, as others have mentioned.
what i dont get is the motivation behind making a fake powerbook instead of just some bricks, if he opens up he's gonna realize it's not a real powerbook.
This fake notebook looks better than the original Apple shit.
I think the whole story is bogus. A crackhead might have the skills to toss a brick in an empty box, but I doubt they could concentrate long enough to make a fake laptop - let alone have a hand steady enought to paint the bad logo.
The same sort of thing happened to a friend of mine who ended up "making a deal" for some sony VAIO for $200! The sad part is that it was NOT an impulsive buy for him; instead, he actually got the phone number of the guy and went home and consulted with his own cousin to see if he also wanted to buy a laptop! Apparently, he was able to convince his cousin and called the seller to tell him that (here is the kicker) he now wanted to buy TWO laptops! lol! On the day of the transfer of goods, the seller made my friend wait close to a well-known electronic store for several minutes and then finally came with a rush and acted as if he had just stoloen the laptops and thus wanted to get rid of them asap! Luckily enough, my friend's cousin was somehow unable to get the entire cash for two laptops out of his back (due to sme banking limit or something), so they decided to only buy one laptop and not two! :) So anyhow, the seller, in his rushing behavior in an OPEN SPACE, basically played with my friend's mind quite well and got away from the scene, taking the cash with him and leaving my friend with the "laptop". I was at school at the moment, so my friend came to me and said "what do you think this laptop is worth?" pointing at the specs on the box. From the very first look, something didn't look well to me because it was quite apparent that someone had pasted a Sony add for the laptop on the box - it also has some AOL membership CDs with it, which made me think that maybe he got a refurbished model! My fears were confirmed when he opened the box and the only thing inside were NEWSPAPERS!!! I felt bad for the guy for loosing the money, but at the same time I couldn't stop laughing on his "oh so smart" bargain purchase! lol! From that day onwards, he is now the "Laptop Man", and we all go to him if we ever need a laptop purchase related advise! lol!
this story is completely bogus, period. damn funny, but bogus.
If the story *is* true, serves him right!
I understand this all happened after the kid smoked a dime bag of oregano he bought in the park 10 minutes earlier...
The story could be real. One thing that people should understand though is that the person who made the mock-up wasn't necessarily a "crackhead" and the person who bought it wasn't necessarily an idiot.
There are all sorts of scammers in New York, and they will find a way to get your money. They don't just prey on idiots though -- in fact, just like hypnosis, scams work better on people who are smart enough to think they can outsmart a con. But scammers use all kinds of cons to convince ordinary and reasonable people that they should part with their money. And they don't always look like crackheads -- in fact, the most successful con men wear suits and ties, and work on Wall Street.
I say this not as a defense to the kid who got ripped off, but as a warning to anyone who might get ripped off in the future.
"Funny web site. Obviously not a true story."
-Jeff
Obviously not true? And you are an expert why?
"this story is completely bogus, period. damn funny, but bogus."
-Shasta
Suspend your disbelief. Just because YOU aren't stupid enough to buy some laptop off the street doesn't mean that SOMEONE isn't. What is so hard to believe about it?
"I think the whole story is bogus."
- Eric
And Eric, crackheads can focus, especially when it involves getting crack. Giv'em some credit man. I've bought some crazy stuff from crackheads before (not crack).
Well I was in london today, looking round some expensive electronics stores, basically window shopping. My laptop is on it's last legs and I so desperatly need a new machine!
Anyway, this dude comes up to me and asks if I want to buy a sony vaio for £400, he takes me to his car, and shows it to me. Seems fast, brand new etc... he tells me his unkle works in the pc world warehouse and orders more than he needs and passes them to this guy to sell.
So we walk over to the cashpoint, luckily my wages arn't in so I can;t buy it.
So he gets my number and sais he'll call me first thing in the morning.
After reading this site, I think I'll tell him to get lost. I don;t really have the money for a gamble. Maybe I'm missing out but I will struggle on.
This is so weird because a couple of weeks ago two dudes pulled up in a car, flashing a viao out the window and asking if I want to biy it for £200... very strange.
Maybe this is the latest scam.