Steve Jobs on lost iPhone 4G prototype: it's an 'amazing' story
By Donald Melanson 
posted June 1st 2010 9:40PM
posted June 1st 2010 9:40PM
We can't say we expected Jobs to do a ton of talking about that little "lost" iPhone prototype during his interview at D8, but he was of course asked about it, and he did do some talking about it. While he started out with the expected "there's an ongoing investigation" statement, Jobs soon got on a bit of a roll, saying that "this is a story that's amazing" -- that "it's got theft, it's got buying stolen property, it's got extortion, I'm sure there's some sex in there... the whole thing is very colorful." No discussion of the device itself, of course, but we're sure we'll be hearing more about it soon enough.
Update: Well, it looks like Jobs couldn't quite let the issue rest there. Later on in the interview, Jobs said that he had gotten advice to just let it slide, that "you shouldn't go after a journalist just because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you" -- but he said he couldn't "change our core values and let it slide," that he'd "rather quit."
Check out the complete back and forth after the break.
Update: Well, it looks like Jobs couldn't quite let the issue rest there. Later on in the interview, Jobs said that he had gotten advice to just let it slide, that "you shouldn't go after a journalist just because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you" -- but he said he couldn't "change our core values and let it slide," that he'd "rather quit."
Check out the complete back and forth after the break.
6:36PM Walt: So you had a prototype of one of your products that wound up at a bar...
6:37PM The audience just freaked out
6:38PM Walt: We don't know the whole story... I wanted to ask you about the duality to this. Some people don't approve of checkbook journalism. If what we know is true, but on the other hand the police go and don't issue a search warrant, and they grab someone's computer -- there's a lot of stuff, at least with my computer I wouldn't want anyone to have, and they grab this journalists assets...
Steve: Well a guy... who can say if he's a journalist.
6:38PM Wow.
6:39PM Walt: Where do you come down on this?
Steve: There's an ongoing investigation. I can tell you what I do know, though. To make a product you need to test it. You have to carry them outside. One of our employees was carrying one. There's a debate about whether he left it in a bar, or it was stolen out of his bag. The person who found it tried to sell it, they called Engadget, they called Gizmodo.
6:41PM Steve: The person who took the phone plugged it into his roommates computer. And this guy was trying to destroy evidence... and his roommate called the police. So this is a story that's amazing -- it's got theft, it's got buying stolen property, it's got extortion, I'm sure there's some sex in there (huge laughs)... the whole thing is very colorful. The DA is looking into it, and to my knowledge they have someone making sure they only see stuff that relates to this case. I don't know how it will end up.
Later in the interview...
7:25PM Kara: What do you imagine the next 10 years of your life will be about?
7:25PM Super long pause...
7:26PM Steve: You know, when this whole thing with Gizmodo happened, I got advice from people who said 'you gotta just let it slide, you shouldn't go after a journalist just because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you.' And I thought deeply about this, and I concluded the worst thing that could happen is if we change our core values and let it slide. I can't do that. I'd rather quit.
7:27PM Steve: You go back 5 or 10 years, what would you do... we're not going into that... we have the same values that we had back then. The core values are the same. We come into work wanting to do the same thing that we did back then -- build the best products. Nothing makes my day more than getting a random email from someone talking about how cool the iPad is. That's what keeps me going. That's what kept me going back then, and now, and will keep me going in the future.
Shit just got real.
@Evangelion
It's not like anyone thought it was fake...
@fromtheyear why is this post in the /exclude/apple site? he must be pleased about the whole incident since it was good publicity for his product.
@Evangelion Shit Just Got RDFed. Its Jobs. I care or trust what he says as far as I could throw the international space station. Dude is a porn liar. Period. Says one thing one minute, 6 months late oh yah we were planning that all along.
@Evangelion Glad I didn't pay money to see this
@John Doe Isn't the ISS in microgravity?
(ignoring mass, inertia, blah blah, and Bob Loblaw's Law Blog)
I'd like to hear more on how someone tried to extort Apple, that's a pretty serious accusation if he's just talking out his ass. Stealing does not equal finding a phone and trying to return it, the ONLY bad part of this is the guy selling it to Gizmodo for 5k.
Steve is and always has been a tool.
@treats : I think he was referring to the letter from Gizmodo demanding certain concessions in exchange for getting the phone back---like an official admission from him that it was an actual next-gen iPhone prototype. It turns out that Gizmodo hadn't ever told the whole story about their communications with Apple (surprise)! An exchange between Jobs and one of the Gizmodo editors was included in the affidavit released awhile back.
@Evangelion
Dale Carnegie once said 'no one kicks a dead dog'.All those trolls here kicking SJ are making him alive, which means he did something better than you ever did.
I just think the journalist is royally screwed...
@Jack
Your rage is delicious, nom, nom.
@Evangelion
ok...so gizmodo bought stolen/unclaimed property. ok, i get that. i THOUGHT i was pretty up to date w/ the whole lost iphone in bar saga, but can someone tell me where exactly the extortion came into place? i dont remember hearing anything on this matter. in no way shape or form do i remember ever reading something like, ''gizmodo allegedly told apple, give us a million dollars or we'll post pics/a tear down on the purported next iphone''
but maybe me live under fraggle rock...
@John Doe You need to learn how to attack a person in a way that doesn't make you look like a idiot.
@simbadogg
ahhh...demands for a concession it was the new iphone. i never heard this, but i take back what i said
@mcg
that was not extortion.
if you have a supposedly iphone 4 before release,
you contact Apple.
1_ if it is a fake, then Apple should nto get it back, as it is a fake, therefore not theirs.
2_ if it is real, and should be returned to Apple, then Apple should at least state that it is theirs, thus stating it is the iphone 4.
I don't see extortion there, same as I would rather give a wallet to the lost section at the airport, if the person telling me they want it returned does not prove to me, that it is theirs with some factual information.
extorsion ????!??!!?
@mcg That's kind of a loose definition of extortion. He's demanding something in exchange for something that's yours. That *sounds* like extortion until you realize that what he's demanding is a declaration by you that it is in fact yours. Then it suddenly sounds kind of reasonable. Of course Apple doesn't want to prove that, and is put in sort of an impossible situation.
You could make the "it had the Apple logo on there and it wasn't any known model so of course it had to belong to Apple" argument, but honestly it could well have been a fake. If it was a fake, then it rightfully belonged to Gizmodo and they would have had no obligation to give it to anyone. Asking Apple to state for the record that it was, in fact, their property doesn't really sound unreasonable -- even though it puts Apple in a position they really did not want to be in.
At any rate, if Apple had honestly considered it extortion in the *legal* sense of the word, they wouldn't have given in to the demand and provided the "we claim it as ours on the record" letter/email.
@wellsley Isnt the ISS huge, and mr engadget commenter not?
@Faxmonkey : I see your point but there is an important distinction here. All Apple *has* to say, legally, is "that device belongs to us. please return it." They don't *have* to give any indication as to what it is; in other words, they do not have to confirm that it is a next-gen iPhone. Gizmodo was asking very specifically for that kind of confirmation. I agree that it is a loose definition of extortion, but it might be technically correct.
@Evangelion
"sex, explosions, maybe some gunfire" -- every apple product is so high profile it has a full blown 007 story behind it's adventures.
@Evangelion
If I go and buy an Iphone from Craigslist, is that a felony?! California laws are as dumb as its governor, go eat dumbbells...
@Jack It might be a crime, but let's be honest, it's a pretty bloody stupid law. When you buy someything off eBay, you don't know if it's stolen or what. And if it just happens to be stolen, YOU can be arrested for that? For not being told where your product came from? It's completely backward.
And from what I've seen (and I've followed the story both here and on Giz) Giz bought it, gave it back to Apple, THEN found out it was stolen. Thus, why should they be prosecuted? It's not their fault.
Oh, right. Californian law. I'll pull my head out of my ass.
@Jack
Finding something someone left behind IS NOT stealing, just because Jobs says something does not make it so. Stop being a stupid dimwit.
@Shooter McGavin According to California state law, it *is* stealing if you don't take the steps listed in the law when finding someone elses property. Steps this guy did not take.
@TPJ
What a ridiculous law. Either way, it's my understanding this guy tried to contact Apple and got the cold shoulder.
let them know the truth
@Xega the truth is that the mighty dictator see's sex as bad as stealing,extortion and theft!
@Xega
Walt: "there's a lot of stuff, at least with my computer I wouldn't want anyone to have"
Walt's a pedo, raid him!
Seriously though, why does Kara keep getting invited to do these things? She's such a stupid fud.
@TinWard LOL, ikr
@Juggernaut408
U MAD?
Now how many of these quotes are going to be posted as separate articles.... Come on, Engadget. Be reasonable.
@dcoaster
...and people claim Engadget is oh-so-neutral :rolleyes: . God bless Engadget editors' little Apple fanboi hearts! :-D
@naashak You know the literal definition of fanboy right?
@dcoaster
For anything else this would all be rolled into one liveblog post that is continually updated.
@dcoaster
http://www.engadget.com/exclude/stevejobs now stfu
@dcoaster
Personally I think it just makes things a hell of a lot easier. It was a long interview with a bunch of different topics. If you want to discuss that specific topic instead of dealing with one person commenting on this and the other on that. And I'm a bit of a Google fanboy :)
@djt
I agree, for interviews and similar material, it doesn't hurt to break up the topics like this, that way I can read what I find interesting but not everything else. Product launches on the other hand... if I'm reading about a new product, I'm going to read all there is about it (or until I get bored), I don't need a comprehensive article and an individual one for each feature and comment about it.
@dcoaster http://www.engadget.com/exclude/steve jobs
Works like a charm :)
@naashak Engadget are not neutral they are total apple fanboys...I usually just roll my eyes but lately - since ipad - it has been getting ridiculous. Maybe Topolsky etc should fold engadget into TUAW
@naashak
Well, we all know Engadget is Apple biased, but please, take a look at Gizmodo; it's a shrine for Apple (well, that might be about to change right?)
@High I clicked the link but the first article was about OS4.
There's no escape :(
@dcoaster
ZOMG! Now tell us what he had for breakfast! And then lunch! And then maybe.. just maybe.. *gasp* dinner!?%$!@$!
Can you please stop swinging off of this dude's nuts Engadget?
@dcoaster
Now i am going to need a link.
engadget.com/exclude/stevejobs
The master hath spoken.
sex, iphone and itunes
@AlO nyehehehe, he mad
@Juggernaut408
That was kinda uncalled for, buddy
They should make the story into a movie
@Console fanboy
As if Apple / Steve Jobs would allow such a thing! Apple would fire a preemptive lawsuit.
But he didn't explain the leaking prototype in other countries, how did that happen?
@3doog
What'd you expect? It's Walt from the WSJ tossing the friendly questions. This isn't some 60 Minutes interview.