Entelligence: Conspiracy theory, part one
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted August 14th 2010 8:00PM
posted August 14th 2010 8:00PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
Oliver Stone, are you listening? Here are my five favorite tech conspiracies.
Security firms cause viruses - One of my favorites. The theory is if security firms actually eradicated viruses with their tools, there would be no need for them to stay in business. Therefore, instead of just creating the anti-virus and malware software, they actually create the malevolent code in order to profit on both sides of the equation. Then again, there are clearly plenty of malevolent code writers out there who seem intent on wreaking havoc with user systems for fun and or profit. It's hard to see why security firms would need to create additional nasty code.
Microsoft worked to create products that would break competitor's products - You'll hear of the t-shirts allegedly worn on campus that said "the job's not done until Borland won't run." Certainly there can be compatibility issues with older products running on new code, but even at the height of their rivalry, it's hard to believe that Microsoft would have targeted a single competitor and done it so openly and brazenly.
Apple's lost iPhone was an intentional PR stunt - According to popular legend, the whole business of Apple losing the iPhone 4 prototype in a bar and all subsequent events were no accident, much less theft. Rather, it was clearly a brilliantly designed press move designed to generate publicity for Apple. Aside from the absurd timing needed to make this work, does Apple need to resort to stunts for press coverage? The company has proven it can get whatever press coverage it desires, even on very short notice. No need for complex schemes that look like something Wyle E. Coyote would invent if he were in marketing.
Apple knew all along there were antenna issues with the iPhone and that's why they released the bumper accessory at launch. Of course, it might also have to do with getting an early place in the market for an accessory that many consumers want and happens to carry a huge markup. At $29 a pop, Apple has not missed exactly how much margin there is on a piece of plastic or rubber and given the low cost to produce, it's not surprising they now offer them for free to iPhone 4 customers.
The threat to ban Blackberry use in the UAE and Saudi is a RIM stunt - How better to show off how secure your products are than to get a few countries to ban them because they're "too secure" for their tastes? Even though it seems that RIM's now reached a deal with Saudi Arabia, I see users pointing to that itself as proof of the company's conspiracy. Do you really think RIM could talk the Saudis into pulling a national stunt? And the UAE and India and Lebanon? Puleeeze.
I'm not sure where the conspiracy theories come from but we know their subjects aren't limited to technology companies and industry figures. Whether it's an alleged secret iPhone recall or two competitors releasing new products at the same time to ruin the other's plans, there are always people who seem to expect the worst in human behavior. Some of it is probably post hoc ergo propter hoc thinking -- people often imagine if one thing follows another, one thing caused the other -- and sometimes it's just imagination run amok. Of course, it's hard to prove a negative, so the stories keep churning. Perhaps one day Jamie and Adam will tackle tech industry myths and put some of these to bed on Mythbusters.
In the meantime, what's your favorite urban technology myth or conspiracy theory?
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
One of my favorite crazy theories is that the Pandora Gaming device will ever see the light of day.
Oh man the laughs we had over THAT one after we got our refunds on our pre-orders!
Whew.
I've had a few rare instances of dropped calls on my iPhone 4.. most likely because of ATT's service- but I've never had any issues with the reception dropping from the way I hold the phone. Oh- and I'm left handed so my palm is always over the "death grip" spot.
The "Apple knew all along there were antenna issues with the iPhone"
Was mostly likely true, like MS knowing about the problems the Xbox 360 had before it shipped.
I would assume they don't say anything until they can figure a way round it, or stay in denial long enough and hope for the best.
All companies when making a mass marketed product should, do extensive testing with their product(s) rather than rushing them out the door, to much of this is happening now.
Anyway, conspiracies generally annoy me, to many people believe in them as well and most of them are the nutters in out the way parts of the country.
Dear Michael Gartenberg,
With this article, you lost big in my eye as a trustworthy analyst.
I mean what good is an analyst who doesn't make difference between certain lies and possibilities. And the problem is not that you couldn't. If you couldn't then it means you are not the best in your job, which is no big deal.
My problem is, that an analyst should analyze the situations, and rate the possibilities of it's truth or untruth. You shouldn't say "This is truth, and this is a lie". You should say "I vote this as an lie, as after analysing all the aspects of the situation, It is much more possible that it is a lie, than the opposite. As proofs I have this-and-this-and-this."
Now taking Urban legends and raising all of them into one same level, and putting Apple's antenna issue into the very same box with anti-virus companies, and with "elvis lives", it was the one thing analyst shouldn't do. You completely failed your job. More than Apple with the antenna. Which is kind of ironic.
Two facts which make your mistake more cruel:
1. The acceptance level of Steve Jobs between the company is 98%. Now how could happen that he wouldn't know about the antenna issue. I mean which employee would take the risk to put his belowed boss into the sudden nightmare of a problem this big scale.
He has no enemies in the company, no rivals, no successors. Who had the interest to do this? Outside apple, he is not commonly loved, but from inside, he seems to be a good boss.
2. There are ongoing trials against Apple, which are likely to investigate this problem and reveal the truth about it.
Now you are defending someone who has ongoing trials against him? Before the decision? This is a standpoint you shouldn't take as analyst. This makes you look like a payed advertiser of Apple. And that's where your credit goes into the pit.
My fav conspiracy theory recently has been the one about tech reviewers giving positive reviews of devices or services offered by sponsors of their websites. Did you guys see Leo Laporte go off on the Tech Crunch guy over the Palm Pre?
The bottom line is these tech sites are held accountable not by their sponsors, but by we the consumers. The Engadget audience, for example, is made up of some very tech-savvy people. If we smell cronyism we'll dump the site in a heartbeat. Traffic will go down and sponsors will stop buying ads. And while there may some less-than-objective tech journalists out there, we all pretty well know who they are and their web traffic reflects our disapproval.
Its called journalistic integrity, and it has been around since the old days when we typed words in this substance called "ink" onto this medium called "paper."
Oh, and the picture at the top of this post that has so many people baffled? Come on, does noone remember the X-Files Lone Gunmen? Am I showing my age?
@fanchettes
Lone Gunmen was mentioned at least twice :)
What kind of accessory is the iphone bumper anyway? It doesn't not provide much protection to the entire unit, so it makes you wonder why it was made only to fit around the outer edge.
Of course Apple had to have discovered the antenna flaw before release otherwise their testers have the IQ of chimps.
ANyone that really believes 9/11 was some kind of U.S. government operation is an absolute tool. . .there is literally NO WAY the U.S. government could keep an operation the size of that required for 9/11 a secret. Period. It makes no sense, which is why 9/11 conspiracy theorists are about 95% unemployed or underemployed young males.
This topic is funny because even though only 2 of the 5 "conspiracies" involve Apple, 80% of the comments are Apple related. These same commenters will later complain that Apple is overcovered.
Speaking of overcovered, thankfully Android still doesn't have this problem. After all, if the average person cared about Android the way they do about the iPhone the Hitler Android themes would've made the morning shows and CNN. I can see it now: "Hate comes to the App Store! Is Apple Anti-Semitic?" But, since it was on Android, Google removes the apps, and not even liberal CNN reports it (even as they are still talking about the Verizon iPhone).
Speaking of Android, I hear that Droid 2 is in stock everywhere. Not selling too well, looks like. Hmmm. . .
@Perspective it makes no sence that its possible to hijack 4 planes in the world best secured country with the top notch detection technology and let do some damage. In country when u own a small plane and u dont respond to the radio they will gun you down as a canadian duck!
cmon wtc was already a bad project, what they did was the best solution possible, who cares about something 3000 dead service ppl ? important part is most of the CEOs and business owners werent there at the time it happened, at the peak time of business day, weird ?
I eagerly await part two of this article.
Wow, thats actually kinda crazy when you think about it.
Lou
www.web-privacy.es.tc
How does this writer have a job still? He SUCKS BIG TIME. His P-O-V is all over the place.
I had the iPhone 4 and switched to a HTC Incredible because I already have terrible AT&T coverage in my area and the antennae problem just increased the issue. Because of Apple and mainly AT&T I am waiting for Verizon iPhone!!!
My current favorite conspiracy theory is that Google somehow supports nazism just because the same twisted critters that have been pushing apple themes to the Android Market managed to slip a nazi theme there for long enough for a certain apple fanboi to make a big deal about it.
these would make horrible movies...
another forced article about conspiracy theory that is only a tale , in the order he wrote it, if all his articles are same, thats rubbish. Hate when someone so wise is using WTC or Moon Landing as a figure for his own wrong point
Regarding this myth;
"Microsoft worked to create products that would break competitor's products"
There is truth to this. It was proved quite some time ago that MS deliberately put code in windows to break Apple's Quicktime and try to discredit it.
Space Shuttle Challenger was shot down with a 50 caliber sniper rifle.
Microsoft's behavior with competitor's products is a matter or record. The most blatant was MS's handling of Dr.Dos. In that case it was proved in court that MS inserted false errors when DR DOS was detected. By creating false compatibility errors end users was led to believe there was an issue when none in fact existed.
There is also a long history of MS using hidden system calls in its own products which worked better (read correctly). Other competitive products like Wordperfect had to use the "documented" and buggy system calls which were both limiting and resulted in unstable behavior. Please contact the Wine team about the undocumented system calls.
It is appalling anyone in technology would be so uninformed that they would think these accusations against MS would be urban myth. In short, you have no place in journalism of any kind.
Did you hear the one about the electronics manufacturers who conspired to drive up LDC prices? It always amazes me how stupid people believe in conspiracies.
@speedkills
Or that dyslexic idiot who can't even type LCD correctly? Oh wait....that's me.