Gizmodo has published a letter from Apple’s senior VP and chief legal counsel Bruce Sewell that formally requests that they return the iPhone prototype to them. They’ve also published their response, which has been archived by Cult of Mac.
Gizmodo’s response in its original form:
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 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.
P.S. I hope you take it easy on the kid who lost it. I don’t think he loves anything more than Apple except, well, beer.
I call this its original form because it was later edited by Gizmodo. Keep in mind that this isn’t just a weblog post, this is what Gizmodo is claiming to be their official response to Bruce Sewell.
Here’s their published response in its current form:
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.
P.S. I hope you take it easy on the kid who lost it. I don’t think he loves anything more than Apple.
The bit in brackets was added and the snarky jab about beer has been removed. I’m not going to get into the legal aspect of this whole ordeal because I’m not I don’t know enough to do so (and Jeff Bercovici has already done a fine job at that on DailyFinance). However, I will comment on their nonchalant attitude regarding the situation. I think it’s clear to anyone who’s paid any attention to this story that Gizmodo cares less about their reputation and readers than they do pageviews.
The simple fact that they edited their response to make themselves look better is enough reason to believe that these guys aren’t anything more than scumbags. Gizmodo has lost me as a reader and I don’t know if there is anything they could do to bring me back.
