Jon Stewart Slams Apple Over Its Handling of Gizmodo Case

[Ben Lahnger]

Jon Stewart Slams Apple Over Its Handling of Gizmodo Case

Tonight on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart gave his take regarding Gizmodo's iPhone exclusive and the subsequent police raid on Jason Chen's home. Speaking directly to Apple and Steve Jobs, Stewart didn't hold back his criticism of them. Video inside.

http://tv.gawker.com/5526868/jon-stewart-slams-apple-over-its-handling-of-gizmodo-case

Stewart first talked about how "excited" he was to see Gizmodo's report, before mocking the circumstances that led to its acquisition of the device.

Then, Stewart questioned whether it was necessary for Chen's home to be raided, stating, "the Gizmodo reviewer gets the meth lab in the basement treatment after he'd already given the phone back," before talking about how "creepy" Apple—or the "Appholes," as the screen called the company—was for its handling of the case.

Finally, Stewart delivered a direct address to Apple and Jobs in which he criticized the company for its increasing paranoia and obsessive control over the information related to its products, and also took some hilarious shots at AT&T.

Update: Via InOtherNews, here's a partial transcript of Stewart's statement to Apple/Jobs:

"Apple - you guys were the rebels, man, the underdogs. People believed in you. But now, are you becoming the man? Remember back in 1984, you had those awesome ads about overthrowing Big Brother? Look in the mirror, man! …It wasn't supposed to be this way - Microsoft was supposed to be the evil one! But you guys are busting down doors in Palo Alto while Commandant Gates is ridding the world of mosquitoes! What the fuck is going on?!

…I know that it is slightly agitating that a blog dedicated to technology published all that stuff about your new phone. And you didn't order the police to bust down the doors, right? I'd be pissed too, but you didn't have to go all Minority Report on his ass! I mean, if you wanna break down someone's door, why don't you start with AT&T, for God sakes? They make your amazing phone unusable as a phone! I mean, seriously! How do you drop four calls in a one-mile stretch of the West Side Highway! There're no buildings around! What, does the open space confuse AT&T's signal?!

…Come on, Steve. Chill out with the paranoid corporate genius stuff. Don't go all Howard Hughes on us."

Ben - Once again, Jon Stewart says exactly what I was thinking ... only in a much more funny and entertaining way.

[Alan]

http://www.cracked.com/article_18377...red-apple.html

Fuck Apple.

[KontanKarite]

I am not surprised.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Alan

http://www.cracked.com/article_18377...red-apple.html

Fuck Apple.

Good article. Thanks, Alan.

[CptSternn]

It's all a publicity stunt by Apple. You think they let an engineer go drinking in the middle of the day carrying a top secret new device which he left behind and never came back for?

If you do I have a cousin in Nigeria who has $1,000,000 that needs to be transfered you might be able to help.

[Still Jack]

I actually prefer to spend my money on shit from Chinavasion.com ( surprisingly good quality ) than on any of the apple shit.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by CptSternn

It's all a publicity stunt by Apple. You think they let an engineer go drinking in the middle of the day carrying a top secret new device which he left behind and never came back for?

Tell that to the Gizmodo blogger who had police come to his home with a search warrant while he was out, break down his door and confiscate his computer and other possessions for the investigation into whether he bought stolen goods or not.

Man Who Found Prototype iPhone Admits It

That said, the police are still investigated the possibility that a crime was committed. According to San Mateo County chief deputy district attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, the phone's finder "...is very definitely one of the people who is being looked at as a suspect in theft. Assuming there's ultimately a crime here. That's what we're still gauging, is this a crime, is it a theft?"

Gizmodo Apple iPhone 4.0 4g Leak Case Update - April 30th, 2010

The journalism laws protect the sources from being revealed. Even if Chen considered the phone a source, he blasted it out all over the internet. No laws protect journalists from committing crimes. If he purchased stolen property and then used it to viciously attack Apple and its proprietary property, he could be in some serious trouble.

Of course, it could have all been a ploy by Apple to get free marketing. Highly unlikely that is the case; Apple has plenty of good publicity all on its own. It doesn’t need this public fiasco.

A short history of Apple's aggressive legal tactics

That one's just for a sense of perspective.

[Ben Lahnger]

New APPLE update:

Apple Kills Lala Music Service

Apple closed down the cloud-based Lala music service Friday for reasons unknown, after acquiring it in December. Lala members can still access their online collections, but only until May 31, when Apple will take the service offline completely.

When that happens, all the web-based music purchased by Lala members will become unplayable. Unused music credits, which Lala users bought in chunks in order to redeem multiple songs, will become unredeemable. Any MP3s purchased and downloaded from the service will of course continue to play, but this represents a blow to early adopters of Lala’s streaming songs, which only cost 10 cents.

“In appreciation of your support,” reads a note on Lala.com that is only accessible to members, “you will receive a credit in the amount of your Lala web song purchases for use on Apple’s iTunes Store.”

That means for approximately every 10 songs they bought on Lala, members will get one song from iTunes — and will need to repurchase whatever they’ve bought. Outstanding song credits will transfer to the iTunes music store in equivalent amounts, where they will be redeemable for one-tenth as much music as on Lala.

Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/...#ixzz0mcENp7F7

[Ben Lahnger]

Apple's Jobs: If you want adult content, buy Android

SOURCE: http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/s...#ixzz0mcZHV3Vq

Apple maintains a "moral responsibility" to keep questionable content off its iPhone platform according to CEO Steve Jobs, responding to customer concerns over the company's role in authorizing App Store submissions. After Apple customer Matthew Browing wrote Jobs an email to contend "Apple's role isn't moral police--Apple's role is to design and produce really cool gadgets that do what the consumer wants them to do," Jobs fired off a reply reading "We do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone."

It's not the first time Jobs suggested that consumers seeking a more liberal approach to adult content consider Android Market instead of the App Store. Earlier this month, during a question-and-answer session following the announcement of Apple's forthcoming iPhone OS 4.0, Jobs said "You know, there's a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That's a place we don't want to go--so we're not going to go there."

Apple's role as an arbiter of good taste has been the subject of scrutiny and debate since the App Store first opened in mid-2008. The issue culminated earlier this year when Apple removed as many as 5,000 adult-themed iPhone and iPod applications from the digital storefront. Apple again came under fire last week after Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore said his NewsToons app was rejected by Apple for containing content ridiculing public figures and violating Section 3.3.14 from the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, which reads "Applications may be rejected if they contain content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable."

Following Fiore's Pulitzer win, Apple encouraged him to re-submit NewsToons--in another email response to a customer, Jobs called the initial NewsToons rejection "a mistake that's being fixed."

Ben - I wish Jobs could see the irony of his company putting out that landmark commercial in 1984 suggesting that Apple would help the people rebel against "Big Brother" ... and now he clearly sees his company's role is to BE "Big Brother!"

I can't wait to get my Android HTC Evo this summer! Because I am never going to buy a thing from Apple's iPhone APPstore or iTunes for as long as I can help it.

[JCC]

iPods are pretty cute though.

[Ben Lahnger]

Yeah, their design is sharp and intuitively functional, I'll give you that.

I've used alternate mp3 players throughout the years in protest to their policies and the cult of Apple, but I always recognized nothing else was as good looking or as easy to use.

[Saya]

They are good looking, but I'm really not willing to pay much for an mp3 player. As long as its got decent memory and allows playlists thats fine by me.

Why, I remember when I was 14, I had an mp3 player long before anyone else in my school did. It could only hold about 11 songs. Excuse me, I have to go chase some kids off my lawn now.

[CptSternn]

I loath apple products. From the iphone, which sucks compared to a blackberry or even better the new android phones all the way down to the macbook, which costs treble the amount a similar PC would cost. I mean, you could buy a major PC laptop with 10x the features and speed for the cost of a low end macbook.

Yet the great ad campaigns have eejits buying this crap. Whenever someone starts telling me how brilliant their apple product is I always ask 'why'? Most then have no real answer, other than basic aesthetics.

It's a company that likes to leech off its own client base, like a herd of cattle, which in reality they act like. The only reason many buy them is the same reason eejits buy expensive sports cars - some think it is some status symbol. The company knows this and uses it to charge exhorbant prices for simple shit - I mean, paying over €100 just to replace the battery in an ipod one year after spending €400 to purchase it? When you can buy a Zune, S3, or other brand mp3 player for less than €100 and they use normal rechargeable batteries which cost €5 to replace?

People dumb enough to buy into that need to be gouged, then again, that seems to be the thinking at apple...

[JCC]

Zune isn't cheaper than an iPod.

[ART]

Ok, Apple wants to keep an insanely tight grip on their product even after you own it. And they are overreacting badly in the Gizmodo case.

The alternative, though, is Google. Who wants to keep an insanely tight grip on your entire life.

[Raptor]

Originally Posted by CptSternn

Whenever someone starts telling me how brilliant their apple product is I always ask 'why'? Most then have no real answer, other than basic aesthetics.

People buy Macs for OS X. If they're having big problems with Windows, they're probably doing something wrong but lots of people seem to think OS X is more stable.

It's your own fault if you pay Apple to change a battery. I bought my iPod for like £20 or £30 (60gb video) because the previous owner didn't like the failing battery and wanted a new one. You can buy new (unofficial) batteries and other parts very cheaply.

Touch screen phones are pretty gimmicky whichever company they come from. The majority of people only seem to use them to log into Facebook.

Like you said: stupid people buying shitty products. Ben's points are more worrying.

[Solumina]

Originally Posted by JCC

Zune isn't cheaper than an iPod.

Have Zunes gone up in price or something? Jake got his Zune because it was much cheaper than a comparable iPod but that was well over a year ago so things may have changed.

[Renatus]

Originally Posted by ART

Ok, Apple wants to keep an insanely tight grip on their product even after you own it. And they are overreacting badly in the Gizmodo case.

The alternative, though, is Google. Who wants to keep an insanely tight grip on your entire life.

Nah, I personally love google. They have helped me out alot over the years, and I've never had to spend a single penny on them. Also based on what I've heard of google's future plans, they have even more stuff in store for us like that. Whereas apple goes "hmm, here's a competitors product, lets add 25% onto the price, and make sure it can only be used with our products". Though you never know, google may become like the V.

Their app stores reflect these philosophies, 60% of the Android's applications are free, as opposed to only 20% of Apple's. To top that off, google doesnt care what you do with your phone after you buy it, unlike Apple who is more than willing to lock you out of your phone if you do anything they dont like. Personally I'm looking into getting a Motorola Droid soon, or a Nexus.

[JCC]

Originally Posted by Solumina

Have Zunes gone up in price or something? Jake got his Zune because it was much cheaper than a comparable iPod but that was well over a year ago so things may have changed.

I'm not sure how it is in the US, but in the UK they're the same price.

[Ben Lahnger]

It's tough to compare pricing as there's the issue of which models have more recent software, and differing details such as storage size and features. But here's a comparison from Amazon.com:

Apple iPod touch 32 GB - $269.99

Zune HD 32 GB Video MP3 Player - $232.54

If you match up comparable current units, there's not that much of a difference in price. The savings people are finding on Zunes are when they are buying previous generation models.