Today, Apple finally got back its forgotten/stolen new iPhone.
Gizmodo bought the phone for $5,000 from someone who found the phone in a bar. Gizmodo dissected the new iPhone and the Blogosphere and Twitterverse exploded with stories. Most of it praised the device and its advancements on previous iPhone versions.
There is one big question that comes to mind: why didn't Apple react faster to get the device back?
Did Apple intentionally 'forget' the device to raise hype about the new version? Did the engineer in-question not inform Apple about the loss? Did Apple think the news would (or wouldn't) spread like wildfire? No one will ever know.
I think the phone loss was legit, but Apple purposely let word spread before it took any action. Apple obviously knew technophiles would have a full freak out over the discovery. The Gizmodo post praised the device and its advancements. What better public relations is there than an outside observer praising the device before Apple even announced it? This was a great move.
It remains to be seen how Apple will deal with the engineer who lost the iPhone at the bar. This 'accident' was great press for Apple and had great word-of-mouth exposure thanks to social media (I actually heard about it first on Twitter from a friend).
Could this have been a complete flop? Apple traditionally releases improved iPhone versions during the summer. A leak this close to 'iPhone season' may make some hesitate on replacing or buying a new device, since there is little point in purchasing a product which will soon be obsolete. Apple released figures showing a profit increase of 90 percent on iPhone sales. Will the leak affect sales of current iPhone versions. That remains to be seen.
On a complete side note: Indians swept the White Sox and Cavs are 2-0 in the series with the Bulls. A surprisingly good week for Cleveland sports.
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