Kevin Rose - iPhone leak months later

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Written by Administrator

Monday, 12 March 2007

I haven't seen any stories on this so, I figure I should be the first to dive in! Does anyone remember the iPhone leak that Kevin Rose made on Diggnation? On the show he claimed he was given information from secret source inside Apple, but I decide to take a more in-depth look in the story...

There are many possible reasons for this leak to be inaccurate, or for its existence. I'll do my best to break it down into a few possibilities, and you're welcome to discuss this in the comments below and/or start a topic in the forums.

First, and the most obvious, is that he was just given wrong information. It's very possible that someone believed that they had special information from a friend that they wanted to pass onto Kevin Rose, but it's also possible that the source Kevin had was just making the whole thing up. Also, don't forget that the original story that was discussed on Diggnation was rumoring on the fact that the iPhone "may run mini OSX." We now know this is true, and that it is a fact that Kevin himself seemed (or acted) like he didn't know about.
Second, it is also possible that Kevin did this as a publicity stunt. To me it seemed that Kevin had fake emotions, and Alex acted as if he already knew the information and wasn't very intrigued. The story itself was picked up all over the web, making the Diggnation podcast in front of the eyes of millions.
The third option, and the least likely is that Apple paid Diggnation to make this fake leak. I highly doubt this, as Apple so far has already received about $400 million worth of free advertising. Thus I feel that if Apple were to set this thing up, it would really be a waste of money.
The final option, and also pretty unlikely is the fact that Kevin knew all about the iPhone, knew exactly what it was going to be like etc. but didn't want to mention it on the show. His long pauses could indicate refusal to give out information, or the original scene could've been cut out and replaced with a fake one.

With all that being said, I really doubt that this is a conspiracy or some sort of planned idea. Odds are that someone was mis-informed, or was just looking to make something up and have some fun. Although, in the long run, Diggnation stands to benefit from all the publicity. Will we see something like this in the future? More product rumors? Only time will tell, and I'll be there to report on it months after everyone has forgotten.