Walt Mossberg Say’s “April Fools” about 60 Day iPhone Comment
Posted on 08 April 2008, at 1:58 pm, by Wayne Schulz
When Walt Mossberg let “slip” during a conference speech that the updated 3G iPhone was “due within 60 days” a lot of people took that to be as good as an official announcement. Since Walt is a respected reviewer with strong standing at Apple, there seemed to be no need to consider that maybe he was only repeating rumors that had started circulating when Apple stores reportedly ran out of iPhones. Just today the Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that Walt was “bemused” that sites reported his comments as an announcement. He follows up with “If I knew when this date was, why would I announce it in the middle of a sentence at the Finnish embassy, rather than report it in the Wall Street Journal?”. There you have it. Walt clarifies.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Hmm, Walt said it in a briefing as a matter of fact while he was talking, not like some kind of joke or rumor. Maybe he is just trying to play it down since he didn’t mean for it to slip out and be recorded on video. I wouldn’t think of Walt as someone who goes around perpetuating rumors, especially in the atmosphere he was speaking in at the time. CYA, Walt, right?
April 8th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Walt stated, “If I knew when this date was, why would I announce it in the middle of a sentence at the Finnish embassy, rather than report it in the Wall Street Journal?”.
Because you let it slip? Maybe Apple didn’t want you to state it on the Wall Street Journal. Why even state 60 days in the meeting then? Or at least why not state something like, “Rumors indicate the 3G iPhone may be released in 60 days.”
April 8th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Matt, you know how sometimes when you know something that you know everyone wants to hear about, you just can’t help yourself letting a little something slip…just to let people know that you know? Because once they know that you know, then you know that they know that you know.
OK…too much Get Smart when I was a kid, I know.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I too loved that show and look forward to the remake with Steve Carrell. Yeah, I know.