SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Imagine this fictitious scenario among the special task force in Silicon Valley:
One of the investigators working on the stolen iPhone case was in a heated argument at his desk.
"Whaddya mean he won't talk to us?" he shouted into the phone (not an iPhone, but a standard landline phone). "If you want us to solve this case, we need to interview everyone concerned, including the CEO of Apple!" The detective listened for a moment, then grunted, "OK, we'll be there in an hour," and slammed the phone down.
It's only the early days of the Apple Inc. iPhone investigation and already, the agents at Silicon Valley's Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team realize it's going to be a tough case to crack. A key player, Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, won't have time to talk with them. Instead, the daring duo have been shuffled off to Apple's general counsel, Bruce Sewell.
"Look, you need to chill," his partner said. "It's not like this is a jewel-encrusted falcon, it's a freaking mobile phone, for crissakes."
The saga began last week when the gadget blog, Gizmodo published photos of a prototype iPhone, accidentally left in a bar in Redwood City, Calif. by an Apple engineer. An anonymous person ended up with the phone, after it was left by the now infamous 27-year-old engineer named Gray Powell, in a German beer bar. That individual sold the iPhone to Gizmodo for $5,000. Sewell sent Gizmodo a letter demanding the phone back. It was returned to Apple, and now the cops are investigating. Read Gizmodo's iPhone scoop.
"Do you think we should try and talk to Woz?"
"Huh? Who?"
"Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder. He's all over the Internet wearing a T-shirt that says, 'I went drinking with Gray Powell and all I got was a lousy iPhone prototype.' Woz has gotta know something. Maybe he knows who the mystery phone snatcher is."
"Dude, I think that fedora you always wear is too tight around your brain or something. He doesn't know anything about this case."
The two agents then decide to do some qui ck research before driving to Cupertino, where they will talk with Sewell and Powell, who is still employed at Apple. Even though his father was interviewed by CNet, Gray hasn't been heard from in the press since the Gizmodo story broke. They are at least looking forward to hearing Powell's account of the events the night of his fateful birthday party, when he left the phone on a bar stool.
Apple is so notoriously secret about its products that most employees don't know what is in development outside of their own group, especially in the top-secret iPhone area. Gizmodo also reported that the anonymous finder actually tried calling Apple to return the phone, but did not get very far with Apple customer service. See Gizmodo post here.
"Why didn't this person just take it to an Apple store? Maybe the guy who found the phone really works for an Apple rival? We should also look at competitors who would gain by the information," said the brighter detective. "Once the phone was taken out of its secret camouflage, they discovered it has a front-facing video camera. That could be useful for a rival to know in advance, that Apple could potentially offer video chat."
Research In Motion Ltd. Waterloo, Ontario, Motorola Inc. in Schaumburg, Ill., and Google Inc. could gain by getting access to Apple's next generation phone, and spoiling its closely guarded secrets, he rationalized. "But Google is ri ght here in the Valley." He types away at his laptop, checking his watch.
"Check this out. A bunch of Google engineers were making a big deal late last week of trying to take themselves off Facebook, worrying about their privacy!"
"So?" said the fedora-wearing one.
"Maybe they were creating a diversion! They want everyone to be focused on Facebook's latest privacy kerfuffle!"
"But Google doesn't want to do any evil," he said. "And I thought Steve Jobs and Google's CEO were having coffee a few weeks ago around here somewhere?" See column on Apple and Google rivalry.
"Well after Apple, let's pay a surprise visit over to the guys at Gizmodo and see if we can get out of them who sold them the phone. They gotta be nervous over there."
"Katie Couric, David Letterman, here we come."
