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Member Since: 3/2006Last Seen: 5/23/2006

Something Bad Happened to a Computer -- Photos

News Type: Other — Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:25 AM EST

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Okay, final edit ...

Something bad happened to a computer. The owner posted photos. The story got around the net. And, apparently, was sensationalized by a bunch of sites/blogs/people ... I read a few of those sensationalized accounts and posted my own here. I was going off of a Gizmodo post and the story I linked to in my original post:

'The poor guy got a new computer on the quick from Apple, but still. I hope they get this fixed http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=1437672'

Looks like it wasn't such a big deal, nor was Apple necessarily to blame.

I hate cats :-)

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Pictures of Torched MacBook Power Connector Blurred on Flickrwiredblogs.tripod.comFri Mar 1715Comments
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{"commentId":65084,"authorDomain":"tang"}
Calvin Tang

Please revise the headline and post to reflect the fact that the person whose MacBook was damaged was the one who pulled the photos, not flickr.

{"commentId":65084,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"tang"}
    Reply#1 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 4:32 PM EST
    {"commentId":65115,"authorDomain":"nk126"}
    nk126

    Calvin -- According to the article I cited, the photos were pulled at Apple's request:

    "The Dutch MacNed website has copies of the controversial pictures of a MagSafe power connector that were removed from Flickr on Thursday at the request of Apple. "

    {"commentId":65115,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"nk126"}
      Reply#2 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 4:52 PM EST
      {"commentId":65122,"authorDomain":"nk126"}
      nk126

      Okay, now I found this ... Apparently Apple asked the man to request that Flickr pull the pics:

      "Adding insult to injury, soon thereafter Apple contacted Mulder and asked that the pictures be removed, and he meekly complied." -- gizmodo.com

      {"commentId":65122,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"nk126"}
        Reply#3 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 4:56 PM EST
        {"commentId":65123,"authorDomain":"sebastiaan"}
        Sebastiaan

        Nope,

        He was asked to remove the pictures while the company investigates.

        On Flickr he even states that he took them down himself: Flickr set

        {"commentId":65123,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"sebastiaan"}
          Reply#4 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 4:57 PM EST
          {"commentId":65134,"authorDomain":"nk126"}
          nk126

          You're right ... thanks, Sebastiaan & Calvin ... I edited my post. Well done ;-)

          {"commentId":65134,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"nk126"}
          • 1 vote
          Reply#5 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:05 PM EST
          {"commentId":65153,"authorDomain":"somefool"}
          MatthewM
          and he meekly complied

          jeez, is that what passes for journalism nowadays?

          {"commentId":65153,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"somefool"}
            Reply#6 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:21 PM EST
            {"commentId":65163,"authorDomain":"tang"}
            Calvin Tang

            Thank you nk126.

            {"commentId":65163,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"tang"}
              Reply#7 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:31 PM EST
              {"commentId":65170,"authorDomain":"nk126"}
              nk126

              it's what passes for a wise-ass styled gadget blog, anyway ... a style i personally like ... and i don't mind the inciting of people not to put up with poorly manufactured goods. a $2,000 laptop shouldn't burst into flames after a few weeks of regular use.

              so personally i wish the guy had left the pictures up and not pulled them because apple said so. and i like the fact that the story is spreading around so people know what happened. but i also totally respect his saying "i pulled the pics, no big deal, it's not censorship" -- and so i edited my original posts as suggested by other commenters.

              MatthewM writes:

              and he meekly complied
              jeez, is that what passes for journalism nowadays?

              {"commentId":65170,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"nk126"}
                Reply#8 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:40 PM EST
                {"commentId":65328,"authorDomain":"somefool"}
                MatthewM

                I quite like gizmodo, but thats just plain wrong, he never 'meekly complied' he decided to agree. Its hardly meek if they replace the laptop.

                {"commentId":65328,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"somefool"}
                  Reply#9 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:53 PM EST
                  {"commentId":65480,"authorDomain":"brianford"}
                  Brian Ford
                  so personally i wish the guy had left the pictures up and not pulled them because apple said so.

                  You're still reporting this story wrong. They guy did not remove the pictures because "Apple said so." He removed the pictures because he was pleased with Apple's technical response time and agreed that it wasn't necesssary to contribute to negative publicity for Apple by continuing to post pictures of an event that might not have been caused by the hardware at all. There is speculation that his cats (or cat) peed on the MagSafe connection. (The pictures appear to have cat spray residue on the connector.)

                  Further, I've read nothing at all that suggests that anything "burst into flames." It's obvious that it melted but... still... not the same thing.

                  This really is a non-story that is being jumped on by those who just like to stir up the pot. Especially when apple is involved.

                  The real story: Apple customer involved in isolated incident with MacBook Pro is contacted by Apple and the situation is resolved. The customer is quoted as being extremely pleased with Apple's response. Customer agrees to remove pictures so that Apple can investigate the incident without a PR flap. The customer was not threatened with legal action of any kind or forced to remove said pictures. He was given a new laptop. (Even though he may be responsible for the damage.

                  From the flickr account of the customer in question:

                  I am sorry if you do not see the image(s) you might have expected to see.

                  The reason for this is that Apple, after dealing with this issue, kindly requested me to remove the pictures at least until their engineers had a change to investigate this issue. Since Apple support has been very helpful and already is getting me a new Macbook asap, I'm happy to answer their request.

                  For those whose immediate reaction is along the lines of 'censorship' and other big words: I don't care.

                  I've got a molehill... anyone want to make a mountain?

                  ;)

                  {"commentId":65480,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"brianford"}
                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#10 - Fri Mar 17, 2006 9:32 PM EST
                  {"commentId":65723,"authorDomain":"nk126"}
                  nk126

                  Brian, et al ... Edited the story again. Now I blame cats. They pee everywhere. At least dogs are fun and jump around and stuff. Cats just hiss and scratch and pee. Dang cats.

                  Thanks for the corrections ... Cheers

                  {"commentId":65723,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"nk126"}
                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#11 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:26 AM EST
                  {"commentId":65724,"authorDomain":"brant"}
                  mr on-one

                  >Apple can investigate the incident without a PR flap.

                  What about a cat-flap? Is that involved?

                  {"commentId":65724,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"brant"}
                    Reply#12 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:29 AM EST
                    {"commentId":65942,"authorDomain":"brianford"}
                    Brian Ford

                    Thanks.

                    I'm also tired of people bagging on Newsvine because stuff like this makes me happy.

                    {"commentId":65942,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"brianford"}
                    • 1 vote
                    Reply#13 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:37 AM EST
                    {"commentId":66059,"authorDomain":"nk126"}
                    nk126

                    Who's bagging on Newsvine, and why?

                    As a guy who's been doing small time freelance journalism for awhile now, something like this makes me see how the quick flow of information around the web makes it so easy to spread a story, hype a story, and now correct a story. Which is very cool.

                    {"commentId":66059,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"nk126"}
                      Reply#14 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:15 PM EST
                      {"commentId":66225,"authorDomain":"brianford"}
                      Brian Ford

                      I wasn't insinuating that "you" were, I apologize if you got that impression. If you search for the tag "newsvine" you'll notice that a vocal minority seem to feel as though Conservative voices are suppressed and that newsvine is problematic.

                      I disagree with their sentiments, and thought that this was a great example of newsvine working.

                      {"commentId":66225,"threadId":"17078","contentId":"137357","authorDomain":"brianford"}
                      • 1 vote
                      Reply#15 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:24 PM EST
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