“iPhone Prices to Drop,” Somebody Says

We make no bones in this space about how Internet users, overwhelmed with a surfeit of content and opinion, need to be very careful which information they choose to accept, believe and share or pass on.

Here is a current example. Fortune magazine reported Tuesday at 5:23 p.m., beneath a headline that indicates certainty (AT&T to Cut the Price of Apple’s new iPhone) that on or around the one-year anniversary of the iPhone’s debut in late June, the price will drop to almost half. The story is attributed to “a person familiar with the strategy.”

The Fortune story made little sense and left much to be desired (like even a single detail of said “strategy”). I wondered if the reporter had questioned the “person familiar with the strategy” or merely served as a stenographer for the “news” that person provided. But it was dutifully picked up by technology bloggers without, apparently, much interest beyond another easy post. This one even says that Fortune "pseudo-confirmed" that the new iPhones will have GPS. Pseudo-confirmed? Doesn't that mean NOT confirmed?

By 7:59 p.m. some reason began to take hold. Saul Hansell, in The New York Times Bits blog, begins to ask obvious questions about what is nothing more, at this point, than a "pseudo-confirmed" rumor made by an unnamed source. “Fortune wrote that AT&T will offer the subsidy to people who buy the phones in its stores,” Hansell writes. “I can’t imagine that Apple would want to sell iPhones for even a dime more in its stores than other stores.” Duh.

This reminds me of media reliance on polls. Have many times have you heard a network talking head run off some poll figures -- "Obama down among children 9-12" -- while making the disclaimer, "polls aren't always right?"

So why use them? Being first, even if you don’t know what you’re talking about, might be nice. Asking obvious questions and being right is much nicer.