Apple, Irony, and Thieves

Posted by Laura Bergells

October 23, 2007

Theft and the Apple Brand. Why is it that when I think of Apple, I think of theft?

Last month, a guy at the gym asked me a riddle:

Q: “What’s the most popular thing kids do with iPods and iPhones?”

A: “Steal them. Or steal music with them.”

And now Seth Godin points us to a blog post about Apple firing their thieving employees right before the holidays.

This was the way the post looked when I read it:

Note: By using a photo with the iStockPhoto watermark still posted on it, I couldn’t tell if the blog was satirical.

There were over 30 comments at the site when I took the screenshot, and none of the commenters mentioned the irony of using the stolen photo, either. So I wrote the ARS Technica using their contact form, and asked if they meant to be ironic.

They didn’t respond to me, but a few minutes later, the stolen photo was removed from the site.

I guess they weren’t being ironic. Apparently, the post is in a popular channel — for Apple fans.

So why didn’t the commenting Apple fans notice the rather obvious watermark?

Apple culture is helping to foster an era of “ethical” stealing. Apple makes products that are easy to steal. And iPods and iPhones make music and images easy to steal, too. Those raised in the Apple culture are encouraged to cultivate a bad-boy image.

So when Apple egregiously overcharged for its iPhone, it’s easy to see how their employees might think of themselves as Robin Hood, righting a wrong. In their minds, stealing from a huge corporation was the right thing to do. Heck, it even seems like an Apple thing to do. It’s baaaaad!

But is theft really an image problem for Apple? Apple has long since abandoned the promise of 1984. So does Apple now get to put on a big, bad corporate hat and decide what kind of stealing is “ethical” — and what kind isn’t? In the new Apple world view, would stealing an iPod from a gym locker be wrong? After all, this kind of stealing boosts replacement sales for the corporation, so it might be good. Is stealing music wrong — if it encourages more iPod and iPhone sales?

But stealing from Apple the Corporation — that’s really, really, super wrong — right? And if it’s super wrong, isn’t stealing the right thing for an Apple employee to do?
Now I’m really confused: Is my screenshot of a stolen photo in a blog post what the hip-hop artists might call “sampling”? Or am I a thief?

Who do I owe a royalty to? The ARS Technica People? Or the iStockPhoto people? And how much?

The ethical lines in Apple Land are sooooo blurry!