Apple released the iPhone 3G S on Friday (here’s our review), and the world is much better off because of it. What didn’t sit well with me is this CNBC segment that aired on Friday. It shows a several people clamoring over the device, saying how great it is, why they want it, etc. But fast-forward to 1:03 and you’ll see Prime Time Sam Roberts from the Opie and Anthony show. Here’s where the trouble starts.
In the CNBC-aired version of the interview, embedded here, Mr. Roberts is portrayed as someone who’s gushing over the iPhone 3G S—“BlackBerry is yesterday, the iPhone is now!”
Only that’s now what he said at all.
The entire interview aired live on the Opie and Anthony show on Friday. (Anthony had sent an intern, whom Mr. Roberts accompanied, to the Fifth Avenue Apple Store to buy an iPhone first thing in the morning. The intern was unsuccessful, as he usually is.) This is the audio, as aired on Special Delivery with Sam and Dave on Saturday night (you can also download the audio here):
[audio:https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/cnbc.mp3]
Never mind that the CNBC reporter gets her facts completely wrong (“But BlackBerry is coming out with their touchscreen pretty soon…” Yeah, it’s out already. It’s called the Storm. It stinks, but it’s available, and has been for several months now.), but that Mr. Roberts is portrayed as being just another rabid iPhone 3G S fan is disingenuous at best, dishonest at worst. He obviously alludes to the fact that MMS won’t work right out of the box (“picture messaging, soon”); that AT&T service in New York is atrocious (switching from the BlackBerry to the iPhone because he’s “tired of all [his] calls going through”); mocks the Apple-consumer culture (“hopefully we’ll spend $500 to $700 today… on just Apple products”). And so on.
Now, if you’re just a regular CNBC viewer, you’d be under the impression that Mr. Roberts is nothing but a wooly-haired iPhone 3G S mark. I think it’s safe to say that’s not accurate.
Does any of this matter in the grand scheme of things? Of course not. But if CNBC is editing Mr. Roberts’ interview to fit some sort of pre-determined angle (“go interview crazy iPhone fans”), then it does make you wonder what other type of creative editing is going on over there.