Apple doesn't just loan review units to anyone who asks. No, you have to be pretty high up on the tech journalism foodchain in order to be entrusted with review gear from Apple (you will note that TUAW does not receive any review units from our favorite fruit company). Steven Levy is decidedly amongst those who have no problems getting their hands on Apple's latest, with lots of help from the company itself (he was one of the 4 journalists who got an iPhone ahead of everyone else). Therefore, it is not surprising that Levy would have a MacBook Air on loan from Apple, but it is surprising what happened to said loaner MacBook Air.
All was well with the MacBook Air, until Levy experienced a panic that anyone borrowing something from a huge multinational corporation never wants to feel: he couldn't find the darned thing. He feverishly traced his whereabouts and quickly ruled out thievery (he still had the powercord, so that didn't seem likely). Finally, he hit upon a theory: the MacBook Air was accidentally tossed out with the Sunday paper (if you read the Sunday New York Times you know that it often weighs in at much more than the MacBook Air's 3 pounds). One wonders if he was using one of the many Manilla envelope cases for his MacBook Air.
Luckily for Steven, Newsweek will be footing the $1800 bill for the MacBook Air, but chances are should the same thing happen to you, you won't be so fortunate. Make sure to keep an eye on that tiny laptop from Apple, there is no telling where it might end up!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-11-2008 @ 7:56AM
adrenalin said...
If you are that stupid to toss out a MBA without realizing it, then in no way should you ever be in possession of one. You would think the person would notice something like that.
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3-11-2008 @ 8:11AM
Ed said...
He's trying to blame it on his wife
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3-11-2008 @ 8:22AM
jethro said...
It will be a nice day for the trash man that goes through his wares, or the guy who is making minimum wage to sort through recycling.
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3-11-2008 @ 8:24AM
Raghu said...
If there is a compactor like Levy said in his article, I don't think there is much any one will be picking out other than a crumpled piece of aluminum.
3-11-2008 @ 10:09AM
JKT said...
If you bother to read the article, the newspaper WAS placed in a recycling bin.
3-11-2008 @ 8:30AM
Fraser JK said...
Huh, what the? How stupid can you be? Did he auction it?
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3-11-2008 @ 9:31AM
Caitlin said...
I'm loving all of these MacBook Air stories. The airport, and now this. What's next?
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3-11-2008 @ 9:32AM
Rich said...
That's not very good sustainable practice. Shame shame.
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3-11-2008 @ 9:38AM
Tony said...
Doesn't he recycle? Wouldn't it have just been in the bin?
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3-11-2008 @ 10:20AM
Tom Castle said...
Good to know so many smart readers here have never lost anything.
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3-11-2008 @ 10:27AM
Peter said...
Tom - Yeah I've lost things, but never a computer.
3-11-2008 @ 10:42AM
K said...
"(he was one of the 4 journalists who get an iPhone ahead of everyone else)"
Past tense does not include "get". No offense, but if you're going to want review units, you need to pick up your game ;)
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3-12-2008 @ 12:28PM
david said...
from steve levy's article about the air he was given- because he has such impeccable grammar and his game is stepped up to the highest level; "True, Apple's new superslim laptop isn't transparent, and while its dimensions are anorexic (a profile ranging from 0.76 inches to 0.16 inches), we're not really talking about a dust mote here."
dust motes ARE pretty hard to find, i'll tell you that. and i work at a cleaning company! (really, i do) i get all the new mop heads before the public ever gets to see them. i should start a mop blog.
3-11-2008 @ 11:14AM
AlphaTeam said...
That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
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3-11-2008 @ 11:17AM
AlphaTeam said...
Also if you actually read the sunday Times, it wouldn't be so easy to have a computer in there and not slip out.
And just 'cause you have the power cord does not rule out theft. The cord is $80. The computer is $1800. The SuperDrive is $100. $180 plus a downloaded copy of Leopard means you wipe the drive clean and new computer it is!
3-11-2008 @ 11:19AM
crsh said...
Human stupidity at its best; not because he lost the damn thing, but because he felt it's content for an actual article and a great case for the MBA.
Instead of footing the bill, his employer should deduct it from his paycheck.
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3-11-2008 @ 11:43AM
QuakerProf said...
Ok... so Apple touts this thing as being oh-so-light and oh-so-unobtrusive, and then a guy with good enough connections to Apple to get a preview iPhone unit "accidentally" throws it out with the newspaper?
This strikes me as a very clever marketing decision by Apple. The humorous nature of the news, the anybody-could-do-it quality of it... that ensures that it will spread by blog and word of mouth. Very nice.
3-11-2008 @ 2:40PM
Goran said...
Two words:
Paper Shredder.
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3-11-2008 @ 3:33PM
badtzmaru said...
Hmmmm whereabouts does this guy live? I feel like dumpster/recyle bin diving :)
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3-11-2008 @ 6:58PM
Philip from Australia said...
A work mate threw out a palm pilot under very similar circumstances (it was tossed with a pile of letters and such from his desk). So I believe it.
On the other hand, do I want a computer that is that easy to loose in a paper pile? The Palm was back in my Newton days. They were bigger and harder to confuse for 'papers'.
:)
Philip from Australia.
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