Normalkid:Arnold Kim

I was wrong. Or, I guess, my conclusion was wrong in Final Verdict: Keyboard Fake. iPod UI Real.

The prototype keyboard photos that were posted to Chinese forum were real.

It really is a significant event that will make the rumor-mill a bit more exciting. For the first time, Apple has let photos of a pre-release product be widely distributed, and not take any efforts to suppress their distribution. Good or bad, this is going to make future “spy shots” harder to assess.

Whether or not the iPod UI will be a shipping product remains to be seen, but I think we’ll see the iPod UI shortly.

Gizmodo posted and then retracted a rumor that they posted from someone who emailed them and purported to be from a Google Product Marketing Manager.

Engadget goes on to “debunk” this rumor, making a big deal about it.

Gizmodo even goes so far as to say that this is the reason why you should “Never ever trust rumors.” I’ll counter and say, this is why you should never ever trust rumors from sites that don’t regularly deal in Apple rumors. Now I think Gizmodo and Engadget do a great job in general, but they’ve never been a reliable source of original Apple rumors.

It’s no shock to me that someone submitted fake rumors to a popular gadget site. Submitting fake Apple rumors has been a long time sport. MacRumors gets fake submissions on a daily basis. If we posted every submission that sounded at all plausible, we would lose a lot of respect from our regulars.

A couple of supposed Apple leaks have been distributed over the net over the past week. Rightfully so, each time people question the authenticity of the images that are “leaked”.

In the first instance, some iPod user interface videos were leaked (and later pulled)

In the second, photos of a keyboard purporting to be an unreleased slim iMac keyboard was revealed (and never pulled).

With any supposed image leak, many self-proclaimed experts come out of the woodwork dissecting the images and video with “proof” about why said image is real or fake. For the record, in these instances, the general initial response leaned towards the iPod UI videos being fake (not designed by Apple) and the Keyboard being real (designed by Apple).

This general impression continued despite Apple’s Legal involvement with the iPod UI interface videos, and a notable lack of intervention with the iMac Keyboard photo.

In reading through comments across the web, there were some common claims. I’ve taken samples of these and quoted them here:

1. “Apple were probably the ones that requested this fake news be taken off the website” – GreenAlien

2. “Folks, Apple Legal always gets involved” – tobsterius

3. “…though it should be noted that Apple Legal has previously sought to squelch rumors of products that never materialized. The failed attempt to sue sources from the supposed “Asteroid” breakout box for GarageBand comes to mind.” – Charles Jade/Ars Technica

If you read on, I’ll show that, historically…

1) Apple Legal never gets involved for Images/Video of Fake Products
2) Apple Legal always gets involved for Images/Video Real Products
3) Apple Legal never asked Asteroid information to be pulled

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