Former Gizmodo writer praises Jobs grace

Former Gizmodo editor and now Wirecutter founder Brian Lam revealed Wednesday evening that the late Steve Jobs had been kind even at the height of the incident surrounding the escaped iPhone 4 prototype. Recalling the conversation after the initial story, he noted that Steve just said he "really want[ed] my phone back" and emphasized that he wasn't mad at the news outlet. While he clearly got upset after the site refused to give the iPhone back without a formal letter, Jobs delicately ended a following call, telling Lam "you're just doing your job."

Jobs' constant desire to succeed and produce the best product possible even saw him ask for feedback from Lam on the look of the iPhone 4 prototype. "What do you think of it?" the CEO asked.

Lam himself expressed some regret that may have reached Jobs before his death. While he had no regrets about posting the initial leak, he wished sometime afterwards that his outlet had returned the iPhone prototype without questions.

"I probably would have given the phone back without asking for the letter," Lam explained. "And I would have done the story about the engineer who lost it with more compassion and without naming him. Steve said we'd had our fun and we had the first story but we were being greedy. And he was right. We were. It was sore winning. And we were also being short sighted. And, sometimes, I wish we never found that phone at all."

Lam e-mailed Jobs about three weeks before the Apple creator's death apologizing and saying he should have even considered quitting shortly afterwards. While no direct response came, a very close contact of Jobs' had said that the CEO considered it "all water under the bridge." The message and news provided a sense of peace.

By Electronista Staff