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Shadowing practice: Real Thoughts on Tech Leaks!

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  1. The day was March 18th, 2010 and Apple engineer goes out to the bar on his birthday with an unreleased iPhone 4 in his pocket.0:03
  2. Three months before we're supposed to come out.0:13
  3. Now this isn't actually unusual, you know, in the final months leading up to a launch they've got to do their testing and finalizing things in the real world sometimes0:14
  4. to iron out any bugs and find any last second fixes.0:21
  5. So he's probably using it, maybe even as a daily, but it's in a case that actually disguises it as an iPhone 3GS.0:25
  6. Now unfortunately, maybe too many drinks, maybe a bit distracted on his birthday, he forgets that phone at the bar and leaves without it.0:32
  7. From there, somebody else picks it up, realizes it's a top secret unreleased iPhone 4, not a 3GS, so that person tries to return it to Apple who actually refuses0:40
  8. it because the customer's service rep doesn't believe that anyone would have an iPhone 4 to return, must be a knockoff or something.0:50
  9. From there, that person realizes what they have, so they go to sell this unreleased iPhone to try to get some money for it, and it's bought by Gizmodo.0:56
  10. At this point, Apple's realized the phone is missing, they've remotely wiped it, but Gizmodo goes on to publish a hands -on, which as you can imagine went absolutely nuts1:07
  11. because not only is this an unreleased iPhone in the flesh, but it's also now stolen property.1:17
  12. So Gizmodo details all the new features and takes tons of pictures, tears it apart, compares it to old iPhones, and basically details everything Apple's been working on three months1:23
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  1. before Apple is planning on showing it themselves.1:34
  2. Now Apple, meanwhile, is trying everything in their power to get this phone back, they send letters from lawyers, Steve Jobs calls the Gizmodo executive editor, and eventually, a few1:37
  3. days later, California police raid Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's home and seize four computers, two servers, three hard drives, and other gadgets while he was out to dinner.1:48
  4. They broke down his front door.1:59
  5. So the iPhone 4 was eventually unveiled on stage like three months later in June, and that was kind of the end of that messy story, but the point is2:01
  6. that was one of the biggest tech leaks of all time.2:11
  7. It had everything, it had stolen property, it had tear downs, it had pre -released top secret hardware, all that.2:14
  8. But the thing that really made it such a big leak wasn't just the fact that we got this aesthetic stuff early, it was really the industry secret, they tore2:21
  9. down the phone, they showed unreleased parts inside the phone to the entire world including Apple's competitors, and that's the type of leaks that really hurt companies like Apple the2:28
  10. most.2:38
  11. And a lot of the serious leaks we see nowadays are like supply chain related, there'll be such a big company that there's no way they can lock down every2:39
  12. single little bit of their supply chain and that's where little squeaks of leaks will get out.2:48
  13. Like just a couple months ago we heard about hackers targeting not Apple, but one of their suppliers and claiming to have stolen blueprints of future Apple products that they2:52
  14. would publish unless they got $50 million of ransom.3:01
  15. But the thing is, leak culture, if you want to call it that, has evolved a lot.3:04
  16. Like there's of course lots of that serious stuff still going on and lots of reporting on that serious stuff, but also leaks have sort of turned into this version3:10
  17. of casual entertainment as well to the point where the iPhone 14 was trending on Twitter last week before we even have seen the iPhone 13.3:21
  18. So yeah, I figured this would be the perfect time to share my thoughts on leaks and leak culture.3:33
  19. So my personal philosophy, the way I've seen leaks in tech over the years is kind of two types of leaks.3:38
  20. One, the serious type that we've illustrated with the first example and those that get reported a lot with industry secrets and competitive advantage at stake.3:44
  21. And the other is a more casual, not super important, mostly aesthetic and generally for entertainment.3:54
  22. And I pay attention of course to the first type of leak, but that second type is usually not always worth paying a whole lot of attention to or at4:02
  23. least expending a lot of energy keeping up with.4:10
  24. Like for example, today on the internet, there's plenty of places you can go to just follow leaks for entertainment.4:13
  25. There are YouTube channels you can subscribe to.4:18
  26. There's people you can follow on Twitter for constant leaks where that's all they do.4:20
  27. There's even sites dedicated to it.4:24
  28. And then also sort of accompanying it, there's also a whole genre of artists who will make incredible CG renders of gadgets based on the leaks to help us visualize4:26
  29. what the future gadgets could look like.4:36
  30. But some of these leaks, like I said, not really worth paying a whole lot of attention to, I would say like an example, I think there was a John4:39
  31. Proser leak probably a couple months ago where I think he confirmed, he leaked the exact date and time that a product announcement would happen or that an embargo would4:47
  32. drop or something like that.4:58
  33. And then hours later, it was right, it was confirmed.5:00
  34. And you know, shout out to John, much props to him, funny guy, great channel, but I don't care.5:02
  35. I just don't care.5:10
  36. That's the type of stuff that's like, tear -release for entertainment and has almost no effect on people who aren't following it hardcore.5:11
  37. And I just feel like there's little entertainment leaks like this all the time, confirming that a product isn't canceled or a leak confirming a product's name or the leak5:18
  38. of an announcement date or stuff like that.5:28
  39. Leaks that are just confirming the existence of products being developed.5:30
  40. And so of course, you know, naturally all those little bits of information that leak out can and will be turned into content because that's what we do.5:34
  41. But generally I think it's safe to ignore or at least pay a passing attention to a lot of that stuff.5:43
  42. But most of the leaks now that you'll see that are actually really entertaining are completely aesthetic, all visual.5:49
  43. Just because the question of how will the product look turns out to be one of the most important things that people wonder about an upcoming future product.5:58
  44. Now I could talk, I could talk for hours about how there are companies out there who definitely intentionally leak products and or just intentionally leak little things because if6:07
  45. you were a company who saw all this hype being generated about products, of course you want to get in on it, assert some level of control over the narrative6:17
  46. and jump in and generate even more hype for your own benefit.6:24
  47. So I get that.6:27
  48. You also see the one pluses of the world where their literal pre -launch strategy before dropping a new flagship phone is once every few days, release a new little6:28
  49. nugget of information for the nerds, you know, hey, this is the processor we're going to be using or this is how fast the phone is going to charge confirmed6:37
  50. or hey, this is how much RAM the thing will have.6:44
  51. It's kind of annoying, but it's actually very smart because people pay attention to that thing.6:47
  52. People care about each one of these things.6:51
  53. So the slow drip of information acts the same way a leak would in that it generates hype.6:53
  54. It gets people talking about it.7:00
  55. The press keeps going, but really at the end of the day, what most people want to see when the product does finally get to the announcement date, what they7:02
  56. want to see unveiled is the design, the features and the price just to keep it simple.7:08
  57. And since the price is like the last thing to get finalized and probably the hardest thing to leak and get right, we all focus on the aesthetics.7:14
  58. We just want to know the design, how it's going to look, what the choices were made in that outside.7:22
  59. And so the iPhone 14 trending on Twitter was mostly from a John Prostler video on some claimed leaks and some renders of that phone that's still over a year7:26
  60. away.7:36
  61. All aesthetic, like they claim the iPhone 14 may look a lot like the iPhone four, you know, round volume buttons, whole punch camera cut out at the top to7:36
  62. full flat glass and chamfers with the new antenna placement, flat camera bump on the back, still a lightning port at the bottom.7:46
  63. Like this is 100 % aesthetics.7:54
  64. This is just speculating on how the thing will look and there's almost no actual technical speculation about features or anything like that, mostly because there's a whole year before7:56
  65. the thing's supposed to come out.8:06
  66. It's probably not finalized anyway.8:07
  67. And there's a whole year of hype to be generated before anything can be proven wrong.8:09
  68. So it's entertaining, fun speculation for sure.8:14
  69. That is definitely entertainment value.8:17
  70. But I think the real question at the end of the day for you guys would be, do leaks ruin launch events?8:20
  71. Does following the leaks and a little bit of information that comes out before the launch event ruin the fun or the surprise of the actual launch moment?8:27
  72. And my answer might not be exactly what you're expecting.8:38
  73. It might be a little bit cynical, but I do think that leaks or following them takes a little bit of the air out of that like big surprise moment.8:41
  74. But those announcements are just more of the hype anyway.8:50
  75. Like, OK, it turns out there are many, many people out there that don't follow the leaks at all.8:56
  76. They don't read any articles or watch any videos or think about the new phone at all before the announcement.9:02
  77. And so that announcement event is a genuinely new thing and a surprise to them.9:08
  78. And that's that's almost like a sweet level of innocence that I kind of miss a little bit, to be honest.9:12
  79. But also, there's some of those people out there that are probably buying like fresh, brand new iPhone 12s right now as the iPhone 13 is about to come out.9:19
  80. So maybe if you have a friend like that, let them know.9:27
  81. Just warn them.9:29
  82. Maybe you shouldn't make that purchase right now.9:30
  83. But if you are one of those people, sure, the announcement event will be way more fun for you because everything there will be brand new and surprising and shock9:32
  84. and awe sweet.9:41
  85. But just know that that announcement event isn't just a spec roll out.9:43
  86. That's a presentation like it's a whole show.9:50
  87. It's a high budget, highly refined and planned presentation designed to show off and get you to want to buy the new product that they've been working on that they're9:53
  88. finally unveiling.10:02
  89. Now, on the other hand, if you do follow every single leak, like a lot of us do, then it almost feels like the announcement is a guaranteed let down10:03
  90. because now you've been building this hype up for much, much longer behind the scenes.10:11
  91. And then the announcement happens and it's either not what the leaks suggested, which is a bit of a let down, or it's exactly what the leaks suggested, which is10:15
  92. a bit of a let down because there were no surprises.10:26
  93. And so that's just setting yourself up for disappointment.10:29
  94. So anyway, I think my point is it's basically impossible to generate the correct level of hype.10:32
  95. It's probably going to be overhyped no matter how much leak following or announcement hype that happens.10:39
  96. It's just it's just all a big show and it's fun and it's entertaining.10:45
  97. But I think this leak culture is clearly here to stay.10:49
  98. This entertainment, it's a new dimension of being able to follow what looks like these companies duking it out and fighting each other in front of us, which is sort10:53
  99. of a rich new thing to feel like you're a part of people pick teams and they see leaks and they can switch and it's just a it's just a11:03
  100. new fun little thing.11:10
  101. So yeah, it's entertainment, definitely entertaining.11:11
  102. But I think as long as we all know that these leaks or this entertainment is is just that it's just entertainment, these little bits of information are just to11:13
  103. feel like we have a little bit more information and it's just kind of fun to follow and that it also feeds into the consumerism that it's all a part11:22
  104. of.11:29
  105. Then that's fine.11:30
  106. Have your fun.11:31
  107. Have our entertainment.11:32
  108. I'll catch you on the other side, though, when the product actually comes out.11:34
  109. That's my side.11:38
  110. Anyway, thanks for watching.11:39
  111. Catch you in the next one.11:42
  112. Peace.11:43

A 194 Word a Minute American Commentary: Good English Speaking Practice for B2 Listeners

This clip is Marques Brownlee narrating one of the most famous tech leaks in Apple's history: the iPhone 4 an engineer left behind at a bar in 2010. A single speaker carries the whole story with no cuts, so this is solid english speaking practice for locking onto one voice and one register instead of jumping between speakers.

The recording runs at 194 words per minute, faster than more than half of the catalogue, and no reduced forms were measured in it, so what you hear is a clear, quick American accent rather than a string of slurred contractions. It sits at B2: dense, story shaped sentences built from everyday vocabulary, with a handful of harder words such as unveiled, finalized and speculating dropped into the narration.

The Language in This iPhone Leak Story: Long Sentences and Storytelling Connectors

Brownlee tells this whole story as one continuous account, and the sentences reflect that. He stacks clauses with commas instead of stopping, which is exactly what makes the clip demanding to repeat out loud and worth practising for.

  • "The day was March 18th, 2010 and Apple engineer goes out to the bar on his birthday with an unreleased iPhone 4 in his pocket." One breath carries a date, a place and a plot point. Say it as one unit, not three.
  • "days later, California police raid Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's home and seize four computers, two servers, three hard drives, and other gadgets while he was out to dinner." A list of objects buried inside a longer sentence. The stress falls on the nouns, not on "and", so let the list items land heavier than the connectors.
  • "They broke down his front door." After two long, list heavy lines, this one is four words. Notice how much weight a short sentence carries right after a long one, and match that drop in pace when you repeat it.

How to Work Through This Clip: A Line by Line Order for English Shadowing Practice at B2

Work forward through the story rather than jumping around. The lines above are the opening act, so start there before the leak itself unfolds.

  • Shadow this line first: "The day was March 18th, 2010 and Apple engineer goes out to the bar on his birthday with an unreleased iPhone 4 in his pocket." Get the date and the setup out cleanly before adding speed.
  • Move to line 6, "Now unfortunately, maybe too many drinks, maybe a bit distracted on his birthday, he forgets that phone at the bar and leaves without it," and repeat it until the three reasons stacked with "maybe" come out evenly spaced.
  • Take line 15 on its own, the raid sentence with four computers, two servers and three hard drives. Say the list slowly once, then bring it back up to Brownlee's pace.
  • Follow it immediately with line 16, "They broke down his front door," and practise the contrast: long sentence, then a short, flat one. That contrast is the rhythm of this whole clip.
  • Once lines 1, 6, 15 and 16 feel natural back to back, run the full opening section straight through without pausing, matching the storyteller's pace instead of your own.
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