The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Otm Shank on November 16, 2023, 02:32:38 AM
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Upon getting The Price is Right gig, Drew Carey got the staff iPhones. Which model? It was "The" iPhone, as in there was no reason to number them because a month previous to that there was no such thing as an iPhone.
So Roger Dobkowitz had no need for it, so he never used it. And now he put it up for auction. Sealed in the original box with a story of provenance.
How much did he get for it? ..... yodelee-de-do-de-ah oh-weah la-da-doo-deeah, la-da-doo-deeah.....
https://www.bonhams.com/auction/29359/lot/76/apple-iphone-1-sealed-in-original-box-with-fantastic-provenance-apple-iphone-1-8gb-smartphone-2007-sealed-in-original-box-since-its-production-144-x-88-x-68-mm-5-58-x-3-12-x-2-1116-inches/
I would have linked to the story that I originally saw it in, but since they shifted between Dobkowitz and Dubkowitz, I decided not to. (Everything was essentially copied from the auction listing with no additional reporting anyway.)
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I've never seen anyone else (in the game show fandom, anyway) fall in status from "beloved icon" to "despicable ingrate" as far and as quickly as Roger has.
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Someone said this further proves how adverse to technology Roger was, but I digress...
By no means is he obligated to accept the gift, and I dunno whether Drew was aware Roger kept the phone sealed for 16 years. But the original iPhone was about $500. If I give you something that expensive and I find out you're keeping it sealed and then sell it, I'd be a little insulted. Of course we don't know their relationship at the time, but it does feel like sour grapes on Roger's part, knowing what we do know.
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If I give you something that expensive and I find out you're keeping it sealed and then sell it, I'd be a little insulted.
Why should you be insulted? The recipient should be able to do anything they want with it…Keep it, destroy it, sell it, etc…
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If I give you something that expensive and I find out you're keeping it sealed and then sell it, I'd be a little insulted.
Why should you be insulted? The recipient should be able to do anything they want with it…Keep it, destroy it, sell it, etc…
You left out the parts where I said a) Roger wasn't obligated to keep the phone, and b) Drew paid $500.
But to answer your question, I just always felt doing something like that is poor form. You keep it for a while then resell, fine. But to me this is like re-gifting, which is also frowned upon - or at the very least considered awkward - by most people.
It's also no secret the two didn't have the greatest professional relationship, which I also alluded to earlier.
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But to answer your question, I just always felt doing something like that is poor form. You keep it for a while then resell, fine. But to me this is like re-gifting, which is also frowned upon - or at the very least considered awkward - by most people.
See I find it more awkward that Roger kept it rather than re-gifting it. I'm not accusing him of autograph hound-level behavior, but no one in his life would've enjoyed a smart phone?
Considering Drew showed during the strike that he's just Like That and that the origin story of the iPhone is (imo) on par with a new quarterback buying his linemen Rolexes, I don't think we need to feel angry on anyone's behalf.
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Someone said this further proves how adverse to technology Roger was, but I digress...
I, for one, welcome Roger's resistance to our new robot overlords.
I dunno whether Drew was aware Roger kept the phone sealed for 16 years.
It sounds as if Roger wasn't aware he kept the phone sealed for 16 years.
But the original iPhone was about $500. If I give you something that expensive and I find out you're keeping it sealed and then sell it, I'd be a little insulted.
Collectors be collectors, and Steve Jobs bred some of the best for his products. I suppose the reason somebody would fork over the cash for this is the same reason some of us around here fork over cash for old game show props on eBay: People consider it worth that much to oneself (Would an iPhone 1 even work today?), and again, it doesn't read to me that Roger was hanging onto this hoping to score big bucks someday. It sounds like he threw it in a drawer and forgot about it until he found it again and realized it was worth something (though why he would make a point of saying he moved it from a drawer to a safe is the one part that does scream poor form, I suppose, if you're against holding onto unopened gifts and selling them at a profit on the collectors market. The length of time it lived in a safe after living in a drawer is a length of time which we do not know to be days, months or years or whatever).
I applaud him. What's that old saying about one person's trash and another person's treasure?
Also, in other news, the Plinko sign just sold at auction for 770 bucks more than Roger's iPhone (https://www.golden-road.net/index.php/topic,34116.msg504492.html#msg504492). Makes me wonder if Roger just bought himself the memorabilia of the century for a mere $770.
/Meanwhile, I use a rotary phone at home, which I have made made fully functional through a dumbphone using Bluetooth. Visitors get a real kick out of it.
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If I give you something that expensive and I find out you're keeping it sealed and then sell it, I'd be a little insulted.
Why should you be insulted? The recipient should be able to do anything they want with it…Keep it, destroy it, sell it, etc…
I’m not buying you something out of the kindness of my heart just so you can crap on my gesture. In fact it makes me less inclined to do nice things for you in the future.
Case in point, there was a period where I was quite financially insecure yet still managed to find ways to get Christmas presents for the family. I was told through the grapevine that one of my family members had been complaining about what I had gotten them. So the next Christmas, I purposely cheaped out on their present and, although I didn’t say it directly to said person, that I knew they complained and that they should have known that I was only operating within my means, meager as they were. They never complained again.
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(Would an iPhone 1 even work today?)
I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't, although it would be locked to AT&T's network, so you would have to get them to activate it and I'm guessing they wouldn't want the bother of supporting it, but at the minimum you could use it as an ugly thick low-capacity iPod Touch.
Honestly it would have more collector value remaining sealed in the package, probably.
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at the minimum you could use it as an ugly thick low-capacity iPod Touch.
I mean, would you feel comfortable putting a device that hasn't been supported for 13 years on a mobile or internet network?
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at the minimum you could use it as an ugly thick low-capacity iPod Touch.
I mean, would you feel comfortable putting a device that hasn't been supported for 13 years on a mobile or internet network?
So about a decade ago, I applied to drive for Uber. After the interview they gave me an iPhone (I think) 4. But because I have a tendency to drive fast while cops are nearby, Uber didn't bring me on board. However, I forgot to give them their phone back and last year I found it while packing for a move. Dunno where it is now, but I'd love to test it out to see if it works.
/Lyft was more forgiving and hired me
//Might drive to make a little pocket change for the holidays
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I mean, would you feel comfortable putting a device that hasn't been supported for 13 years on a mobile or internet network?
Extremely fair cop, and actually that's a pretty good question, I wonder where the WiFi encryption tops out on that thing....
ANSWER: BARELY supposed WPA2 encryption. And not even WPA2-AES. Good catch.
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Okay, so Roger is 5 digits richer for selling an I phone that's 16 years old. What could this new owner do with it to make about as much as Roger made? What are the odds that there's another fan of TPIR and Drew Carey that has that kind of money for a sealed box?
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Okay, so Roger is 5 digits richer for selling an I phone that's 16 years old. What could this new owner do with it to make about as much as Roger made? What are the odds that there's another fan of TPIR and Drew Carey that has that kind of money for a sealed box?
Likely the phone sold to an electronic collector that likes to collect equipment in original packaging.
I know some NES sealed games sold for a lot.
I don’t see Roger, Drew, or Price’s history having anything to do with the high sale price.
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ANSWER: BARELY supposed WPA2 encryption. And not even WPA2-AES. Good catch.
I have a Galaxy Stratosphere II (yes wikipedia, it exists) that I use as a travel music player. Outside of maybe occasionally a couple seconds re-synching the clock, it lives in airplane mode or is off.
/If I could mod it, I'd consider doing it
//Or I could just put all this on my S21
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This thread makes me glad I'm no longer paying for this board.
Too much ado about absolutely nothing. Way too much.
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I'm not accusing him of autograph hound-level behavior, but no one in his life would've enjoyed a smart phone?
You’d be surprised.
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The New York Times Magazine runs an "Ethicist" column that's essentially an advice column for ethical dilemmas. A couple of months ago, the featured letter was from somebody who had received a valuable diamond ring from a much wealthier relative, asking whether it was ethical to sell the family heirloom for needed money (link (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/magazine/ring-family-heirloom-ethics.html) -- paywalled for New York Times subscribers only). The columnist's answer was that a gift is a gift, and the recipient has the right to do with the gift what they please... although in order to avoid strain on family relationships, it would be courteous to inform the gift-giver about the decision to sell the ring and why.
I scrolled through the most upvoted reader responses in the comments section and saw that a majority of readers recommended other courses of action, although those opinions were largely in the context of the ring's sentimental value as a family heirloom (among the most popular suggestions: see whether anyone else in the family would want to purchase it (although still expect hard feelings) or sell the diamond and replace it with cubic zirconia or a similar lookalike).
It's clear the iPhone held little sentimental value to Roger or anybody in his family, so there was no priceless value to consider. Looking at it from the gift-giver's perspective, if I gave somebody a valuable gift only to find out that they later sold it, while I would recognize their right to do that, it would certainly make me less inclined to give them any other gifts in the future. But I don't think Roger's going to be worried about those ramifications.
Using the celebrity connection to try to goose the selling price is a bit low... although I'm guessing Roger has no qualms about profiting off the name of the man he attributes to his firing. (Even though I assume the buyer was only interested in "first-edition iPhone in original, unopened packaging" as opposed to "iPhone Drew Carey gave some guy.") But with no sentimental value to consider, what reason is there at this point to hang on to an outdated piece of technology that will never be used?
To add an additional perspective: this memory is roughly 15 years old, so I'm sure I'm getting some of the specifics wrong, but I remember Drew once telling a TPIR audience about the time ABC gave him a luxury car to celebrate the success of The Drew Carey Show. He didn't need the car, so he gave it to one of the sitcom's production assistants. And I'm pretty sure the story ended with the production assistant selling the car (because you can't afford the insurance on a luxury car on a PA's salary). Drew didn't appear particularly offended by the PA's decision to sell the car.
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Considering other similar iPhones that have sold for more than Roger's:
Https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-first-generation-unopened-iphone-2007-could-get-50000-auction-2023-2
I really don't think the Drew Factor added any extra money to his iPhone sale.
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Okay, so Roger is 5 digits richer for selling an I phone that's 16 years old. What could this new owner do with it to make about as much as Roger made? What are the odds that there's another fan of TPIR and Drew Carey that has that kind of money for a sealed box?
Likely the phone sold to an electronic collector that likes to collect equipment in original packaging.
I know some NES sealed games sold for a lot.
I don’t see Roger, Drew, or Price’s history having anything to do with the high sale price.
Surely they want to make money on it themselves by reselling it, and I am curious who would spend MORE than what the current owner of the Iphone. I guess there are a few out there. This Iphone, however, can only retain its value by NEVER being used for its intended purpose.
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Okay, so Roger is 5 digits richer for selling an I phone that's 16 years old. What could this new owner do with it to make about as much as Roger made? What are the odds that there's another fan of TPIR and Drew Carey that has that kind of money for a sealed box?
Likely the phone sold to an electronic collector that likes to collect equipment in original packaging.
I know some NES sealed games sold for a lot.
I don’t see Roger, Drew, or Price’s history having anything to do with the high sale price.
Surely they want to make money on it themselves by reselling it, and I am curious who would spend MORE than what the current owner of the Iphone. I guess there are a few out there. This Iphone, however, can only retain its value by NEVER being used for its intended purpose.
Like someone else said, it’s a collector item. Would I spend 20K? No, but someone will.
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ugly thick low-capacity
Ah, I see you've been perusing my résumé.
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I don’t see Roger, Drew, or Price’s history having anything to do with the high sale price.
Not in the least.
It's an iPhone 1, sealed in box. To Apple fanboys that's a major collectors item. Whatever "letter of provenance" that Roger includes with it will likely be used for kindling.
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It's an iPhone 1, sealed in box. To Apple fanboys that's a major collectors item. Whatever "letter of provenance" that Roger includes with it will likely be used for kindling.
Dare I say the buyer may not have nary a clue who Roger Dobkowitz even is.
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Dare I say the buyer may not have nary a clue who Roger Dobkowitz even is.
You may absolutely say that, with confidence. The only remotely interesting part of that letter to the layman would be that it was purchased by Drew Carey. And that Drew himself didn't sign off on that fact would render it completely worthless.
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You may absolutely say that, with confidence. The only remotely interesting part of that letter to the layman would be that it was purchased by Drew Carey. And that Drew himself didn't sign off on that fact would render it completely worthless.
I'd argue the provenance does a little bit in both establishing the connection to Carey but also a general time frame as to when it was bought. (There's probably also a benefit to the provenance just existing). But it's not like someone from Apple held onto it, or it came with a receipt, or is the apparently rarer 4GB version; those are the kinds of things that rocket the price up to even stupider.
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I'd argue the provenance does a little bit in both establishing the connection to Carey but also a general time frame as to when it was bought.
Sure, but my point is that it (again, hypothetically) would be signed by someone who might as well be Dick Hertz. "This guy says so." "Yeah, and?"
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People consider it worth that much to oneself (Would an iPhone 1 even work today?)
re: the cell function: In the United States - no. AT&T will unlock these, since they're considered fully paid for and their exclusivity on the iPhone ended long ago, but the 1st gen iPhone only supports 2G GSM, which has been deprecated in the United States.
Could work in some countries where 2G GSM is still used - France & Vietnam aren't turning off their 2G networks until 2026.
re: the software. This will only run up to "iPhone OS" 3.1.3 (it predates Apple calling it iOS). The certificates on it expired long ago and it can't even be used for most basic web access. You could load it up with music, though, and use it as an iPod.
But the biggest issue: the battery has probably vented and the device is likely destroyed. Wouldn't know unless the box was opened... it's Schrödinger's iPhone.