Edible Apple

By Josh Rosenthall

In iOS 4 some data was found
that made people think Apple was following them around
location data for months on end
people were pissed at Apple, this wasn’t pretend

Consolidated.db was the name of the file
but the truth of the matter was that it had been around for awhile
helping detectives in their forensic investigations
What was really a non-story became an controversial sensation

People were mad and wanted to give Apple a spankin’
And the story even piqued the interest of Senator Al Franken
A number of privacy and security concerns were raised
Apple was accused of stalking — people were afraid!

Steve Jobs sent an email, saying that the reports were not true
but the pundits and critics stuck to their story like glue
Apple is big brother they’d all scream and shout
even though they had no idea what in the hell they were talking about

The data in question was not user location
But rather contained Cell tower and wi-fi hot spot information
To help iOS devices figure out where they are
and to assist iOS users on foot and in cars

“Where am I going, and how long will it take?!”
Using GPS alone? A few minutes you might wait
But Cell tower and wi-fi data can speed things along
And at the end of the day, Apple was doing no wrong

But it’s fun to point the finger at Apple without all the facts
make inflammatory statements and never look back
As bloggers scrounge for pageviews and politicians for clout
It’d be nice if these fools knew what they were getting angry about

An Apple scandal can sure make a great headline
and attract a million eyeballs, as we’ve seen time after time
Vitriolic writing coupled with self-righteous rage
There’s scant room for facts in the Internet age