Valleywag Chums the Apple Tablet Waters With Cash Prize

Willing to pay $100,000 for chance to play with actual device.

By Bill Mickey 01/13/2010 -05:52 PM

I'm not sure if the hysteria over Apple's pending tablet announcement could get any more manic—at least among print media executives—but Gawker Media's Valleywag is trying to click it up a notch. The blog is offering $100,000 to the person who can deliver them the device prior to the announcement. They're willing to pay for pictures too.

Legitimate images will fetch $10,000; $20,000 will be awarded for a video; and $50,000 for a picture of Apple CEO Steve Jobs holding one.

Speculation on the device has veered wildly between saviour of print and not much of a saviour at all—and therefore a really expensive brick, from a publisher's perspective. All that will presumably be solved when the company announces the device on January 27. But hey, if it has color and can do a few extra things besides flip pages, then it's got a pretty good chance.

In the meantime, Valleywag is willing to pay handsomely for a significant media industry scoop. The blog says it will go to "spycraft-level lengths" to protect the tipster's identity and reserves the right to determine the legitimacy of any pictures. Cash won't be paid until after the announcement.

Silicon Alley Insider gamely suggests that Apple should simply send one to Gawker, pocketing a quick $100k and generating a "healthy amount of buzz."

Update: Gawker is slapped with a cease and desist order from an Apple lawyer, ordering the scavanger hunt terminated. This, of course, inspires Gawker to declare the lawyer, Michael Spillner of Menlo Park law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, the contest's first winner—and submits the letter as evidence that the tablet actually exists. 

In the meantime, Slate's Ben Sheffner looks into Gawker's rights to launch such a scheme and whether Apple has a case against them.