Richard Charkin's Google Prank

This one made me chuckle.  Richard Charkin is Chief Executive at Macmillan and he played an amusing prank on Google at BEA last week.  The first few comments are almost as entertaining as the story itself, but subsequent comments turn the entire post into an all out flame war...

Comments

[Michael A. Banks]

Ha! A prank with a purpose--perfect!
--Mike

[Morgan Ramsay]

Ugh, the comments by the Google zealots are harmful to human intelligence.

Mac' Chandler wrote the best comment:

Actually you did not commit a theft. What you did was called conversion. The computer was volunteered to your use and you simply used it beyond the scope the provider intended. If it had been set off from the display as part of their gear not intended for the public it would have been a theft. That it was free to be used was implicit and obvious. This difference is sufficient that in most states if you report to the police you loaned your car to someone and they did not return it when you expected they will require a waiting period before they take any action. So their sign you suggested should read something like: "This computer is intended for public use at our booth only. Permission for other use, removal or alternation is not granted."

Oh, and the Google New York office theme is incredibly ugly. Reminds me of preschool.