17 year old geek makes $130,000 selling White iPhone 4 conversion kits

A 17-year-old geek turned entrepreneur pocketed $130,000 in the past 6 months by selling white iPhone 4 conversion kits online, prompting a private investigator and possible legal woes. From The New York Observer:

The unbelievable demand among Apple enthusiasts for the long-delayed white version of the iPhone 4 has been compared to the hunt for that legendary white whale, Moby Dick. So when Fei Lam, a high school senior and gadget nerd, got a tip about buying up some white iPhone 4 parts, he saw the opportunity to finally make his passion for electronics pay off.

Fei Lam was able to order parts for the elusive white iPhone 4 from a contact in China who was closely connected to Foxconn (one of Apple’s manufacturers of the iPhone 4), and from that he was able to put together his own kit.

Lam’s success was driven by top media sites like TechCrunch and CNN reporting on what he was up to, and he believes a recent inquiry by a private investigator may have been prompted by all the attention from news media. Lam has since retained an attorney, and is planning on defending his new business which will help put him through college.

Since the latest rumors are that Apple is never going to ship a white iPhone 4, we’re curious if any of our readers would be interested in Lam’s conversion kit. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

[New York Observer]

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Apple iPad makes Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2010

Apple’s revolutionary iPad tablet has made Time Magazine’s ‘50 Best Inventions of 2010' list. From TIME:

How does Apple keep out-inventing the rest of the tech industry? Often, it’s by reinventing a product category that its competitors have given up on. In theory, the iPad is merely a follow-up to such resoundingly unpopular slate-style computers as Microsoft’s Tablet PC. But Apple is the first company that designed finger-friendly hardware and software from scratch rather than stuffing a PC into a keyboardless case. When it calls the results “magical” and “revolutionary,” it’s distorting reality only slightly. One analyst says the iPad is the fastest-selling nonphone gizmo in consumer-electronics history.

Another interesting tidbit was that Flipboard, an iPad app with a magazine-style approach to Twitter and Facebook, was also featured on the list as a top invention of 2010.

The iPad has seen amazing success since its debut, even surprising us in some cases. With the holiday season upon us, it will be interesting to see the sales numbers Apple has to announce on their next earnings call.

Are you surprised at the iPad being featured on TIME’s list? Were you expecting it? Let us know in the comments below!

[TIME]

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