In the short attention span world of iPhone reporting, the news of Engadget posting an unconfirmed fake email that triggered a short term plunge in Apple’s stock is old news. Many attribute the mayhem that ensued as a result of how quick information is posted (sometimes without verification) online these days.

You would expect Gizmodo, arguably the biggest competitor of Engadget to sit back and relish the bad press their chief rival is getting. But that is the complete opposite thing that happened.

People have asked me if I’m gleeful. Hell no. Giz and Engaga are in the same boat. This sort of thing affects our rep, too. Sure, I could take a swipe at Engadget’s reliability. I could put my fingers in my ears and shout, Nya Nyaa Boo Boo and stick my tongue out at my competitors. But I won’t. Ryan, the real heart of Engadget’s daily operations, is a great guy and I respect his work. We’re both in the same situation of having to post news quickly, sometimes before confirmation.

I am personally torn about this issue. On one hand, rumor or not, fake or not, unconfirmed or not, news is news and it is my duty to report it. I firmly believe Engadget did nothing wrong in this scenario. If investors choose to believe whatever they read online then maybe they need to leave the investing to their advisors.

As for the quote from Gizmodo, I applaud their professionalism. So what do you think about this Engadget story? How much responsibility do you feel blogs like Engadget and Gizmodo need to take for instances like these?