NBC’s Dateline decided to stop catching predators for a moment to catch “i-Jackers,” or iPod thieves. I saw most of the program last night, after host Chris Hansen promoted it on O&A, and was absolutely shocked to see who the thieves were… The premise of the investigation was simple: a Dateline producer’s son had his iPod stolen, so this epidemic must be exposed. Dateline bought a bunch of iPods, then left them lying around various parts of the country: on top of a car in New Jersey; on a park bench in California; under the giant ceiling TV thing in Las Vegas, etc. Unbeknownst to the thieves, when they connected the iPod to their computer, a special computer program secretly embedded on the install CD sent all of their registration to Dateline. Fantastic.
Under the guise of a music giveaway, Dateline confronted the iPod thieves. Most of them were punk kids, around 16 or 17, who stole the iPod just because the situation presented itself. One thief was so embarrassed by being found out that she returned the iPod right after her interview with Hansen.
I guess the point of the program was to show just how widespread iPod thievery is. It’s the “in” item right now, so kids are apt to steal it. Also, most of the time, Dateline learned, iPods aren’t stolen in robberies, but stolen with the owner completely unaware.
I’ve never had an iPod stolen, but a friend of mine did. I say it served him right, but now I’m a little curious: anyone here have their iPod unlawfully taken from them? I remember there was a “War of the Worlds” type scare in New York a few years back: “Never wear the white earbuds or they’ll steal your iPod and stab you in the eye.”
Thank goodness Dateline is going after those monsters.
Hot iPods: Is there a way to stop thieves cold? A Dateline hidden camera investigation. [Dateline/MSNBC]
I did catch this program last night as well… and there were a couple of things that really didn’t sit well with me.
1. At least half of the iPods were left lying around in a public area, and people who came upon them simply picked them up and walked away. The last person interviewed compared it to coming upon a $100 bill on the sidewalk of your neighborhood. Are you going to go knocking door to door to see who dropped the cash? Unlikely.
Having said that, the other half did appear to be inside someone’s car, backpack or other personal item which required the theif to go digging… seems a bit more like a real world theft.
2. The last part of the show was dedicated to showing that Apple doesn’t have a theft tracking system in place for its iPods. Painting it in the light as if they have some sort of moral obligation to do so… I was absolutely floored. What other products out there are locked out when stolen and / or tracked down and returned to their owner by the manufacturer?
1. Some cars have lojack to track them when they’re stolen. Others have kill switches that turn the engine off when stolen… but this isn’t even the majority of the cars sold today… and not all of these options are even provided by the manufacturer, they’re third party systems. And a car can range anywhere from $15,000 to what, $400,000??
2. Laptops also can have a lojack system, which is software installed on the system that tells police where it can be located when it connects to the internet. This is again a 3rd party piece of software, and a service that the user has to pay for every year to a third party. If you’re in this situation, you don’t go back to Dell, Gateway, Acer… or anyone else who built your laptop to get it back… you go to the third party vendor. Laptops usually cost between $500-$4000
So why should apple be responsible for keeping a database and tracking down stolen iPods valued at $99-$500?
Maybe a company like lojack could partner with Apple to install their software on iPods when its requested and paid for just like laptops. But again, this is a third party vendor and something the end user would have to pay a subscription for.
I just don’t understand why the reporter felt it necessary to paint a picture of Apple not caring about its customers, like it had some responsibility of tracking all of the millions of iPods it sells every year. I’m sorry his son has his device stolen, but I’m sure being the host of a big tv show he can afford to go buy another one instead of making a bigger deal out of the whole situation.
Whats next, should Huffy be held responsible when his kid’s bike gets stolen? Nike when his shoes are taken? Starter when his jacket’s gone? (Remember those!) When his kid gets his first car and loads it up with a thumping stereo that gets stolen, is he going to hold Pioneer responsible for not getting the stereo and speakers back?
Theft is a part of life. Its unfortunate, but true. It happens. We’ve all had things taken from us. We can’t go chasing down the manufacturers who build our products and hold them responsible for their whereabouts of the product once its been purchased.
Finally, he ended his report saying that Apple may turn out to be the hero of this story… sort of hinting that Apple was indeed going to start a program to track stolen iPods or some such variation of… which would be an amazing, progressive and expensive proposition for Apple. I would applaud them for doing something like this, which I feel they have no responsibility for… but I also worry that such a program would increase the cost of their devices, and thus raise the price of such devices at the retail floor.
I caught the last half of the show but i wish they had done the show just a little differently. From what I saw, most (if not all) the ipods that were stolen were still completely wrapped up like they were new and left in a public place. Most people who work loss prevention will tell you that the average “thieves” that shoplift aren’t generally people who make a living stealing from stores or from other people, rather, people will steal because they are opportunistic and a situation presents itself where they could get away with something.
I really wonder if I would have turned the ipod in to security or lost and found had I been in these people’s situations. It seems very similar to finding a large sum of money on the ground where my first reaction would simply be, “SWEET!” Maybe I’m just not that nice of a guy?
However, I would NEVER take or keep an ipod that was left in a library, in a car, or even anywhere where someone may have been using it. Actually, if the iPod wasn’t still in the original wrapping, I’m certain I would turn it in to lost and found. I think when the iPod is still in the original wrapping it doesn’t have the same feel of “this belonged to someone” as it does when it has a case, earbuds, and a playlist already loaded.
It’d be nice if Dateline tried this experiment out a couple different ways. First, see how many people would try and keep an ipod that shows to be used and is obvious that it belongs to someone. Even though I’m sure some would still go missing, I bet it’d have a better return rate. Second, have someone “accidentally” forget their iPod in a public place and see if people wait till they are gone before trying to snag it, or if they bring it back to the owner before it’s too late.
Oh well, I guess since Dateline didn’t test me, I’ll never know how I would have handled the situation.
Okay, I saw this special too and couldn’t believe that a once reputable program (dateline) has given its name to this trash. First of all, this is not theft! These ipods were all left in public places, many of which don’t have ‘lost and founds.’ Second of all, what else are you supposed to do? If you leave the ipod, someone else will clearly come and take it. This is more an ethical question than an issue of theft and legality. Is it the obligation of a passerby to find the rightful owner of an ipod? Absolutely not. Is it the responsibility of the rightful owner not to leave his stuff in a public place? Certainly! Furthermore, is it the responsibility of the manufacturer to combat theft? Should Ford compensate everyone who leaves their car unlocked? Again, no. Yes, we can respect manufacturers who build in anti-theft technology, but going undercover to the apple store and humiliating the kids who work there was just ridiculous and cruel. Some hard-working applestore employee probably lost his job over this “expose.” Way to go NBC!
All this absurd special succeeded in doing was embarrassing a bunch of otherwise innocent kids, slandering an innovative and reputable company (apple) and demonstrating that even good Samaritans can’t resist a free ipod.
I thought this story turned out to be a little lame. Since they really could get what they wanted (Apple’s participation in tracking iPods), they came up with the concept of leaving these wrapped iPods around. Except for instances where they were lifted from a purse or the car, be real NBC! Teenagers are going to take the packaged product. And who in their right mind would leave a newly purchased, $300, high profile item sitting out in plain site like that. If Dateline really thought this was a realistic scenario, the would be consumers would have gotten what they deserved for being so stupid in the first place!
Bottom line: If it’s not yours, leave it alone kids!
I didn’t see the special but I have had an ipod stolen from me. I work at a Christian non-profit and I stupidly left my ipod on my desk while I attended the organization wide daily devotions. I came back and the thing was missing. The upside of it was that several of the managers where I work felt so bad about the theft that they got together and bought me a new one. Now I never leave my ipod or mobile phone on my desk when I go somewhere.
I was at a mall having lunch with my cousin and left my purse under the table. When I got back to work, I got a call saying security had my purse. Of course, someone stole my ipod nano but not my social security card, my credit cards, ID or cell phone. People can be surprisingly evil…
iPod Tracking software has been around for a while called GadgetTrak (www.gadgettrak.com) , it was actually mentioned several times on Crunch Gear (http://crunchgear.com/2007/03/18/gadgettrak-relaunched-as-paid-service/)
this website made me find my ipod really fast but not really because there fucken weird jk…lol!!!!
hansen,put a low jack in your old lady’s pussy!faggott
this place fucken sucks…lol…LMAO
this place does fucken sucks…LOL…LMAO
I do not have an iPod, nor would I have much use for them. Even if I had one, most kids won’t like what would be on it, mostly classical music, some of it by obscure composers, Richard Purvis and Edwin H. Lemare among them.