Why do that when Apple can make a commercial of someone robbing someone with a Samsung Galaxy S3 and then giving the S3 back to them since it's not an Apple device. You not only get Samsung on the copying of an Apple look (because the robber thought it was an iPhone) but also mock them by showing the thieves don't want that phone...lol.
Brilliant!
These devices have unique identifying numbers. I still don't see why Apple, the Cell Companies, and the police can't coordinate to catch crooks stealing these devices. At least if the crooks don't ultimately fence them overseas. And seriously the guy doing a snatch and run job on your iPhone as you walk down the street texting, that guy doesn't have access to an overseas fence. Why can't Apple shut the device's access off from the Apple store? Yes, then folks can jailbreak. But that is another inconvenience and lowers the value of the stolen phone.
Not surprising. I'm very careful with using my iPhone in the city but its always a little risky. It would be a great feature if Apple added functionality to somehow make an iPhone useless to a thief.
I'm sure, if the political will existed, there's no technical reason why these devices couldn't be made useless to would-be thieves. Cell-enabled devices have an IMEI number that, given cooperation amongst ALL providers, could be blacklisted, rendering all of them useless to potential thieves. In addition, al these devices, plus all wifi devices as well as iPods need to be recharged to work; this could be restricted to those who have the 'unique code' to do this. It would, for the sake of legitimate re-sales, require a central registry, but with thieves knowing these devices to be virtually 'useless' when stolen, it might all but eliminate those kinds of 'snatch & dash' thefts. Arguably, a minor inconvenience to legitimate users, that in the end would be well worth it.
I hate government red-tape as much as the next guy, but APPLE or SAMSUNG et all, aren't going to do this on their own, this almost certainly would require congressional intervention.
When I worked in Saudi Arabia, I noticed how store vendors didn't mind placing small items right by the door. You won't see that here in the US, as it would be easy to walk in, grab, and run. Of course, if you were to do that in Saudi Arabia, you lose your hand. As a result, theft is not something one is generally concerned with. Perhaps if we instituted meaningful penalties for theft, we would also not need to worry about pulling out our iPads and iPhones in the public?
While that might actually work, such draconian measures will never come to these shores.
.....They don't know they're stolen.
Simple solution: always get a proper
and legible receipt, including date, description of item, including serial#, and seller's full name & address, when buying anything used. The absence of that is a giant red flag.
