iPod on the cover of the Times (UK Newspaper)

requires registration, too bad.

 

No it doesn't

 

The old-fashioned paper version just has an enormous picture of someone's ear with a white earphone.

- They point out the dangers of the iPod, but don't show you what an iPod is.
- They let you know what a white earphone looks like in an ear (note to Times editor: a picture of the iPod itself would have sold more copies, although obviously Apple would not allow an iPod image to be used with an article of this nature).
- Any would be muggers who did not know what a white earphone in an ear looked like are now usefully instructed with the clear image of what they should be looking out for.
- Times are sensationalist morons.


Sheesh.

 

That's true. Those guys make me laugh.

Off topic:
My lass's mother recently moved back to Yorkshire. She quoted a mail frontpage headline that a meteorite the size of a football pitch was to strike London in 20 years time. She actually believed this not only to be true, but that since she moved over 200 miles away, she would remain totally unaffected by the immense impact.



Back on topic:
They do not provide any statistical evidence that is even related to the crimes (of the 2 million iPods sold ,which is a global figure, it doesn't mention the numbers in the UK that would be affected). They also do not seem to provide a number of mugging instances, just this one bloke from Birmingham. Naturally the celeb slant is also approached, with Beckham getting a totally unrelated mention. And the quoted Police response?: "iPod users should use their common sense."

Hooray for the high standards of British journalism!

 

There was an artile in the Metro (free paper at tube, DLR stations etc) saying exactly the same thing.

 

Why do I get the feeling that MS/Napster/Dell are out there planting these types of stories?

 

This seems to be one of those stories I sometimes find myself telling - "hmmm, that looks like an easy target - there must be crime figures to back it up...". I don't like iPod ear buds, so I use my lovely panasonic headphones...

...I have over 10 friends at school who ALL use their iPods white ear buds (i do feel left out ) and NONE of them have EVER been mugged!!

Stupid times *kicks dirt at the times*

 

First thing i did was to get some black headphones, exactly for this reason. Also have a green iskin. People look at it kind of funny, in a kind of "what on earth is that?" kind of look.

 

It required it for me.

 

Can you post another link to that article?

That link required registration .. registration required $$ or ££ if you will.

 

I've never used the white headphones when I 've been out. I've got a nice pair of inconspicuous Sonys. I figured that wandering around Southwark with 'I've got an expensive iPod' headphones was asking for it...

 

Muggers have an eye for the earpiece of choice
By Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter






OWNERS of the latest street fashion accessory were warned by police yesterday that the conspicuous white headphones of the iPod have become a beacon to thieves.

Stores can barely keep up with demand for the portable music player which allow fans to download their own choice of more than 10,000 songs. But the distinctive “earbud” white headphones are a giveaway to criminals that a highly desirable iPod, costing up to £400, is concealed about the street-walking music lover. iPod-users are exchanging on websites grim tales of street muggings, with the publicspirited devising a headphone colour code to denote the safety of a particular area.




But Apple, which has sold two million of the devices, refused to recolour its headphones, saying its customers would prefer to be robbed than be seen wearing something less trendy.

Roland Baskerville, 22, from Birmingham is a typical iPod victim. The language student was mugged for his new £274 20GB device. He said: “I was walking down the road near to my home when a man who was walking the other way pointed at my headphones.”

He took one headphone out to hear the man asking if he was wearing an iPod. Mr Baskerville said: “As soon as I told him yes, he pulled a knife out and started waving it at me, saying: ‘Well hand it over, then.’ I gave it to him and he ran off. He must have known I was wearing an iPod because of the white headphones.”

Police recommend that iPod owners, who include David Beckham, use less stylish colour headphones to disguise that they are carrying a valuable piece of technology.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police Safer Streets anti-robbery initiative said: “People need to use common sense, have their iPods security marked and keep them inside their jackets. They shouldn’t carry them around in their hands, because a lot of robberies like these are snatches.”