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iPod: This Season's Must-Have for Muggers
KH writes "West Midlands police have issued a stark warning to iPod users: ditch the white headphones or pay the price." Apparently, muggers recognize the headphones and target passersby for muggage.
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Well people will kill each other over sneakers so to mug for an Ipod doesn't surprise me. From the article: "The Sun quotes one iPod representative as saying: "There are guys who?d rather be robbed than change the color of the headphones." " = Darwin strikes again.
"It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
thats how i got mine :)
I keep the mini-iPod in a ... hidden place... that's very snug. Muggers never look there, and really, who wants to pull the cord out of there?
This iPod-carrying bon vivant isn't going to hand over his beloved music player without a fight.
I've hacked my iPod to shoot pepper spray! Ha!
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
iPod -- with LoJack!
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
let a mugger have it and have your insurance buy you a replacement.
Dude, I'm, like totally understanding of your verbage, but, like, there might not be others, that, like, know.
But rock on, Dude! Awesome!
How about an iMace accessory?
Mugger: "Your I-Pod or your life..."
Mr Benny: ...
Mugger: I SAID, your I-POD or your LIFE!
Mr Benny: Hold on! I'm thinking!
buhbumpbump...
Even muggers recognize that the higher price of Apple hardware goes into quality.
Most muggers don't realize they'll be replacing that little battery for $99 in a couple weeks' time.
Yeah, the white headphones do give it a way, but this paragraph is badly written!
The thief then asked Baskerville if he was listening to an iPod and, receiving an affirmative answer, 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."
Of all the nice design aspects of the iPod, as far as Apple are concerned those distinctive white headphones have to the best. Portable devices need to be small, discrete, and easy to slip into a pocket, so you never really see them. Is that person with the headphones on listening to a Rio player? iRiver perhaps? Maybe Neuros? Or just a discman stuck in their bag? But you know damn well when you see someone listening to an iPod.
I'm surprised the others player manufacturers never cottoned on to this one: get the customers to do your advertising for you!
Jedidiah.
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
Apple UK's wave of iPod advertising may be making the product a 'must-have' accessory for street criminals. It's also possible that UK journalists, disappointed at Apple's recent news that its much-anticipated iPod mini won't ship until July, now also have Apple in their sights - as was the case with the recent battery bad news stories.
Alison
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." - Albert Einstein
This reminds me of what my mother used to say:
Be careful of how hard you try to get attention, you may not garner the type you intended.
By your logic, you should be put to death. You just stole some of my life because I read your inane post.
Mugger: so is that an ipod you got there mate? ::mugger takes out knife:: ::mugger takes ipod and runs off:: ::mugger comes back::
Guy: uh, yeah.
Mugger: alright, hand it over.
Mugger: uh, you haven't had this for 18 months or so by any chance?
...sux. Had some street dude try to mug me before, downtown atlanta. Was getting off work, that day in the merchandise mart doing tradeshow set-up. Was tired and not in the mood to get mugged. This doofus walks up to me in the parking lot across the street as I was loading my tools back in the ride, waltzs right up and demands cash, Sez Mr. mugger wannabe -> "gimmee 20$" then some cursing. I stepped back, swung my vest open and started to draw my piece. Sez me ->" How 'bout 45 instead?"
heh heh he took off running.
Just an anecdotal story, doesn't mean much except to point out muggings happen everywhere,all around the whirrled, just sometimes they have a happy ending.
There's an old saying I am fond of:
"God made man - Then Colonel Colt made them equal"
"Most muggers don't realize they'll be replacing that little battery for $99 in a couple weeks' time."
:)
Then YOU apparently don't realize they'll just be mugging someone else in a couple weeks' time. Duh
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
I wonder if the RIAA will sue these muggers for stealing copyrighted music? Knowing the RIAA, they are more likely to sue the victims for distributing copyrighted material.
_____
Thank you.
The mugger may get pissed and pop a cap in your ass when he find you only have an old walkman.
depends on what it's wrapped in
#!/usr/bin/english
As much as MP3 jukeboxes and digital cameras keep getting smaller, they keep becoming better targets for thieves. Someone walking down the street with a 20 GB iPod, a Palm Tungsten C and a Minolta dImage is carrying about $1000 (US) in potential swag. That makes a car stereo system look like chump change. Sure, the fence would have to sell the items without accessories, but you can usually get those for a fraction of the cost of the item.
It's as if they tied me up for 30 hours.
Now, now, now, you were on to making a good point, and then you had to go get hysterical. No, it is not like they "tied you up for 30 hours." Yes, it sucks, but no, it is not false imprisonment.
Plus, chances are, you didn't actually WORK those 30 hours, but merely 15, and spent the other 15 reading slashdot, which is actually theft from your employer, so maybe he should kill YOU!
On second thought, why not just get it over with, and go for the gusto. Call it 'terrorism'.
Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
One fake iPod case: $50.
One receiver: $50
One transmitter: $50
One kilo C4: $150
One mugger exploding when he runs more than 50 feet away from you: Priceless.
www.eFax.com are spammers
for stealing mp3's ....
or else meet certain death...
This is a Slash-mugging! Close your browser and give me your laptop!
Now!
Letter
Oops, nevermind...
Though I'm sure there's a Soviet Russia post to be made out of this...
Scenario:
---
Frankfort, Kentucky, makes it against the law to shoot off a policeman's tie.
I want to get an Ipod and use my old pair of big ass 70s style radio shack headphones. big and bulky with the 1/4 inch jack and cover up your entire ears.
F na me=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F007%5F003%5F004%5F0 00&product%5Fid=33%2D1176
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5
While they can be spotted at a distance, a mugger might thing I have a portable 8-track and not steal from me.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
As soon as the mugger steals one, a newer cheaper iPod comes out for mugging the next week. The vicious cycle repeats infinitely.
...I carry an iPod and also an H&K USP .40, fuck with my iPod and you're going to have some extra holes in your ass. Oh, sorry, I forgot you can't own guns like that in England, my bad :-/
-- Is it a right to remain ignorant? -- Calvin
Wow, all you have to do to get Insightful mods is ask for them? Don't forget to say please.
Now will someone please mode me Funny.
---- Just another spud server.
As a resident in Birmingham UK (The West Midlands) i might add that people world wide probably don't really need to worry to much. Birmingham has quite high crime rates and a lot of rich boroughs surrounding it - people are prime targets. People need only remember the shootings that took place over new years eve last year.
Why do you lay your troubles on an already troubled mind? Can't you see we grow tired of your... malcontent - your... fearmongering?
Too long have you watched my iPod. Too long have you haunted its backlight.
Disclaimer: This comment was generated by a Flock of Trained Microsoft Programmers for Aqua_Geek.
It will distract the mugger so that he demands your hat, and you will escape with your precioussssssssss ipod intact.
This procedure also helps to hide ketchup stains on your shirt.
Okay, all that slightly offtopic stuff said, wearing white headphones will not get you mugged. However, if some guy on an empty street stops you and asks you if you have an ipod, and you stop walking, look at them, and respond... well that may get you mugged, as it did the victim in the story.
Great, Pudge didn't do his homework on this one.
I considered submitting this story, but I was busy and now I regret it because according to this MacWorld UK article, this is just an unsubstantiated media frenzy. The proof of how widespread these muggings are is still pretty sketchy.
Anyway, the people with IPODs are no being mugged becuase of the IPOD. They are being mugged because of what the IPOD signifies. Someone who has an IPOD probably access to disposable cash and so make a richer target then other people. Also since this person is the kind of person to get an IPOD they are also less likely to put up a fight (ok I just made that up)
Anyway, the point is that Muggers are using IPODS for selection of their targets *and* they get a cool IPOD to boot
I would like to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks
Sigs are dangerous coy things
So radio tags are bad because they track peoples' habits. Product activation is bad because it ties a product to a specific user. Global databases are bad because it's a violation of your privacy. However, when we are talking about your $300 iPod, then it's all good? You wouldn't mind having your device registered and activated and your usage tracked because Apple is the mighty and benevolent company? Now, if this was proposed in connection with a Microsoft product, how many "Big Brother" posts would we see?
That's the sound of my karma dropping
"Oh dear, she's stuck in an infinite loop and he's an idiot" -Prof. Farnsworth (Futurama)
Well, you did just post again.
Heh: there's just one problem about sending such messages in a volatile society, especially when you can't hear what's going on around you. The distance from preening signifier to damn easy pickings is much shorter than many realize.
Put these ingredients together--frontin' hipsters oblivious to their environment, the anger and hunger of the street, and the value of the iPod both as tech and music motherload--and it's probably poised to replace car stereos as the quickest score a thief can make.
I'm the last person to promote use of lethal force for protection of property. However, you're not understanding the nature behind the argument I feel.
A mugging is a violent act. In normal thinking parts of this world (IMHO) it's prefectly legal to respond to a lethal threat of violence with lethal force.
If I walk up to you, 10 feet away, and demand that you tell me you like me while pulling a gun on you to insure compliance I have put your life in danger. The level of my demands does not in any way, shape, or form effect the perceived threat level to your own person. It shouldn't at least. I don't care if somebody demands a stick of gum or my car -- if they pull a weapon my life is in danger and I not only have the natural right, but often the legal right, to respond with deadly force to neutralize the threat.
The wording of your reponse, "Killing someone to protect", just screams to me that you do not have any background in such areas. You do not shoot to kill, ever, you shoot to stop. A very small caliber round will kill a human being if given enough time. That is not the goal. The goal is to deliver a massive amount of trauma to their body to immediately stop all action on their part. That does not mean that you're trying to kill them. People shoot center of mass not because it's deadly, but because it's likely to stop the person. A shot to the upper thigh (if you hit a major artery) is horribly fatal despite what you see in the movies, however it's unlikely to IMMEDIATELY stop the attacker. Stopping is the goal, not killing.
I wouldn't shoot somebody over $300 dollars. I wouldn't shoot sommebody for any sum of money. The whole situation turns though once the perp presents the threat of deadly force.
I find it interesting that someone modded you interesting.