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Thieves Clear Out NJ Apple Store In 31 Seconds
theodp writes "An amazing surveillance tape of a burglary in progress at a New Jersey Apple Store shows five perps in masks smashing the plate-glass doors at 2:05 a.m., signaling to the security guard that they had a gun, and clearing off the display tables with the efficiency of a Indy 500 pit crew. The take: 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod touches in 31 seconds flat. Estimated value, based on average selling price: $46,345. No word yet on whether Microsoft's Laptop Hunters have alibis."
...Apple has received a million dollars worth of free publicity for the low cost of their insurance deductible.
I don't know whether my idea of criminality standards are just a bit higher, but when I watched that video I wasn't the slightest bit "amazed" by it. What's so amazing about filling your arms / pockets full of merchandise and getting the fok out of there? I'd like to think that all of us are smart enough to "mastermind" a crime such as that.
I record my sleeptalking
Using a gun in the commission of a felony usually gets you extra jail time... and these guys did this for $46,000 worth of gear, which probably has a value of about $3000 with a fence?
If all I'm gonna get is $3000, I might as well... oh, I dunno, WORK for the money and not have the years in jail.
I piss off bigots.
Committing an armed robbery with a firearm has sent people to prison for 75 years or more. That's not the average sentence, but the criminal justice system is like a slot machine. Not worth it for a 1/5 share of 20k or less..
Add in their race, which looks like African American from the video, that adds quite a few more points on to their unemployment issues - for various reasons that I won't get into and which we all know.
Now, I'm by no means condoning what they did: I'm just trying to promote some understanding. When folks get desperate, they do desperate things. Just getting a job, for many, is not an option - especially in one of the worst economies in decades.
There are some doing to support substance abuse, which being an addict precludes employment. They need help.
Now, there's the crowd that does this shit because "it's cool". They're just punks they should get their asses shot off.
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
Some thieves broke into my college's computer labs and stole all the four-year-old iMacs. They turned their noses up at the brand new Dell Precisions in the same lab...
That sounds sane, actually. Macs lose their resale value very slowly -- around 15% per year, I'd guess; but I'd be surprised if even a brand spanking new Dell would fetch more than about 40% of its retail price, and completely unsurprised if it went for 300 or less.
(Sane on the part of the thieves, that is, not on the part of the people buying the second-hand Macs.)
Probably for aesthetic reasons. Apple should have specced shatter proof glass. In fact, that's probably why the laptops were left unsecured in the store-- to tempt people into visiting during normal working hours.
Mostly I was amazed that the window broke so thoroughly. I'd have thought that it would have some film on it or other treatment that would make it somewhat resistant to such an attack.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
If it was a private Garda-type employee, chances are it's less "in on it" and more "fuck I'm not paid enough to risk my life for peanuts in the inventory"
Another reason to avoid Apple's ecosystem. Sure, I hope these thieves do get caught, and it would be fine if that happened. But the fact that they could have the ability to do that because they control the whole product is quite disconcerting.
Well... no, it sucks for the reseller. Or if the reseller is smart, then it sucks for the insurance company.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Yes, they are concerned. The stores are continual advertisements. Marketing would be horrified if they looked barricaded and unfriendly after hours.
Your post is a great illustration of why Apple Stores beat the pants off most computer stores in terms of revenue per square foot. You're all worked up about so-called "loss prevention" that you've forgotten about getting people to actually buy the stuff. Apple Stores have been operating for how many years and this is the first one that's been hit like this? Meanwhile locking the product away after hours so nobody can see it would have cost Apple far more than a piddling $45,000 in profit over that time.
The goal in retail is to make money, not to prevent theft. Theft prevention is simply one way to achieve that goal. Every security measure you take must be weighed against potential lost sales. Some of your advice would make little difference, like laminated glass, but pylons and locked-up merchandise are extremely unfriendly and are likely to backfire in terms of profitability.
That's a GOOD thing. It helps keep the guard alive in situations like this. A guard caught up in a robbery is FAR less likely to get shot when the attackers know that he's unarmed. Most thieves are not killers, even when hopped up on drugs or alcohol. You don't want to give the criminal any reason whatsoever to pull the trigger in a tense situation. The guard's life (even the lives of the thieves, despicable though they are) are more important than some merchandise. In a retail setting, the guard is basically a low-tech security system with a salary: he's only there to deter nonviolent opportunistic thieves, nothing more.
And surely Apple is going to know what the serial numbers of the machines are?
You're aware that there is security cam footage of this heist, right? Watch it.
You *still* haven't watched the full video, have you? *facepalm*
Apple Stores have been operating for how many years and this is the first one that's been hit like this?
You think this is the first?
Believe it or not, stores getting robbed isn't international news headlines. Even when it's Apple.
And I love how you twist the expense of their products as being a good thing - of course they make a lot of revenue per square foot.
The expense of the machines certainly is a good thing for the company that makes them if they can actually sell them in quantity, which Apple clearly can.
There's no "of course" about their revenue figures. Apple's store in midtown Manhattan is the highest grossing store on Fifth Avenue, and I can guarantee you that they are not even close to the most expensive store there. Apple's revenue per square foot is better than Tiffany's and Harry Winston.