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Bloomberg: Steve Jobs Behind NYC Crime Wave
theodp writes "Rudy Giuliani had John Gotti to worry about; Mike Bloomberg has Steve Jobs. Despite all-time lows for the city in homicides and shootings, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said overall crime in New York City was up 3.3% in 2012 due to iPhone, iPad and other Apple device thefts, which have increased by 3,890 this year. 'If you just took away the jump in Apple, we'd be down for the year,' explained Marc La Vorgna, the mayor's press secretary. 'The proliferation of people carrying expensive devices around is so great,' La Vorgna added. 'It's something that's never had to be dealt with before.' Bloomberg also took to the radio, urging New Yorkers who didn't want to become a crime statistic to keep their iDevices in an interior, hard-to-reach pocket: 'Put it in a pocket in sort of a more body-fitting, tighter clothes, that you can feel if it was — if somebody put their hand in your pocket, not just an outside coat pocket.' But it seems the best way to fight the iCrime Wave might be to slash the $699 price of an iPhone (unactivated), which costs an estimated $207 to make. The U.S. phone subsidy model reportedly adds $400+ to the price of an iPhone. So, is offering unlocked alternatives at much more reasonable prices than an iPhone — like the $299 Nexus 4, for starters — the real key to taking a bite out of cellphone crime? After all, didn't dramatic price cuts pretty much kill car stereo theft?"
It's not the *cost* of the iPhone. It's the *black market resale value* that drives theft.
It's uncomfortable allowing a third party to be able to permanently brick your phone or other device, but if that were a commonly-used option, the resale value would quickly drop down close to zero.
As always - back up your data, and don't store important personal information on your easily-stolen device...
Interesting statistics, but seriously Steve Jobs died in 2011. And even if he was still alive he personally would not be responsible or connected to any form of crime wave in New York.
So they are saying that it is "unfair" that iWhatevers cost a bunch so making them cheap means nobody will steal them.
So using this jumping-the-tracks train of logic, we should make guns free so no criminal will ever want to steal one. BINGO!
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
The way this is written is so absurdly biased; if you want to promote Android devices, just come out and say it. Don't use some arbitrary statistic to promote your agenda. That's like blaming the former CEO of Lexus for making a desirable vehicle that is prone to theft as a result of its desirability or popularity.
...Being a lecturing nanny to actually see that the normal functions of a city government are performed.
Note his wars on large sodas and restuarant menus, while bedbugs run rampant.
He wags his finger at Apple because crooks are loose in his city. And he has his PIs make straw purchases of firearms in far-away states, violating federal law for masterbatory political posturing.
Why do New Yorkers elect this clown?
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
I imagine that most people (such as myself) don't carry any significant quantity of cash on them anymore since most every Retailer and Restaurant will take a Visa Debit card issued from your bank.
So it only makes sense to go after iPhones and iPads since going after someone's wallet will typically net you $60 or less, while you can offload that shiny iGadget for a couple hundred.
If it weren't iDevices, it'd be something else.
The real culprit here is a profound culture shift from cash based shopping to electronic payments.
Even if thieves were blind, and stealing randomly, they'd steal more iDevices than all the other brands added together.
Precisely. BTW I'm pretty accustomed to Slashdot's ever-declining state of "quality" over the last several years, but this story takes the cake - it's 1/2 article and 1/2 ludicrous Fandroid rant that somehow the real cause of the problem of increased theft of small, highly valuable electronic devices in NYC is that Apple charges too much for the 64 GB iPhone and that somehow Google's pricing for the 8 GB Nexus 4 is the solution? Are you shitting me? Can you possibly be serious?
Slashdot, who do do you have at the wheel these days approving stories? Is it someone that actually cares, or are they just looking for the biggest flamebait submissions they can find? Through all the ups and downs, Slashdot have been my homepage for more than a decade. Please don't make this latest acquisition the one that drives me away for good.
"95% of all Slashdot