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Apple Introduces AirTag

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Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#351

Post by r00fus »

llbeansandrice wrote: post #141
Nextgrid wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, replaceable batteries in laptops and phones also used to be the status quo and Apple successfully changed that. Just because it’s the status quo wouldn’t prevent Apple from “thinking different”.

> Apple successfully changed that I feel like this gives far too much credit to Apple. Any one company can "think differently" but Apple shouldn't get the blame for all of the other companies following suit. Remember the ads Samsung ran before axing the headphone jack a year later?

> Apple shouldn't get the blame for all of the other companies following suit

It's not about blame - Apple has repeatedly changed the landscape of computing for decades. Mac, modern laptops, iPhone. Downplay their influence if you will, but they have been the harbinger so often before...

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#352

Post by djrogers »

dmitrygr wrote: post #319
mikestew wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's already been answered. Stories abound about "Find My Doohickie said it was at this address. I even knocked on the door, and the person that answered said, 'yup, have your phone, whatta ya gonna do about it?'. Cops said file it with insurance." Cops don't care about a $1000 phone, they're not going to care about your bicycle, either (which has also been proven on multiple occasions).

That depends on the state you are in. That is how it will play out in CA, not at all how it will play out in TX.

States can be pretty large and diverse - the town I live in in California would have a couple of officers at my door in short order if this situation were called in...

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#353

Post by adamlett »

kemonocode wrote: post #256
habibur wrote: post #16

> AirTag is designed for over a year’s worth of battery life with everyday use. The CR2032 battery is user-replaceable and widely available. Replacement batteries are sold separately. That's the piece of information I wanted to know first. Devices like this can be built, but those can't run on batteries for a reasonable time frame. Apple made it practical.

They probably caught enough flak with how incredibly unserviceable AirPods were and decided not to repeat the same mistake, especially here where it wouldn't give any benefit at all. Kind of a no-brainer, but you never know with Apple...

Lol, what flak? AirPods are to a close approximation loved by all reviewers and by all evidence they are a smash hit among consumers.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#354

Post by theshrike79 »

crazygringo wrote: post #246
zxcvgm wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too, found the anti-stalking features might hinder the use of AirTags for locating intentionally stolen items: (1) it has a removable battery, and also (2) "someone can tap [the tag] with their iPhone or NFC-capable device and instructions will guide them to disable the unknown AirTag". The anti-stalking feature also seems to contradict its privacy features: > Bluetooth signal identifiers transmitted by AirTag rota…

AirTags are anonymous to other end users . Obviously Apple is internally maintaining an association between the AirTag's permanent identifier, and its current temporary signal identifier. This isn't E2EE or anything.

"Your AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network. These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy. And itʼs efficient, so thereʼs no need to worry about battery life or data usage."

"Only you can see where your AirTag is. Your location data and history are never stored on the AirTag itself. Devices that relay the location of your AirTag also stay anonymous, and that location data is encrypted every step of the way. So not even Apple knows the location of your AirTag or the identity of the device that helps find it."

So no, Apple actively doesn't want to know anything. I'd wager a guess that the airtag query system is using the same kind of method as the COVID tracker API.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#355

Post by fshbbdssbbgdd »

gnicholas wrote: post #240
crazygringo wrote: post #71

I thought one of the big use cases for this was to track stolen items, like a backpack or maybe even a bicycle. But the "anti-stalking" feature will notify someone if an AirTag they don't own appears to be traveling with them. Does this render it useless for anti-theft, then? Since it will just notify a thief that the bike they just stole is being tracked, and they can look for the AirTag and throw it in the nearest…

This is a good question. I wonder what the period of time is required before it notifies you about potential stalking. If it is more time than would typically take for someone to realize that the item is stolen, then perhaps it’s not such a big deal. But if it’s only 30 minutes or so, a thief could be notified that they’ve stolen a bicycle that’s being tracked before you come out of the grocery store, movie theater,…

30 minutes seems totally infeasible. People hang out for 30 minutes all the time.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#356

Post by giantrobot »

Nextgrid wrote: post #272
pfranz wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did apple bring any actual innovation that I missed? I guess it depends on what you think of as innovation. Their marketing pointed to "scalloped" batteries instead of square so they can take up more empty space (plus the space that would have been used by covering the battery and a fatter connector). In my experience, their batteries went from 200 charge cycles, about ~4 of battery life, and often failing before r…

However, none of this justifies intentionally making the batteries extremely difficult to replace. It wouldn't make any noticeable difference to their bottom line (when you consider the margins on their products) to hold batteries with a screwed-in bracket (or even by compression with some foam) instead of hard-to-remove adhesive.

Adhesive responds better to thermal expansion/contraction cycles than screws. Using foam to compress the battery to hold it in place can prevent safe thermal expansion and isn't necessarily going to hold everything in place with vibration or percussion.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#357

Post by rhplus »

ambivalents wrote: post #96
puttycat wrote: post #75

This is truly revolutionary for pet owners. All existing solutions I know of have at least one fault-intolerant property that makes them useless for the lost-pet use case (battery / size / unreliable connection coverage / etc.) If I understand correctly Apple tags solve all of these at once.

This was my first thought. Is there any downside to putting one on my dog?

The removable battery might be a problem if it's easily dislodged by scratching at a the collar.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#358

Post by graeme »

gnicholas wrote: post #254
technofiend wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cool and all, but how do they handle a trainload of people all going the same direction sitting near each other? I mean public transportation is still a thing.

It only triggers if it’s not with the owner but is with someone else. I wonder what happens if you put your luggage on a train and sit down elsewhere on the train. Would it recognize that it is still, generally speaking, with the owner?

Airplane transport crews may come to hate Airtags. I can imagine a lot of beeping luggage.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#359

Post by stu2b50 »

kemonocode wrote: post #256
habibur wrote: post #16

> AirTag is designed for over a year’s worth of battery life with everyday use. The CR2032 battery is user-replaceable and widely available. Replacement batteries are sold separately. That's the piece of information I wanted to know first. Devices like this can be built, but those can't run on batteries for a reasonable time frame. Apple made it practical.

They probably caught enough flak with how incredibly unserviceable AirPods were and decided not to repeat the same mistake, especially here where it wouldn't give any benefit at all. Kind of a no-brainer, but you never know with Apple...

I don't think it's reasonable to expect user replaceable batteries in airpods themselves - case, perhaps. That's one form factor where it's not only small, but every gram lighter matters.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#360

Post by lucasverra »

millerm wrote: post #340
JKCalhoun wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As with many things in life though it would be better than nothing since there are scenarios when it will help you find your dog.

Yeah, a lot of people applying the Nirvana fallacy here.

"It won't work after 72 hours of losing your dog while doing a space expedition on Mars!"
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