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Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

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Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#541

Post by Fokamul »

secalex wrote: post #475
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thankfully you were in Switzerland rather than the states, I just never see American police caring about that.

My friend/colleague had her phone stolen while she was napping in the hospital room of her terminally ill husband. Fortunately it had MDM. Called Palo Alto PD, I sat with them and tracked it from the hotel and it was already in San Jose. They worked with SJPD live and walked them into the guy who happened to be in a parking garage peering into cars. Caught him with a backpack full of stolen phones. The stereotype of…

Oh yeah, justice in the free and best country in the world. Prisons are hell on earth, so after his release, he will murder first person on sight and he will be back in no time.

So smart.

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#542

Post by opello »

renewiltord wrote: post #438
trollbridge wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the thieves actually are people, not "wildlife". And there is no reason to tolerate this kind of quality-of-life crime. Nobody is better off for it.

One way or the other, local culture is to do this. Yes, I agree it’s a negative sum choice. But they like it. It’s the same school of thought where a prison abolitionist didn’t report her gang rape: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/why-i-didnt-report... It’s a coastal elite view. As for whether they’re people and not wildlife as you put it, I suspect I’m more right than you are. Some of them have almost been…

> One way or the other, local culture is to do this. Yes, I agree it’s a negative sum choice. But they like it. It’s the same school of thought where a prison abolitionist didn’t report her gang rape: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/why-i-didnt-report...

How are gangs of thieves reasonably justified as part of culture? Surely civil society frowns on theft?

I read that article and I can (somehow) appreciate an ideal of prison reform so strong that it precluded reporting a crime--I think anyway--however, I did not see an explanation of what sort of remedy or justice this practitioner of a belief "in the abolition of police and prisons" would prefer. What is the appropriate punishment for such a crime? This is missing in the perspective presented. There is a description of a want for the perpetrator to change but no mechanism described for forcing the person to begin to change, just a reconciliation that every situation is different enough to avoid prescribing a template solution.

In the theft context, tolerating people that steal seems to enable theft. Humans can reason and are a product of the choices they've made. One ideal of the courts is exposure to alternatives, in the case of your deadlocked murder case, there are annoying factors from my arm chair: perhaps first-degree was too high a bar, the use of IQ in a legal setting in 2023 is annoying because without knowing how it was measured it should be assumed culturally biased and pointless, what levels of decision making abrogate personal responsibility--in managing a disease or making choices that lead to finding oneself in a particular setting. The resulting life in prison without parole sentence is probably just, but as with the Las Vegas story, I think that's up to those most affected by the crime to decide.

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#543

Post by arghwhat »

sib wrote: post #414
arghwhat wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are third-party tags out there compatible with both Google and Apple's network that is roughly the same size and use the same battery, yet have a giant lanyard opening in the design to fit anything. Apple could trivially have fit a usable hole if they wanted to. They just don't want to because they get to sell accessories with that now. Also, looking cleaner on its own helps sell even if that is an entirely use…

Do the third-party tags have all the same features, size, capabilities, range, durability, etc.? Or have they made other tradeoffs instead of eliding the attachment point?

Nothing related to the attachment point.

I don't know of any third-party AirTag-compatible trackers that have UWB right now, but this applies equally to tags that are much larger than the AirTag. The rest is identical - good battery life, range, loud speaker, ...

I have a few theories on the lacking UWB:

1. Given that UWB is also super slow to roll out to Google Find, with only the Moto Tag available, there might be a technical/regulatory hurdle that manufacturers don't think is worth it

2. Apple/Google might make it a pain to be allowed to integrate with their UWB stuff

3. Cost - maybe the UWB stack is comparatively expensive, with third-party tags aiming for price brackets as low as 1/0th the cost of an AirTag

As a note, I don't know if this is because of regional differences in spectrum limits, but at least with AirTag and Moto Tag v1 EU versions, I could never get UWB to give any meaningful directions until I was already staring at the thing. Once you were in range to even consider UWB, playing a sound would be way more effective.

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#544

Post by Cthulhu_ »

johncolanduoni wrote: post #337
pnw wrote: post #318

Unfortunately the anti-stalking features have made Airtag mostly useless for theft prevention. You have less than an hour to retrieve your item before the tag alerts the thief they are being tracked. I've seen it trigger as quickly as 30 minutes.

How useful is a GPS position for theft prevention? IME cops are not interested in doing more than filing a report after a theft, even if you have a live GPS location of the item for them. Do you try and go get it yourself?

GPS won't prevent theft, but can help in recovery. Can.

But Apple does more stuff as well, like encrypting your phone and making it so even harvesting a stolen phone for parts is unattractive (everything has serial numbers and you can't just swap a part out).

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#545

Post by ta9000 »

Fokamul wrote: post #541
secalex wrote: post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friend/colleague had her phone stolen while she was napping in the hospital room of her terminally ill husband. Fortunately it had MDM. Called Palo Alto PD, I sat with them and tracked it from the hotel and it was already in San Jose. They worked with SJPD live and walked them into the guy who happened to be in a parking garage peering into cars. Caught him with a backpack full of stolen phones. The stereotype of…

Oh yeah, justice in the free and best country in the world. Prisons are hell on earth, so after his release, he will murder first person on sight and he will be back in no time. So smart.

blink You OK there bud?

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#547

Post by huhtenberg »

exabrial wrote: post #419

What airtags need is a theft mode, where anyone carrying the airtag is not alerted, but the location can be retrieved by an approved local authority after being voluntarily surrendered by the owner.

This also requires authorities that would care about this sort of case.

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#548

Post by cyann »

_ph_ wrote: post #146

I have an older AirTag, which cannot be seen by my iPhone any more but gives a slight beep whenever it gets shaken. Anyone ever heard of the behavior?

I had a similar problem, the 5 reboots fixed it: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102577

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#549

Post by energy123 »

mock-possum wrote: post #487
slg wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering theft is a property crime and stalking is often a prelude to much worse, I think they made the right choice.

Hard disagree. I am not and would not use an AirTag for stalking, and yet I am being punished for others doing it. It’s not fair to me.

I personally wouldn't use a rocket launcher for anything nefarious. It's super unfair.

Re: Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability

#550

Post by nairboon »

justinator wrote: post #505
ifwinterco wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland is the Singapore of Europe (I mean this in a good way!) - the state just functions in a way that other European countries can only dream of

> the state just functions in a way that other European countries can only dream of affording being able to I have fixed that for you.

That affordability is closely related with fiscal policy...
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