Little Orphan Article

[Adel]

Note
Was cleaning through my writing folders and found a few unused pieces from my old Chairman's Corner column in the old MugMagazine that were never published. Here's one that is fairly new, unread, and still useful, I think (and prophetic, as borne out by recent events, and a thread in the old site that came up after this piece was written, but before it was released). Rather than dump this into the trash, never to be seen again, I figured I'd post it up for whatever its worth.





iParanoia
By Adel Gabot
February 19, 2004


Let this be a warning to the pod people among us.

I know of two recent instances when iPods were stolen.

One was a plain hack-and-slash robbery last December in SM Megamall where the thief probably didn’t even know what he stole. The 15gb 2nd Gen iPod was the third major item stolen (the other two were a Palm Vx and a Sony-Ericsson T68i). The thief left behind the earphones, the remote and the firewire cable, which was small consolation.

I don’t know if the thief understood that the third item was worth more than the other two combined, but knowing the ignorance of the general public, he probably had no idea. The PDA and the iPod were in a little zip pouch, and the phone was just thrown there willy-nilly among the other junk in her knapsack, which is now ruined. Lucky is the fence who realizes the value of that little white soap bar. Luckier the wily buyer if the fence never knew what he was fencing. Whichever way it went down, someone lucked out.

The second instance is more scary.

It happened in one of the pay toilets of Glorietta 4, the one beside Marks and Spencer on the ground floor, sometime in late January. A guy was walking around all over the Makati CBD that afternoon, oblivious, with the telling and distinctive white earbuds. After he needed to take a leak. He paid ten bucks for the private and presumably safe toilet (which was never crowded) and was doing his business at the urinal when he felt something sharp poking his back. A male voice told him in Tagalog not to turn around.

Here’s the scary part that sent chills down my spine and raised the hair on my arms: the voice said, “Akin na yang iPod mo!”

This thief knew exactly what he was after. An iPod.

Never mind that he also asked for the poor victim’s cellphone and wallet (seeming afterthoughts, really), and then told him to drop trou all the way down to his ankles, not turn around and not go out of the comfort room for the next five minutes. (He didn’t comply; as soon as the door closed behind the thief, he hitched up his pants and stumbled out after him, but the guy was gone.)

The whole thing took less than 30 seconds. Typical hold-up, yes. The scary part was that he asked for the iPod by name.

Yikes.

Unlike our first example, this thief knew what it was he was stealing and presumably, how much it was worth. It was a 20gb 3G iPod, bought for Christmas with hard-earned cash. These fine details may have been lost on the robber, but he did understand one important fact very well: that thing was expensive.

The point of the story is this – our happy days are over, pod people. The bad guys know about our little passion, our little conspiracy. Our secret is out. It was too good to last. Hiding behind public ignorance and feeling safe in relative anonymity won’t cut it anymore. They’re on to us. As our iPod Roll Call thread shows, the numbers of pod people are growing, especially in recent months. In fact it seems to be de rigueur for the contemporary post-OS X Mac User to have an iPod to supplement the complimentary iTunes. A lot of us seem to think so, judging by the roll call. We’re a massive, untapped resource, a market ripe for the picking.

I guess it’s to be expected. The iPod is a runaway hit, and has been for a while now. With the surge in Windows customers, it was bound to level up and be assimilated into the general consciouness. It’s a blip on the radar of the criminal elements for now, but it’ll loom big soon enough, especially after the launching of the iPod Mini.

The iPod is fast becoming a red flag, a big target, a bulls-eye inviting a shot. There are those who do flaunt the little MP3 players, yes. Look at me! I’m hip and I’m reasonably well-heeled. Aren’t you envious? And there are others who simply go about their business with the white buds glued to their ears. Regardless, we’re all marks.

An iPod is a badge of relative wealth, at least in this country – its price points keep it exclusive to those with disposable incomes, an elite club of potential marks. People are willing to spend the same approximate amount for a good phone, but for an MP3 player? To a snatcher or thief familiar with an iPod, carrying one makes you an obvious target; if you can afford one, you’re a ripe for the picking; primo quality, with plenty bling-bling. If he has one of those iPods, no telling what kind of cellphone he’s carrying – a Nokia 6600? (or course we all know no average thief would be so informed that he’d know any self-respecting 21st Century Mac user would only carry a Sony-Ericsson phone) – or how much cash he’s got in that fat, expensive wallet of his? Maybe he’s even got a Palm Pilot! Or an iPaq!

Losing one is a major trauma, more so than a phone because an iPod, and more importantly, its content, is an extremely personal and private possession, surpassed only by, perhaps, your toothbrush and underwear. It’s your soul in there! Forget the cost for a minute; losing all those jealously guarded, painfully sourced, bought, borrowed or stolen, meticulously ripped, carefully selected, sorted, organized, rated, categorized music is a soul-wrenching tragedy. Not to mention all the miscellaneous megabytes of contraband you probably have stashed there.

We’ll all have to be more careful and not walk around blissfully unaware of the real dangers waiting around the corner. Time to use earbuds less conspicuous than the Apple-prescribed white ones, and time to stop wearing iPods on our belts. Tuck them into bags and into pockets, and use that remote more often than actually fiddling with your iPod in public. Less obvious. And in a more telling observation, less ostentatious.

As that little New York Times story brought to our attention on the Forum said, most iPod users zone out and are oblivious to most everything around them, making them even easier marks on the street. I confess being guilty myself of that myself; I’ve had friends tap me on the shoulder more than once to say, “Huy! Ba’t ‘di ka namamansin ?” You’d be that much more vulnerable to a thief trailing you in the mall, waiting to get you alone in a secluded place.

Just a heads-up for everyone. Call me paranoid; I might be overstating things, but it never hurts to be careful these days, right?

[extremyks]

Is it possible to get a insurance for our iPods?

Next best thief line would be "Akin na yan mini-iPod mo!" :roll:

[Maverick]

what would you do guys and gals if you were the one getting mugged ? Would you give it up? Or let it go? :wound:

[assdoc]

Give it up bro! Nothing is worth more than your life. Take it from me. I have operated on so many foolhardy persons who thought they could fight off muggers who are so desperate they would kill for a pack of cigarettes.