Wires Crossed #109 – January 25
Apple Encourages Theft?
Apple Encourages Theft?
Yeah, we took a double take when we saw the headline, too. But it appears the person making the accusation has a point, albeit somewhat stretched. High School student Haley Rian says that when she had her iPhone stolen, the thief took it to the local Apple store, claimed it was broken and got a free replacement. Rian’s mother, Ellen, says that when they contacted Apple the company says the service plan is tied to the phone, not the person so they couldn’t help. Things got even worse when they were told by Apple that in order to get her phone back she had to get a subpoena and file a police report, yet somebody is out there with a phone under her name and she can’t do a thing about it. Not a good look for Apple.
Man’s Facebook Death Post Prophetic
Here’s a short quiz: Alleged thief, rapist and arsonist Eric Ramsey had just completed a crime spree, rammed a police vehicle and was about to be arrested when he:
- Gave himself up?
- Did a runner?
- Shot at Police?
- Made a Facebook post?
Those who guessed D would be right on the money. Facing down a county deputy, Ramsey was in a stolen sanitation truck when he rammed the car. While he was stationary, he made a Facebook post using his mobile phone stating “Well folks (sic), im (sic) about to get shot. Peace.” And he promptly was and died at the scene. There doesn’t seem to be any mention of how much of a danger he was presenting, but to have time to make such a post, and then be killed suggests maybe he should have surrendered instead.
Funniest Google Moments
Google’s Street View has picked up on some humourous, dangerous and outright weird pictures over the past few years. Included has been an amorous couple on a nature strip, a car thief, suspected heroin dealers and what appears to be a naked man in the boot of a car. These pictures and others came to light after it was alleged that one of the mappings service’s cars ran over a donkey – an allegation that the company denies. We think that most of the subjects are just happy that there are decent privacy laws in place in most countries.
LG Pushes Apple Into Third
More worrying signs for Apple after a less than stellar Q1 2013 results, is news out of America that it has been pushed into third place in terms of marketshare for smartphones. And who has pushed them there? Blackberry? No. Nokia? No. Sony? No. According to Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research it was LG. Samsung still has an almost unattainable lead with a 33 percent share of the US market, followed by LG on 13 percent and Apple on 12 percent. Still, some people would kill for US$13 billion plus profit the company made in that quarter, so we won’t start feeling sorry for him any time soon.