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A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

(www.elevationlab.com)
675 points dmd | 7 comments | 18 Dec 24 18:17 UTC | HN request time: 1.04s | source | bottom
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jmull ◴[19 Dec 24 19:42 UTC] No.42465013[source]▶
I know this is useful (for something), but I'm stuck on the plot holes in the motivating story...

Why didn't they replace the battery when the app complained?

How long would a thief really keep the AirTag anyway?

If the thief did keep the AirTag and you tracked them down, then what? A confrontation has a fairly high chance to have a worse result than losing some equipment. You could try to get the police to do it, but that's going to take more time, during which the thief is even more likely to ditch the AirTag.

Anyway, you're really swimming upstream trying to think of aigtags as an antitheft device. They're really for something lost, not stolen. Generally, they are specifically designed to not work well in adversarial situations.

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joshuahaglund ◴[19 Dec 24 20:46 UTC] No.42465554[source]▶
I've retrieved stolen bikes, one because of an airtag. Showed up with a couple friends standing by but not trying to be intimidating. It's mostly about staying calm and telling the person this is mine, I'm taking it. They always say "no it's my friend's, you're gonna piss him off" or "I just bought this" or something. Maybe you offer some fraction of a "reward" to smooth it along and cut your losses. Don't try to start a fight and it generally goes OK. Also, try not to accuse them of stealing, they'll just get defensive. "It's someone else who is screwing us both, but this is mine sorry."
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1. Etheryte ◴[19 Dec 24 23:29 UTC] No.42466835[source]▶
Yeah no, that's not how any of this works. Just because someone else is holding your bike in their hands does not make it theirs. You're within your rights to take back what's yours.
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2. throw90230932 ◴[19 Dec 24 23:36 UTC] No.42466880[source]▶
....
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3. Etheryte ◴[19 Dec 24 23:53 UTC] No.42467002{3}[source]▶
No, it does not get complicated fast, in fact it's very simple. Selling stolen goods does not take ownership away from the original owner. There's a good write up about this on the Law Stack Exchange site [0].

[0] https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/15869/if-someone-ste...

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4. ◴[20 Dec 24 00:05 UTC] No.42467072{4}[source]▶
5. jen729w ◴[20 Dec 24 02:48 UTC] No.42467824[source]▶
It works the other way, too.

Years ago a UK bank incorrectly deposited money in my account. My GF’s dad was a lawyer, so I asked him if I could spend it.

“It’s like if someone parks their car in your driveway”, he told me. “While that’s inconvenient, it doesn’t make it your car.”

6. itsanaccount ◴[20 Dec 24 04:44 UTC] No.42468358{4}[source]▶
Ah yes, law. Something arguable and correct and somehow different from the people who happen to be enforcing it.

Pretty soon this is going to be how we separate the generations, people who still believe in imaginary things from the before times.

7. ajdude ◴[20 Dec 24 13:49 UTC] No.42471033[source]▶
Why make a throwaway account and then still edit your post to remove your comments later?