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A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

(www.elevationlab.com)
672 points dmd | 3 comments | 18 Dec 24 18:17 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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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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nostromo ◴[19 Dec 24 23:27 UTC] No.42466818[source]▶
If it’s left anywhere in the open at anytime, you can repossess it legally as well. This happens with auto repossessions all the time. You don’t owe anyone an explanation as it’s yours - just take it if you can do so safely.
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mikeortman ◴[19 Dec 24 23:38 UTC] No.42466899[source]▶
Just be careful! In SOME jurisdictions, you can get in trouble for 'stealing' if you take back something that was stolen. Possession vs Ownership are 2 different things. For instance, the thief may have stolen something, sold it to someone who bought it in good-faith, and you take it back from that person, it's technically theft!

File a police report, go through the right channels. If you know its yours, call the police department non-emergency and explain the situation

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srockets ◴[20 Dec 24 01:13 UTC] No.42467388[source]▶
The police won’t help you. It’s not their job.
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happyopossum ◴[20 Dec 24 03:02 UTC] No.42467898[source]▶
Move, or elect better local politicians. Your city is broken.
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1. serf ◴[20 Dec 24 03:54 UTC] No.42468135{3}[source]▶
we can't all live in Bedford Falls, and the police aren't there for the benefit of the every-person no matter where you live.

it's a nice bit of propaganda that they're there for us, but I urge anyone with that idea to seek out and research the history and origins of the modern police.

hint : in the US they first emerged as 'slave patrols', and then later modernized into 'industrial labor controls', and things weren't all that much better across the ocean in London with Sir Robert Peel and his version of the 'police service'.

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2. gottorf ◴[20 Dec 24 19:18 UTC] No.42474006[source]▶
> the history and origins of the modern police

> in the US they first emerged as 'slave patrols'

> Sir Robert Peel and his version of the 'police service'

I assume that prior to the "modern" police, policing was still necessary, since there were lawbreakers and troublemakers since time immemorial. What do you regard as the substantive difference between the pre-modern police force and the modern? Did the former somehow serve "all of us" better than the latter?

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3. lazide ◴[21 Dec 24 09:41 UTC] No.42478595[source]▶
Typically law enforcement was DIY, done by a mob, or done at the behest/in the interest of a local strongman (king or lord).

That led to extremely selective enforcement at the best of times.

The idea of a professional, independent force that served the public and preferred formal laws was the innovation.

Previously you’d need to either deal with it yourself, or track down a local patron and hope they cared enough to assign some muscle to deal with it on your behalf - and didn’t favor the perp more. Think ‘Godfather’. In those cases, written law was rarely a priority either.