I've read an interesting article by the Associated Press about IPod's and whether or not they're responsible for an increase in crimes. The article said a think-tank called "The Urban Institute" raised the issue last September and held a panel to further explore the idea.
The Urban Institute's argument is there was a dramatic decrease in robberies since the 1990's, but we witnessed a sharp increase from 2005 to 2006 when IPod's went mainstream. The AP article states:
"FBI statistics show the robbery rate went from 137 per 100,000 people in 2004 to 141 per 100,000 in 2005 and 149 in 2006. That helped boost the overall rate of violent crime in those years, even as rape rates fell and aggravated assault was generally flat. During those years, iPods were going mainstream. In late 2004, Apple had sold about 5 million iPods. By the end of 2005 that had ballooned to 42 million, and in 2006 the number neared 90 million."
The think-tank believes the sudden surge of such a lucrative and portable consumer elctronic good such as the IPod increased the three factors of crime: a motivated offender, a suitable victim, and no natural observers or other significant deterrents.
Some of this makes sense when you think about it:
"Motivation: The IPod's several-hundred-dollar expense and pop-culture buzz made potential thieves, especially young ones, crave the device for themselves or for a lucrative resale market. Suitable victims: People listening through the iconic white earphones are easy to pick out and often unaware of their surroundings. Easy to get away with: IPods lack a mechanism that would pinpoint a thief's location or a subscription that could be canceled by the rightful owner."I agree with the article's writer that there are quite a few holes in this way of thinking. For example, the report completely ignores the idea that thieves would have taken something else other an IPod and had been doing so before the IPod. What about a Playstation Portable or Nintendo DS? One of the more commonly stolen items, in some of the communal settings I'm familiar with, (military barracks and college dormitories) are laptops and digital cameras. IPods are there as well but rarely have I ever questioned a thief who said he tore apart a room looking an IPod.
The writer also looks at the definition a robbery versus a larceny. Robbery is the taking of another person's property by force or threat of force. The report only blames the IPod on a surge of violent crime (robberies and murders based on failed attempts to rob IPod's).
Here's what I think: IPod's take away a sense of situational awareness that people need to be able to use to adequately defend themselves against predators. Have you ever been jogging with your IPod on and lose track of time and space? What this says to any predator is that you're not paying attention to surroundings and an ambush would be easy. While I don't believe the IPod is solely to blame for the increase in violent crimes, I do believe it is a "critical indicator".
It's one of the reasons I'm beginning to like the Taser C2. If a would-be robber sees you with earphones and thinks of you as a target-of-opportunity, then at least the C2 will buy you time to stop the attacker, run somewhere safe, and get the police.
The Urban Institute's paper (in PDF format):
Apple's patent filing for anti-theft locks:
FBI crime statistics:
