5 ms·
I naively assumed that the vast majority of phones already had kill switches. If my iPhone gets stolen, I can track it and remotely brick it. A thief can't eras
by ggreer 13y ago
I naively assumed that the vast majority of phones already had kill switches. If my iPhone gets stolen, I can track it and remotely brick it. A thief can't erase/restore without my Apple ID.[1] It looks like it takes more effort to get this behavior on an Android device. A thief won't be able to get the data off my Nexus 7, but it looks like they can still restore it and sell it.
I think that as wireless and battery technologies become cheaper/better, more devices will have remote tracking/bricking. The incremental cost will be minuscule, but the benefit (drastically reducing likelihood of theft) is great.
1. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5818 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5818
- schoen 13y agoThe "Find My iPhone" feature has to be turned on ahead of time, so one issue between proponents of the existing SB962 and the industry is whether these features should be deployed as opt-in or opt-out.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoCould Apple not just require it at phone activation?
- schoen 13y agoI think that would satisfy SB962 if it became law, though Apple and others would prefer not to be required to do this.
- toomuchtodo 13y ago> though Apple and others would prefer not to be required to do this. Why?
- bashinator 13y agoCynically, so they can sell more phones by keeping theft rates high.
- icameron 13y agoA private manufacturer being told by politicians how to design their own product for reasons other than consumer or environmental protection is not right. The traditional example is the auto industry regulation... Requiring seat belts in new cars for example. Or requiring private companies to properly dispose of waste because pollutants in the environment is a health risk. But this issue is not a case of safety. Nobody will be injured by a device that doesn't brick itself. That is overreaching into an area not controlled by the government. It wouldn't be good for Apple to implement and support an unnecessary feature.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- toomuchtodo 13y agoI don't believe requiring Find My Phone to be activated as part of the activation would be that onerous of a regulation.
- ggreer 13y agoGood point. I thought most people enabled Find my iPhone (and used iOS 7), but a quick poll of ten people with iOS devices shows that only two meet that criteria.