“Slipping back into a lazy editorial stance that it rode last year all the way to a Pulitzer Prize, the New York Times has crafted a front page story about the growing problem of cellphone thefts that manages to shift the blame from the thieves who steal them to the carriers that subsidize them and the manufacturers that make them — singling out Apple in particular,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune.
George Gascón, San Francisco’s district attorney, says handset makers like Apple should be exploring new technologies that could help prevent theft: “Unlike other types of crimes, this is a crime that could be easily fixed with a technological solution.” – Brian X. Chen and Malia Wollan, The New York Times, May 2, 2013
“Apple does offer users a technological solution, as readers discover in the 14th paragraph. It’s called Find My Phone… Google and Samsung and the other manufacturers of Android phones, we learn later, do not offer the equivalent of a Find My Android, yet executives at Google and Samsung are not interviewed for the piece,” P.E.D. reports. “The Times piece doesn’t say so, but the reason iPhones are favored by thieves is they hold their resale value better than competing smartphones.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Makes you wonder what else The New York Times is lying about.
It’s unsurprising that The New York Times‘ earnings are down 93% year over year.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Thumper” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
iTheft busters: NYPD forms dedicated team to catch iPhone and iPad thieves – February 22, 2013
Thanks to Apple’s ‘Find My iPad,’ California police arrest Christmas present thief – December 27, 2011
Apple’s ‘Find My iPhone’ helps find wreckage of Chilean plane crash – September 7, 2011
Find My iPhone! Hampshire binmen save iPhone after rubbish error – January 13, 2011
Mugging victim uses Apple’s ‘Find My iPhone’ to track robbers – August 31, 2009
NYC thieves want iPhones, victims are fighting back with tech like Apple’s ‘Find My iPhone’ – July 2, 2009
“All the news that fits, we’ll print”
All the news that shits, you mean…
All the NY Times print is fit for is to line bird cages,which is to say birdshit on shit.
Many, if not most, stolen iPhones are exported overseas were local police are unable or unwilling to recover them. Apple needs to develop a kill switch to brick stolen phones if it is discovered that the phone is in use in some third world rat hole.
There are certain model vehicles in the same brand that have high incidences of theft. I have never hear of anyone saying that the auto manufacturer hasn’t done enough to prevent theft. For those owners, it’s usually said they need additional protection such as a steering wheel lock, a car alarm or a Lojack installation. Putting the blame on a company that makes the product worth stealing is definitely wrong. Humans steal, so they’re the ones to blame. There are countries where you can leave items unlocked and they’ll likely be there when you get back.
Where I was growing up in the 1950’s in New York City there were places like that. I could leave my bike out all night long and not concern myself it might be gone in the morning. Now I can’t leave my bike for a couple of minutes without thoroughly chaining it up. Should the bike manufacturer be blamed for that? No. I think that’s beyond their realm. It’s probably time to start chopping off a hand of criminals who are convicted of such crimes.
You mean make device owners responsible for the items they purchase? That makes far too much sense, but I gave your post 5 stars anyway.
Leftist have settled into the deep end of the looney bin.
As if the NYT is “Leftist”. Pish tosh. They did everything in their power to gin up support for the Iraq War, hardly a Leftist position.
Anyone who thinks the NYT does not lean left is too far gone with which to bother arguing.
Sorry, did you miss the little detail that lefties have always been warmongers?
War is the health of the state, and lefties want the state as big and healthy as they can get it.
Huh?
Not this ‘lefty’.
You clearly have no idea what is actually left.
Anyway, can we all agree that most large corporate-owned news organizations are not about honesty, objectivity, and good journalism? Instead, they are about whatever lines their pockets, either through selling to readers/viewers, or by benefiting their corporate parent by influencing the people and politicians to make decisions in their favor.
All you people who keep getting distracted by Republican versus Democrat are missing the part where they work together to steal your freedom, your resources, and your environment to hand it to rich people. Stop being useful fools.
It is the same with “rightists”, unfortunately. Both are corporate sell-outs, fans of crony capitalism.
I don’t disagree that the NYT is a corporate sell-out. But it is anything but a “leftist” paper.
And frankly, I don’t want my news to lean in either direction – I just want the facts.
They almost do not provide facts; they provide lie in disguise.
It is almost common sense that Fox News is propaganda, but somehow people think that CNN is “neutral”.
This is ridiculous, because CNN was war monger in all recent years, almost NEVER reporting facts about the second Iraq war, pretending that truth and opinion are equal. They completely failed in informing US citizens about the very basis of why that war was started (there was no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the country had nothing to do with 9/11 tragedy — it was known from day one according to all major intelligence services in the world).
And it did not even start in 2000s. In 1990s CNN was a propaganda for illegal (non approved by UN) assault on former Yugoslavia, fabricating “facts” and “evidence” against one of the parties in a civil war. US NATO general’s memoires describe those accounts in details: CNN systematically ascribed land strikes and atrocious war crimes only to one side of the conflict (in that case, Serbs).
CNN did it because if American people would actually see that all parties are bad in the war, there would be no way to make an illegal assault on the region “justified” in the eyes of public, which always seeks simplistic “good guys” versus “bad guys” scenario.
CNN was and is totally in bed with government establishment — as well as other media.
Too bad. The Times used to be more discerning.
Silly paper.
Everybody knows it’s Bush’s fault…..
A Lot is Bush’s fault. Acceptance of stupidity is one thing. This has nothingto do with Bush, Obama, or politics in general. Just lousy reporting. Not as bad as Fox or CNN, though…
Sorry for the confusion. Let me bring you up to date.
Saying ‘it’s Bush’s fault’ is no longer a political statement.
It is a euphemism for misplacing blame, passing the buck, covering your ass, evading responsibility, and in a few instances, how you got crabs….
If Apple has a solution how can the NYT say Apple is the problem?
Did Steve Jobs piss in their cornflakes the last time he visited them? I hope so.
It would appear that the NY Times has observed what goes on in the blogosphere and now uses it in a similar fashion in their “newspaper.”
If you want to generate hits, create some irrational negative manifesto about Apple and watch the Apple defenders beat a path to your door.
The most useful thing anyone can do about it these days is avoid the NY Times like the plague of piss yellow journalism it is.
I wipe the turds out every day with the NYT lib shitrag
I suppose it’s pretty hard to wipe one’s ass with Fox News network.
And all other crime can not be addressed by simple technological solutions? Yea, obviously, only Apple and a smartphone creates an imbalance in the justice system.
The OS X Dictionary knows “blogosphere” and “cyberterrorism.”
Just kinda interesting.
It’s The NYC mayors fault, cause he allows fat kids to drink soda!
A technological solution? If someone other than the registered owner touches the phone, they get a shock? Or perhaps the phone shoots them in the face with a red paint ball? Or maybe Apple should make only phones that nobody wants.
If George Gascón has such a great idea for a technoligical fix, maybe he should pony it up, instead of just whining about it.
Now if Apple eventually perfects fingerprint recognition…
Deny responsibility, shift the blame. That’s the mantra.
If this had been any other paper than the NYT, Apple fanboys/girls would have been up in arms flaming them with napalm! As it is, it is the NYT, so Apple fanboys/girls have a mysterious warm glow inside them at the thought that the NYT has cleverly reaped advertising money from Apple inc’s rivals whilst panning them by seemingly poking their finger into Apple’s eye!
Way to go NYT!!! I for one will be using monopoly money to pay for my subs to you! 🙂
As a fair reflection of how hard you have worked to earn it!
The various comments about the NYT here clearly refute your entire diatribe.
Kinda like the incessant attacks by the left on FOX?
Have you even read the responses?
You are clearly delusional.
You’re not X or c3po or Walter or whatever the regular trolls are calling themselves, are you? Your slightly off syntax makes me wonder.
Whatever, seeing as how everyone is slagging off NYT, it’s quite clear you have no fucking idea what you’re on about.
Hey NYT! You want another Pulitzer? How about you do some real Jounalism? A big investigative report needs to be done on Samesung’s efforts to pay for anti-Apple headlines, Articles, Fake postings, comments & reviews. Samesung fears having their corporate warfare smear campaign exposed. look how quickly they reacted to the Taiwan HTC investigation by the FTC. Maybe then, even the Hee Haw demographic will decide against giving Samesung their money.
Cuz, Samsung had eight full page ads last week introducing their plastic craptastic Galaxy. In the words of Tony Soprano you don’t “shit where you eat”.
It’s due to Global Warming, right Al?
Pretty dumb response. Sorry.
Used to be it was easy to tell the big 3 in NYC apart. I suppose you could add the NY Post and say 4 bigs. WSJ, NYT, Daily, and Post. Some use more glaring, or outlandish titles, font and color space, but its all the same old crap… In technology and politics – and I’m not interested in starting a thread war – “reporting” is/has been dead for years. Instant communication methods for media boil it down to what it truly is: advertising and marketing TO you or OF you.
Brian X Chen. That pretty much sums up the quality and reputation of the NYT today.
If Brian X. Chen and Malia Wollan believe there is a simple technological solution to prevent iPhone theft, why don’t they patent it and then license that patent to Apple?
Why haven’t they done it? Simple. Because no such solution exists or will be realistic in the foreseeable future.
There is a simple solution. CONCEAL AND CARRY!
there ya’ go again, TM, gettin’ all constitutional on us.
The New York Slimes
To those who see the NY Times as a political button, please go vent elsewhere. This has nothing to do with politics, and it’s bad enough to listen to anti-Apple fanboys, I don’t need to come here and get nauseous.
new here?
See, here’s the thing. In the on going struggle between the major political factions of this country. The New York Times has set ITSELF up as a symbol of the leftist agenda. On different occasions the editors and reporters of the New York Times have themselves admitted their LWNJ status. I think they used the words “progressive bias.” Ultimately you cannot look at the phrase “New York Times” without it conjuring a political and visceral response anymore than one could look at other great socialist symbols, like the hammer and sickle, the iconic Che Guevara poster, or the swastika, without reacting.
Like my grandmother used to say, rest her soul, “They is what they is.”
The NY Times has an agenda? Nah, couldn’t be.
If it’s stolen Find my iPhone is useless most of the time. We’ve located stolen gear on several occasions and the police cannot and will not help… Because it’s not 1 inch precise and doesn’t tell u exact address. And apartment buildings are out because they have to check every apartment.
It’s nice to see ur stolen gear flashing on a cryptic map but that’s about it. Some people in small towns with overzealous cops go for it but it’s flawed overall.
I just read the whole article. Seems like the spin here is completely on MDN. “The NYT tried to blame Apple…” C’mon, that’s just stupid. IPhones figure prominently in the story because they are the most popular and desirable smartphone. And getting in a tizzy because find my iPhone is in “Paragraph 14” is dumb, as well. It’s 2/3rd down the first page, where the article turns to talk about technical solutions more specifically.
I understand the the words “New York Times” have become just another Pavlovian catch phrase designed to send conservatives into a hissy fit, but seriously, MDN is the one being ridiculous here.
Please don’t confuse the conversation by inserting facts. It’s more fun reading the silliness spouted by the unthinking fanatics…
😆
Is The NYT crapy because they are scrabbling to recover a 93% YoY decline, or are they declining because they have been crapy over the last year. Would be interesting to find the main true cause.
Not that it’s important to me, but did the Koch Bros. buy them in the last year or so?
MDN, your editorializing is complete rubbish.
When a NYT, or any other journal’s, editorial uses the word “should”, the intelligent reader does not construe its meaning to EVER imply blame or lying. Only an extremely biased click whore would ever attempt to intentionally misconstrue to such illogical conclusion. Shame on you, MDN. Stop playing cheap politics and report Mac news honestly.
Why we can’t found a solution of theft ,what may be the reason behind this? It’s simple to answer it .
*Price
Apple is responsible for this.
Could you translate that from Korenglish to regular English please, Samsung?