Interesting. Apple patents a device to prevent stolen laptops and iPods from charging!

[thewayne]

Very cool. Could actually produce a reduction in crime if criminals knew they couldn't charge what they stole, but not a significant reduction (people do get mugged frequently in London when they're seen wearing the signature white iPod headphones). Of course, it wouldn't prevent, in the case of laptops, removing the battery and charging it outside of the laptop, but that might take more work than people are wanting to contend with. Then again, if they build a sync technology between the battery and laptop, you could prevent the battery from being recharged external to the laptop -- most batteries have an electronic serial number that can be read by the laptop.

And you can register multiple (and third party!) chargers with your device, so that's cool.

I wonder if they'll retrofit the software to work with the two Mac laptops that we've bought this year.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/07/apple-patent--1.html

Comments

[silveradept]

Hrm - a theft prevention device that actually protects what's already been bought and only gets in the way of people who have actually stolen the object. Way to go, Apple. We'll have to see how this plays out, and wheether there are sensible defaults on the software.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

It says the plan is that you can register multiple and third-party devices for it, so it sounds like they've done some pretty good eval on it.

[silveradept]

It really does sound like they're doing their homework and listening in to what people have to say about it. It's kind of like Apple's hit for the cycle or something, with how rare and impressive this looks.

[deborak]

Apple doesn't understand criminals. They don't steal electronics to get electronics to use. They steal electronics to sell to suckers on the street/eBay. Said suckers will be the ones screwed when they discover the charging issue. The criminal will be long gone with his profit.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Absolutely right. It will reduce selling to fences as the fences will quickly learn that the merchandise is worthless. Anyone buying a laptop on the street or from an eBayer that doesn't have a long and solid reputation is just asking for it, though.

As for me, it actually makes little difference -- most of the time my laptop is with me in my backpack, and if I'm out of town, the charger is also in the backpack. I do think though that it is, overall, a good idea.