Tracking a Move Via "Find My iPhone" 216
dmolnar writes "I recently helped my girlfriend move her stuff from Chicago, IL to Oakland, CA. The movers were scheduled to arrive at 8AM on the 5th of July, and we were stressing the day before about all the things that could go wrong with a move. We realized that if we knew where her stuff was, it'd make us feel better. This is a story about using the $99 iPhone to track the move ... and about a somewhat surprising potential use of Find My iPhone to track your friends' iPhones without them noticing."
Much cheaper... (Score:5, Informative)
Personally I would have gone with something from deal extreme, a GPSSMS bridge. It costs the same as the iPhone, but without the contract. You could have bought simple card from Walmart.
Not to mention it would have been designed for this and probably last a bit longer. Put in eBay after you're done and recoup some of the costs.
What does a iPhone cost without the data plan? (Say the phone broke and you need a new one, not to mention you just signed up for 2 years)
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25332 [dealextreme.com]
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21686 [dealextreme.com]
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11314 [dealextreme.com]
Iphones are not $99 (Score:5, Informative)
Do people really buy in to the BS about an Iphone being $99? IT's only $99 if you sign your soul away for 2 years. The mobile carriers here are so fortunate to have an ignorant populace that is eager to go through the mental gymnastics required to truly believe that their iphone only costed $99.
Google Lattitude (Score:4, Informative)
"find my iphone" is EXPENSIVE (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Much cheaper... (Score:5, Informative)
Isn't the whole point of the article about current users utilising existing features in new and innovative ways. i.e. with a marginal cost of zero.
That would be using one of the many location tracking features that have been out for years for other smartphones. The total cost isn't $99+2 year contract, but simply $200 for the phone and no contract.
These days, the simplest of the bunch is probably Google Latitude.
No expensive iPhone needed.
Re:Iphones are not $99 (Score:5, Informative)
So.... how do you use any phone with out service? The contract really means nothing the US since AT&T is the only major GSM carrier in the US that supports all of the features of the iPhone.
You can get an unlocked Nokia N78 for about $230 with no contract. Then, buy AT&T prepaid. It's a lot cheaper than an iPhone with a 2 year contract and has the same functionality.
What carrier would a person switch to without losing features?
Works fine in Europe, where phones and service are a lot cheaper, all carriers are compatible, and people can switch freely (unless they sign a contract, which also exist if you want the phone discount). There's no reason it couldn't work here.
Re:$99 iPhone ? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Moving company? (Score:3, Informative)
So much for RTFA... (Score:3, Informative)
"As for returning the iPhone, I keep meaning to, but somehow it has become...precious...to me. Maybe Apple will claim a new iPhone user out of all this after all."
Where does it say he threw it away? That would be an idiotic thing to do in any case.
Re:Much cheaper... (Score:3, Informative)
What does a iPhone cost without the data plan? (Say the phone broke and you need a new one, not to mention you just signed up for 2 years)
From reading the article (I know, sorry!) it seems they believed there was a clause in the AT&T contract which allowed them to cancel within 30 days and keep the iPhone.
I think they might have been mistaken about that, since AT&T are unlikely to make much money giving away iPhones for free. To use everyone's favourite analogy, it's like renting a car for a week, but if you cancel within 24 hours you get to keep the car.
UK Phone Contracts (Score:1, Informative)
My Contract Mobile is less than £15.00 per month with 200 minutes included.
Compare that to Vodaphone Pay as you go at 37p per min. It does not take a rocket scientist to work out the crossover point (40mins approx). I generally use between 100 & 130 minutes per month. That is not exactly expensive
However back on topic, I wish I could get an iPhone for the equivalent of $99.00.
Re:UK Phone Contracts (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Cheap GPS logger? (Score:3, Informative)
I bought a Garmin Venture CX for a similar purpose; to record where I have been so that I can interpolate the location of pictures I took with where I was, based on the timestamp of the picture.
It has a feature where every day can be logged to the MicroSD card, so while the built-in memory is a bit limited, you can have basically unlimited storage in the MicroSD card.
Get some good batteries and it lasts a while. (Hybrid batteries like the Sanyo Eneloops are very much recommended.)
No Bluetooth, but it does have a USB interface that works well in Ubuntu, and as a bonus you can power it off a laptop/cell phone charger. My GPS has spent a while on the dash of a firetruck plugged in recording where I have been.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Iphones are not $99 (Score:4, Informative)
That clause is predicated on your good faith intention of actually keeping the item until, for some reason, you decide it did not meet your expectations and so you return it. If you intention from the start was to take advantage of this clause by using the item and returning it before the deadline, you are not acting in good faith; your intent is to defraud the company.
It would have been an easy case for AT&T to make, given the guy's confession and all.
Check out "Wardrobing" or "renting":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_fraud [wikipedia.org]
-dZ.
Re:Much cheaper... (Score:1, Informative)
Yeah, well, actually, lots of moving vans aren't built entirely of sheet metal, they've got plenty of non-metallic components - sometimes roofs, sometimes the walls are plywood or other composites, etc. All metal's often too expensive, and too heavy.
Re:Much cheaper... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Much cheaper... (Score:2, Informative)