Dangit, My Apple iPhone Was Stolen Today!

Six months after getting my iPhone, it was stolen from me

Can I whine just a bit for a moment? WAH!

I'm just a little bummed out right now because earlier today my beloved iPhone was stolen. Yep, right from under my nose, the dad-blamit thing just disappeared on me. What makes it worse is that it happened at the gym likely while I was using the abdominal equipment to do my 150 crunches (as part of my new commitment to resistance training). Double whammy! UGH!

I know, I know, some of you are laughing hysterically right now because you feel utter glee that I would allow myself to lose something like an iPhone which I paid $600 for back in August 2007 (they've since dropped the price to $400). Alright, got that out of your system now? Good. For the rest of you without iPhone envy syndrome, I have to tell you that little gizmo was one of the best business investments I'd ever made. Besides my computer, that phone was my lifeline to so many facets of what I do. And it had EVERYTHING about me on it (but I'm not worried about identity theft since I got LifeLock four months ago to protect me).

But now my iPhone is gone in the blink of an eye. Shoot!

Here's what happened: Around noon today, I drove down to the gym to get in a quick 30-minute resistance training workout before running some errands to the bank and to pick up some kitty litter and cat food from PetSmart. The first thing I did when I got to Peak Fitness was head straight to the machine to do my abdominal workout since my personal trainer wants me to get in at least 100 a day (I've been doing 150).

As always, I kept my iPhone in my left pocket in case I got any calls while I was out. It's the same place I always keep it when I exercise and I've never had an issue. In my right pocket was my Sony Walkman to listen to the radio while I worked out. I went through my entire routine working on my abs and arms today, ran my errands, got home, and only took three steps inside before I felt down my left pocket for my iPhone and it wasn't there.

My heart immediately sunk (don't you just HATE that feeling?!).

Before I even spoke to my wife Christine, I raced out the door to my car and hurriedly drove back to the gym that was about a mile away from my house. When I got there, I asked the attendant at the front desk if anyone had turned in a cell phone. He starts digging for a box and said, "You can check in this box we have." I explained I was just there less than an hour before and that it would have been turned in recently. He said nothing was brought to him.

My heart sunk some more.

So I retraced all my steps in the gym and headed straight for the abdominal machine first. Not there. I looked around all the equipment and weights where I had been to see if it has slipped out around them. Same result...not there. I was getting sick to my stomach thinking that this little expensive apparatus that is one of the lifebloods of what I do had been stolen by a member or staff at my gym. ARGH ARGH ARGH!

Okay, so I seethed all the way back home and had to break the news to Christine who was the level-headed one for once when she suggested we call the police and file a stolen item report, call our insurance company to file a claim against our home owner's insurance, and call AT&T to suspend the usage of the iPhone until we can sort this thing out. Before I did all of that, though, I decided to call my cell phone number to see if someone had it and wanted to return it to the proper owner. But after three attempts and it went to voicemail each time, we started making the calls.

What was supposed to be an afternoon filled with getting some regular work in--making calls, doing some research, and blogging before the BCS Championship game tonight--turned into nearly five hours of being put on hold, transferred, sharing information, and the whole rigmarole you go through when something like this happens. We all have been through something like this at one time or another, so today was my lucky day. Ain't it great? NOT!

We suspended the telephone number with AT&T so the creep that has my iPhone couldn't make calls (as if he would even try that anyway since that would open himself up to being caught). I wasn't really worried about him/her running up the bill because I had a TON of minutes on there and AT&T has the rollover minutes as well. The person would have to talk nonstop for days before the bill would have been run up.

The next call was to Allstate to report this with my homeowner's policy. The deductible is $250 and I paid $600 six months ago for my iPhone, so we should get a little assistance with paying for a replacement phone. The actual report will be taken by a third-party processor on Tuesday so wish us luck!

Finally, we called the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department here in Spartanburg, South Carolina to report my iPhone being stolen. The very nice woman who took the report responded, "Oh my!" when I told her my iPhone was the item taken. She indicated the phone is a hot commodity for thieves. Not what I wanted to hear!

More rumbling in my stomach! Grrrrr!!!

But then some relatively good news started happening. I found a couple of old Apple credits that I had not used and decided to call them up to purchase a new iPhone to replace the stolen one. I was concerned about whether I had enough money in the bank to cover the replacement since our checking account balance was about $400. We don't use credit cards, so our check card was the only other payment option. After the two credits were applied, the total cost on our check card was just over $300. WHEW! That's $300 I didn't want to spend, but I need my iPhone again! They said it should be here by the end of the week.

Then I received a check in the mail today that fully replenished our checking account (Thank you Lord!) and helped us pay for the new phone. I drove down to the AT&T store and transferred my cell phone number that was on my iPhone to my old cell phone until the new iPhone arrives. At least I'll still get my calls from clients and be able to call long distance in the interim.

As for the punk who stole my iPhone, it's pretty much useless to him now. I've reported the serial number--75727M6HWH8--as STOLEN with AT&T, my insurance, and with the cops, so he's screwed if he tries to sell it or reactivate it for his own personal use. For the life of me, I cannot even begin to imagine what would compel somebody to think that taking something that doesn't belong to them is even remotely the right thing to do. The guilt of doing something like that would eat me alive.

I am thankful that the phone was simply taken and not robbed from me. I guess it would have been worse had the thief hit me upside the head with a blunt object or pointed a gun at me in order to steal my iPhone. Not only would I have been out the phone, but then I would have needed to have my head examined (some would say I need to anyway!) or I would have been shot. EEEEK!

Christine said this whole incident had her so stressed today she wanted to eat carbs (she recently started back eating strict low-carb again to lose some weight she gained during our recent IVF cycle). But she resisted the urge and stuck to plan. I'm proud of her because stressful times are no reason to give in to carbs! She made me so proud. :)

Alright, enough of my whining already. Dangit, my Apple iPhone was stolen today, but at least there was a somewhat happy ending. All will be back to normal again by the end of the week--except for that $300 or so hit to my wallet! I'll have to chalk it up to another one of those tried and true lessons in the school of hard knocks that we all go through.

Steve Jobs Is Either A Dunderhead Or A Genius

Was the decision to slash $200 off the iPhone the right one?

Let me begin by saying I am an absolute Apple Macintosh nut! I always have been since I was first introduced to them in my freshman year of college at the University of Tennessee back in 1989. My English class that year was at a desk with a Mac and it blew me away how a computer like that could do so much.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

It's nearly two decades later now and Macs are still cool to me. In fact, I just got the new iMac and the much-heralded iPhone about six weeks ago and LOVE 'em better than I ever expected. Both have been business expenses well worth the price paid to stay in touch and get the job done well.

With that said, I have to express my slight dissatisfaction and disappointment with Apple CEO Steve Jobs right now. His quick-handed decision to slash the price of the 8GB iPhone by $200 to $399 seemed a bit desperate to me. After just a little more than two months on the market, you feel the need to drop the price?

I suppose the new iPod touch product had something to do with this decision. It's an 8GB iPhone without the phone and allows users to use it as an iPod, surf the Internet, watch YouTube, download from iTunes, and more. The cost? $299!

This would have cannibalized iPhone sales which Jobs could not allow to happen. It made good business sense dropping the price, but most people expected it to happen around late November when Christmas shopping season hit. Looks like Apple is wanting to kickstart that trend three months early.

That's all well and good, but what about those poor people who bought the 4GB iPhone at $499? Now they have something that's half as good and cost them $100 MORE than what the 8GB iPhone costs now. Will they be allowed to switch to an 8GB at no charge as a goodwill gesture, Mr. Jobs? Not as it currently stands.

And those poor AT&T store workers! They found out about the price cut in a text message and e-mail just minutes before the announcement. How tasteless is that? Apple should have given at least a week's notice to AT&T to prepare their frontline workers for the onslaught of both angry old and anxious new customers. Bad business, Mr. Jobs!

Although I wasn't one of the people who purchased the iPhone when it immediately came out (waiting in line for days for a phone just ain't normal), I did get mine in late July for a trip to Indiana when I wouldn't have Internet access. It was awesome being able to keep up with my e-mails, check my blog and forum, and keep in touch with the world while away. Overall, it's been well worth the cost I paid several times over and it has continued to be a business lifesaver for me.

Nevertheless, it still stinks that the price dropped so much, so fast--a $3 a day depreciation that doesn't make for good business if you ask me. Even after Jobs wrote this apology letter promising a $100 Apple store credit to iPhone customers who paid $599 for the phone, it merely left this Apple fan a bit disgusted about it.

Is that the best you can do, Mr. Jobs? Sure, $100 credit is better than zippo, but how about a $200 Apple credit, hmmm? At least there would be the perception that you seriously wanted to make amends to your loyal base of customers who love your company (and I'm one of them!). Plus, you should have announced this BEFORE the price cut rather than as a knee-jerk reaction based on the e-mails you received. You had every intention of sticking it to your best customers now, didn't you?

In actuality, this $100 Apple credit Jobs announced will cost the company about half that much money, so it's not really that great a deal after all IMHO. I'll probably buy a car charger for the iPhone and any other accessories adding up to $100, but I will need to order them online since I don't have an Apple store near me.

Why not give the credit in the iTunes store, Mr. Jobs? We have this cool phone that plays music and videos, so wouldn't it make sense to extend that $100 to iTunes since you own it, too? Can you do that? Please consider this as an option with the credit offer details you are going to announce next week.

Incidentally, if you purchased your iPhone within the past 14 days, then you are entitled to a FULL REFUND as per the Apple Sales and Refund Policy. If you paid $599 for your iPhone, then this may be a great way to get your $200 back in cash when you purchase your new iPhone at $399. It's too late for me, but maybe not for many of YOU. GOOD LUCK!

Am I mad about this? Just a little. But I will admit that owning an iPhone has been the best business expense I've ever made. Now there will be plenty of others who will get to enjoy it just as much as I have. It really is the most amazing technological advancement I have seen in my lifetime and I HIGHLY recommend it.

Is Steve Jobs a dunderhead or a genius? Time will tell. What do YOU think?

9-9-07 UPDATE: Here was an excellent comment from one reader that mirrors much of my own feelings about the iPhone price cut:

I have to say I'm not that terribly upset about the iPhone price drop. It was a tad galling to have the price cut be so large so soon. On the other hand, I got to use a great device for a couple of months before the price cut. In my judgement it was worth the price when I bought it.

I traveled around several states on business and used the iPhone for getting maps, checking email, keeping up on news via Safari and watching videos on the airplane. If I was a savvy shopper I could have waited a while and waited for a price cut. To me the utility of the device was worth the few extra dollars so I don't regret it.

On a more philosophical level, it is curious why the price cut comes now. Sales seemed to be OK. Why not wait until November to cut prices? That would still capture the Christmas buying surge. My private guess is that Apple's competitive research turned up something causing them to accelerate the price cut. Apple is conservatively run. They would normally keep the price high. Even if they did cut the price a more typical approach would have been to drop the 4GB model and reduce the price of the 8GB model to $499. I suspect they knew of a competitor entering the market and wanted to be sure to lock up as many sales as possible before that happened.

Hmmmm, could an iPhone competitor be on the way before Christmas? It's got some pretty big shoes to fill because Apple has raised the bar VERY high!