“It’s insulting they don’t want my Blackberry,” a Columbia university student in New York told police recently, after muggers shook down a group of students in upper Manhattan, specifically only demanding iPhones from their victims and leaving Android and RIM Blackberry smartphones behind.
Like with stolen cars, resale value and popularity correlate directly with the items thieves nab most. And even robbers are down on RIM. According to the police report, when a victim handed over the Blackberry, the mugger said, “I don’t want that. I want iPhones.”
Here’s a video of one of the alleged iPhone robbers, released by Columbia campus police.
Video: Columbia University Police and NYPD
Better watch what you wish for!
Yesterday Nokia told reporters it believed teens and young adults were so over the iPhone. Instead Nokia reps say they are instead soon to head in hordes to Nokia phones running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, Microsoft’s mobile OS. That’s a tall order for Nokia, and a whole new smartphone underground chopshop opp for thieves should it gain real traction.
Joking aside — nothing funny about a stolen iPhone, right? — here’s an excerpt from NBC News New York.
A pair of would-be robbers targeting Columbia students in upper Manhattan seem to be rather picky as they prowl.
Twice at 526 114th St., and once at 556 114th St., the suspects demanded the victims hand over their iPhones, police said.
The first victim complied, but the second only had a Droid, according to police. The thieves apparently didn’t want a Droid — so they took cash instead.
I had to smile yesterday when Nokia “announced” that teens and young adults were over the Apple iPhone. Nokia wishes. Getting teens — or anyone — to switch from his or Apple iPhone to one running Windows Phone 7.5.1 Mango is one tall order. Even if WP7 is much improved with this release. My bet — teens and thieves alike — are overwhelmingly iPhone folk.
In a report from NBC News in New York, a police reporter wrote this:
The third victim also didn’t have an iPhone, but the men allegedly refused to believe her and threw her against a fence to search her.
“I think it speaks to the resale value of an iPhone,” one student on the Columbia campus said.
In each case, the suspects got away. Police hope someone will recognize them in a newly released surveillance video.
The frightening encounters may be the talk of the campus, but students said they were caught somewhere between amusement and alarm.
“It’s insulting they don’t want my BlackBerry,” said a female student.
“I don’t like mine,” said another student. “I’m waiting to get an iPhone myself.”
