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by PrimeMcFly 1077 days ago
> I want stolen devices to be 100% brick until returned to the owner.

Which is just contributing to the ewaste problem. What I proposed has now downsides unless you want to be petty.

1 comments

- A stolen device that is 100% brick has zero value, so there is no incentive to steal it.

- A stolen device that can be used with some limitations can be sold for a higher price, so there is a much higher incentive to steal it.

Call me petty all you want, but if you steal my Mac I'd much prefer it to end up in a landfill rather than have the thief make money from it. If they can't sell them, they'll stop stealing them at some point.

> A stolen device that is 100% brick has zero value, so there is no incentive to steal it.

Clearly false. The parts still have value.

> A stolen device that can be used with some limitations can be sold for a higher price, so there is a much higher incentive to steal it.

A thief has less incentive to use something that is constantly broadcasting its location in a way that can't be disabled.

> I'd much prefer it to end up in a landfill rather than have the thief make money from it.

Environment be damned, right?

>> A stolen device that is 100% brick has zero value, so there is no incentive to steal it.

>Clearly false. The parts still have value.

Yeah, the current implementation of activation lock does not brick 100% of the laptop.

But nevertheless, since the video is about locked Macs being scrapped, the value of the parts must be pretty low.

> Environment be damned, right?

I assume that the environmental impact of stolen Macs being scrapped is going to get lower and lower as thieves realise locked Macbooks have a low resale value.

> Yeah, the current implementation of activation lock does not brick 100% of the laptop.

Even if it did, the part still have value.

> the value of the parts must be pretty low.

I mean, screens, ram, hard drives etc are worth whatever they are worth.

> I assume that the environmental impact of stolen Macs being scrapped is going to get lower and lower as thieves realise locked Macbooks have a low resale value.

When they steal they don't often know what type of machine they are stealing as they can't see in bags.

The suggestion I made is better for the environment without making things better for thieves.