I should be asleep right now. Fast asleep.
Unfortunately, I'm not. I'm sitting here, at my computer, trying to figure out how to get a new phone -- iPhone or otherwise.
Long story short, mine got stolen tonight. From my house. Which I was sitting in at the time. It wasn't a drunken friend, and angry significant other or any actual acquaintance. It was a few people who somehow climbed over my gate (twice) and made their way into my home.
That's beside the point right now. I'll deal more with this after the cops take care of whatever it is they do.
I'm happy that I'm alright -- this could have been much, much worse -- but I am especially bummed because I know full well when I call AT&T back tomorrow morning (I already reported the phone as stolen) I'm going to get the following response:
"I'm sorry, sir, but there's nothing we can do."
Considering all the incredible technology and secrecy that goes into development of the iPhone, it still boggles my mind that to this day, neither Apple or AT&T will blacklist the serial numbers/IMEI.
Think about it... you get your bike registered and if it's stolen, you give the police the number. Same goes for a car. I have a list in my computer and in my fire safe listing the serial numbers of all my major purchases ... just in case.
With the iPhone though, it's tough cookies.
Sure, I could have used the "Find My iPhone" App, but that requires a $100 a year subscription to MobileMe. Unfortunately, I had other places I needed to spend that $100.
But logic says that one of the two companies should be able to blacklist the phone. Phones can be "bricked" if it's discovered that they're jailbroken, so why not if they're stolen. It only makes sense.
I've had a phone stolen before. Somebody grabbed it while walking by my table at a bar near my house. A split-second and it was gone. The crook ended up selling it to a shop owner for $50 and the "buyer" was kind enough to reply to the many hundreds of text messages my friends sent and offered to return the phone -- without accepting a cent.
I know I won't be so lucky this time.
Still, I can't be too upset. Considering that three strangers found a way into my home and I came out unscathed, I should consider myself lucky.
But I'm not going to lie ... knowing my brand new phone is gone is a royal bummer.
