Mugger Turns Down iPod
Take my iPod, please? CC-licensed, thanks to Sifter on Flickr.
This is the man-bites-dog of gadget crime: a mugger stuck a gun in the face of a 15-year-old demanding cash but just said no when offered an iPod instead.
It happened in Sydney, Australia, where police believe the attacker was another teen.
“[The boy] offered him an iPod but the attacker didn’t want that,” Green Valley Local Area Command duty officer, Inspector Siobhan Busetto told the Sydney Morning Herald. The attacker ran away, leaving the teen unharmed and still in possession of his mp3 player. Reports didn’t specify the iPod model involved in the scuffle.
For years, iPods have been at the center of countless robberies — and a few murder cases – attesting to their cult status and steal-a-bility.
Is this a fluke or a sign that market penetration has been reached?
Perhaps the mugger was waiting for the iPad?
All gratuitous speculation welcome in the comments.
Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on 
