Theft

Call your local police and file a report...

defintly tell ur principle. have u told her parents yet? check with ur insurance agent about home and property theft policies. its worth a shot

If theft of these iPods is so prevelent, why doesnt Apple help the consumer? Isn't there a way to register the serial number so in case the thief goes online to download, it can be tracked and given to local authorities?

I would imagine there would be a lot of privacy and fraud concerns that Apple would rather not jump into. I don't blame them.

This is a very good point. I had my I-Pod stolen from my car while in the hands of a valet parking service. The manager put pressure on the employees to "do the right thing" and return it. It was returned with all of my music and photos (backup on laptop) removed and approx 20 songs loaded. "IF" this individual registered this I-Pod with Apple, does a method exist whereby the authorities can determine who/when? I have re-registered it in my name and serial number.

"IF" this individual registered this I-Pod with Apple, does a method exist whereby the authorities can determine who/when?
No such tracking methods are available for the reason Bryan gave above.

This post also gives a good explanation regarding this issue:
Jeff Bryan :: Stolen iPod

People just need to eventually understand that nothing is guaranteed safe. I'm 17 years old and have a habit of collecting electronics.

I have a...
30GB video iPod: $320
LG Camera Phone: $200
Nintendo DS: $150

That's nearly 700 dollars worth of electronics in my pocket.

These are things I like to have with me whenever i'm out and they don't go anywhere except my pocket. If you value the stuff you buy like any normal person would, take precautions to keep it.

I go to school, I know. Don't keep it in your locker, don't leave it in a bag, ever. If you insist on putting it in these places make sure nobody knows what is there. There are too many cheap people in school that can justify stealing something instead of paying 300 dollars for it.

As for some help on retrieving what is lost, you can do one of two things.

- Bite the bullet and accept it and understand quickly that you will never see you iPod again. It's a tough feeling. The first time I lost my music folder do to harddrive failure I just about cried. It feels like a swift kick to the nuts but the easiest way to get over it is to just understand what has happened and just accept it. Buy another iPod, take better care of it.

- Find the idiot who took it. If this happened at school tell your principal or dean or whomever, file a report with the school. Don't accept that line they pull that goes "Well you shouldn't have had it at school to begin with." Pressure them to act. If you're convincing enough they may even search some lockers or force the kid to come up.

Also, if you can narrow it down to two or three people that may've taken it, drop all your morals and ethics and throw some muscle at these punks. I know I would. My 30GB iPod has 4500 songs and NO backup (working on that..) for me it's not the hardware, it's the data. If you want it back, put forth the effort.

Either way, just let this be a lesson to hold onto the stuff you like.

I agree with your post almost 100%.

drop all your morals and ethics and throw some muscle at these punks
It's been a long time since I was 17, but I still think that resorting to violence is probably not the best course of action in the long run. Satisfying as it might be at the time... I'd still have to urge others to take a less physical approach to dealing with this type of problem. 😉

A couple of points.
Don't take this type stuff to school. Just a matter of time before it gets ripped off.

The most important point...
File a report with the police, even if you have reported it to anyone else!
Include serial number(s) in all reports!

I would just add that to recommend someone "drop all your morals and ethics" over a measly $300 device just seems soooo wrong. My morals and ethics will stay right where they are, thank you - They're not for sale for any price.

This is pretty off-topic, but it seemed worth saying.