Here's a Sunday morning ethical issue to chew on based on a true story. A women comes into a busy drugstore in downtown Toronto to ask the pharmacist a question. After she leaves without buying anything (no customer information is collected through a credit card transaction), the pharmacist discovers the woman has left behind her 60GB video iPod with music and family photos on it. Several weeks have past and the iPod remains unclaimed - perhaps because the women is unable to remember where she left it. So, what do you do? Do you take over "ownership" of the iPod given it's unlikely it will ever be reclaimed? And, if so, what do you do with the 12GB of music and photos on the iPod that belonged to the woman who lost it? Do you just use the other 48GB just in case the iPod owners shows up one day?
I'm not sure but the ownership issue could be resolved if the iPod owner registered it with Apple/iTunes. If I remember the process correctly, you need to provide a serial number located on the back of iPod during the registration process. Perhaps the pharmacist could send an e-mail to Apple, which could then track down the owner and re-unite her with the iPod. If anyone has any suggestions, pass them along.
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Mark Evansthe blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc. 
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Comments
Re: iPod Ethics
by
Ben Lucier
on Sun 06 Aug 2006 02:23 PM EDT | Permanent Link
Mark, http://lostipods.com is a fee-based service ($5 or so to register) that lets iPod owners register their iPods. Stickers are also sent out that can be affixed to the back of the IPOD. Presuming the Pharmacist genuinely wanted to return the iPod to its owner, all he/she would have to do is enter the serial number of the lostipods.com website. It's up to the owner how much reward is offered too. As for the ethics of it all, I'd say hold it for a week (no sense in holding it for longer than that), then assume ownership. If it were me, I'd backup the files to DVD/CD in the event the owner did show up looking for it.
Good call on the iTunes music store, maybe they could offer that as a service too... the more iPods that are out there, the more useful the service would be. Re: iPod Ethics
by
Chris
on Sun 06 Aug 2006 03:19 PM EDT | Permanent Link
Mark,
The iPod ethics can go for anything lost, after a certain period of time you either turn it in or claim ownership. If I found an iPod Video, I would do everything publicly available to find the owner. As for the pictures, look through them, there might be a picture of a vehicle with a license plate you can call in and find the owner. If you really want to return a lost item there are many ways to locate people. It's just up to how long you want to wait before claiming the $700+ piece of electronics for yourself. Also, when you start up your iPod for the first time, you are asked to name your iPod, I entered my name, I figured why not, personalize it. Re: Re: iPod Ethics
excellent points. an issue is whether the effort putting into putting the owner together with the lost object has any correllation to the cost of the object. for example, if you found something worth $10, how will your efforts compare with something worth $100 or $500. in theory, the more expensive the item, the more effort you should make to find the owner.
Re: iPod Ethics
by
quanta
on Sun 06 Aug 2006 07:19 PM EDT | Permanent Link
An iPod is both expensive and holds much emotional currency (all the owner's favourite songs, pictures, and videos). Like a digicam or a cellphone, I would hope one would try everything in their power to relocate the owner.
That said, I own an iPod and I placed a e-note in the Notes section with my name and address on it just in case I ever lose it. Re: Re: iPod Ethics
by
luke
on Tue 22 Aug 2006 10:12 PM EDT | Permanent Link
I agree with Quanta. If someone wants to find the owner of an iPod, it shouldn't be that hard because they all have unique serial numbers and people are becoming more familiar with search engines like google. I don't think I'd be comfortable ever claiming someone else's iPod that I found... if I hadn't found the owner after a month or two, I'd probably send it to Apple.
Speaking of which, I lost my iPod last week in the Toronto area. If anyone finds it (serial YM5509JVTK3, back inscription "to spooke! love Tracey"), I would really appreciate hearing from you. It holds great sentimental value for me. My partner gave it to me as a gift and I've been feeling awful since I lost it. luke contact: lweiler@gmail.com Re: iPod Ethics
by
Peter
on Sun 06 Aug 2006 09:16 PM EDT | Permanent Link
The pharmacist could try posting one of the family photos on local community websites, like http://toronto.craigslist.org/laf/ for example, and hope someone recognizes the photo.
Re: iPod Ethics
If the user has ever sync'd the iPod with their Mac's Address Book (or with Outlook in Windows), the Contacts section of the iPod should have an address and/or phone number for the owner.
Re: Re: iPod Ethics
thanks for the suggestion. the search for the owner continues!
cheers, mark Re: iPod Ethics
by
Anonymous
on Thu 08 Nov 2007 06:30 PM EST | Permanent Link
so how would I use the serial number to find the owner of the ipod ive found? It has no personal information on it at all, and apple gave me the runaround on the phone.
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