Iain @ Internet

I just read this article saying that bike theft in London has increased by almost 30% in the last year 0 the fastest rise ever.

This is hardly a surprise to me, i’ve had 4 bikes stolen in the last 5 years and one about 5 years before that – all were locked up with mid range locks (and I just remembered the time I got a wheel on its own stolen…).

Reporting them has been a complete waste of time other than to make an insurance claim, and in fact the last theft (from Kings Cross bike rack 5 months ago) I did not even bother to report or claim – so how much higher than 30% growth are the real statistics?

Of course, the whole farcical situation get rammed down your throat when you go into the bike shop and say ‘i’ve had my bike stolen’. ‘That’s terrible (they say), so what kind do you want to buy now……and of course you’ll need a lock, insurance…..blah blah blah). It is pretty well known that some of the less reputable bike shops will resell stolen bikes, and could be involved in them being stolen in the first place. But even the better bike shops, and the manufacturers themselves benefit considerably from the bike theft ‘industry’; so how much incentive do they have to slow it down or stop it?

I have no doubt that the technology exists to at least slow down the rate of theft – some is out there at present, but highly priced and so out of the reach of the average punter. Insurance is obviously an option but that does not prevent the theft itself and the accompanying hassle. The cops are not interested, they are too busy to spend hours filling out paper for something they don’t have time to look for anyway. We already have tons of CCTV cameras in London, i’m not sure that any have prevented a bike theft or enabled a return – not that i’ve read about anyway.

…..so if anyone thinks that this problem is going to go away any time soon, think again – the people with the remit and ability to change things have no incentive to do so.

Yes, i’ll have one of those please – as soon as it becomes available.

To be honest, i’d have bought one whether it was good, bad or in-different; thankfully what was shown at the launch looks to be pretty good.

For me the thing that most commentators under-stated was that the phone runs on Mac OS X – a full on operating system if ever there was one. So, in many ways, the iPhone is like a very small laptop – just needs a bit more memory over time (which will inevitably happen anyway).

…..bring it on!!!!!