Find My iPhone

It's summer, and like most stay at home moms that means I'm busy all day everyday. This compromises my mental acuity in certain predictable ways.

I was running to the grocery store yesterday, after my husband got home from work, to find something for a last minute dinner. This was an afterthought to my errand to the bank, so I meant to text him and let him know why I was taking so long, and that dinner would be forthcoming. Unfortunately, I kept getting distracted in mid text and at some point set my phone down in my cart. It wasn't loose in the cart when I unloaded my groceries, so I thought I had shoved it back in my purse. At bed time, I decided I was too tired to get back out of bed and go look for it to plug it in.

In the morning I began the search. Soon I was sure that it wasn't in the house, so the tracking began. Thanks to Mobile Me and a handy little app called Find My iPhone, I was able to determine with certainty that my iPhone was at McDonalds in a nearby town. It didn't migrate that far on it's own. At least I could lock the phone and send it a message with another phone number to call "if found," but the odds weren't good. Someone had already found it...and wasn't returning it.

What do you do with that kind of information? How precise is it anyway? I called the local police, NOT on the emergency only 911 line. I was told they could send an officer to meet me at the location to get it back, but when I talked to the officer he said that phone tracking wasn't very accurate and he thought it would be a waste of time.

Not one to give up easily I decided to take my kids to lunch at McDonalds. This particular restaurant had a playground so if the phone wasn't there it wouldn't be a complete waste. Perhaps the thief had gotten my message, discovered the phone was locked, and been smart enough to ditch it. Assuming the tracking location was like the maps app, which puts a pin at random on the property of the address you're looking for, I searched the entire lot. I must have called myself a hundred times listening at garbage cans. I talked to people in the restaurant, made a nuisance of myself to the management and checked the location a hundred times.

The first guy I asked left rather quickly. After an hour or so I saw him come back and jump start his truck. A vehicle parked in exactly the spot where the app marked the location of my phone. I checked the tracking app a few minutes later and my phone was across town in another parking lot. The app had been more accurate than I gave it credit for, and this punk had lied to my face, in front of his daughter. As tempted as I was to pursue him further, I decided the inevitable confrontation wasn't worth the risk to myself, and my kids who were with me.

By this point I had already pretty much given up. I was able to wipe the phone remotely, again courtesy of the Mobile Me Find My iPhone App. The AT&T Customer Service was excellent as usual and they disconnected the old sim card and walked me through everything I needed to do to secure my information and get a new phone as inexpensively as possible. My phone was already almost two years old and eligible for an upgrade, so I'm getting new iPhone and my life will go on tomorrow as usual.

Still, I'm feeling oddly unsatisfied. A petty thief is out there, raising children. My old phone, wiped and with a dead sim card, is worth maybe $30. I want to ask him, was it worth your character? Was it worth the loss of dignity in front of your child? Do you realize you just taught her a lesson that could come back to bite you in keister? Do you know I could have followed you all day and discovered where you live and work? Do you know I could have brought the police into this? That's a rather significant risk to take for $30.

If you're a cop, trust that Find iPhone app. It's accurate.

If you're looking for a phone, I can't recommend anything else. It was way cool to be able to find, lock and wipe my phone remotely. Insurance plans can't protect your personal information like that.

If you're a thief, don't be stupid. Stealing iPhones isn't worth it with this kind of tracking onboard.

If you're my mother, I could use a hug. It's been a stressful day.