Finding a Laptop

Hey all,

So I have a question for you all. I have a younger cousin who goes to university in CA. He found a fairly new iBook sitting on the curb on the last day of school. It was also move out day. My question for you all is...does this make him a theif? When he told me about it, he said he might want to try and sell it, but I encouraged him to try and find the owner. He then replied, its finders keepers, and I need the money.

I didn't know how to answer that question, and I asked myself if I would do the same thing in his shoes. I determined that I would probably think the same way as he did.

But does finding something automatically make you a theif? He said that it was just sitting there without any of the owner's other belongings. If this is true, I think he shouldn't be classified as a theif. But I guess there isn't a right answer in this case...whats your opinons?

Technically, I believe no, but it is very morally wrong, ESPICALLY an expensive item like a laptop.

I agree with you. I would be devasted to lose a laptop, and I would feel very dumb to be so careless with something so expensive.

Often times if you return it a lost and found at the school, and no one can prove in 30 days or so that it's theirs, he can get the laptop guilt-free. If he tries to sell it on eBay and it's reported stolen, he might as well have pryed it straight from their hands.

There was a story on a blog recently about someone who lost a camera. The finders managed to make contact with the distraught owner, only to tell her that their son had taken a liking to it so she wouldn't be getting it back. Unsurprisingly, there was uproar. In my mind, if no effort is made to locate the original owner, then there is no difference between 'finding' the item and opportunistic theft (e.g. you "found" it in the library, while the owner was away for a minute). In fact, how can you prove that this wasn't the case this time? It was, as you say, moving out day. Things will be moving around in piles or on their own all day. Does this make anything unattended free to the first person to pick it up?

Edit: surely turning the machine on will give some indication of the owner, even if only by looking at the author of the documents in the default user's Documents folder? I don't think that there could be any excuse for not giving this machine back.

And yes, this post has go me very annoyed at the attitude of some people.

I am always amazed at how upset posts and questions like this make people.

While I think the finder should make some effort to locate the owner, the owner/loser bears some responsibility for being careless with their valuable property. In this case I think the finder should at least attempt to find the owner, but not doing so does not make him a thief.

Lastly, I would caution on trying to push ones morals on others. You or I may think it's wrong, but it is up to each individual to make their own determination on what they do. Whatever this guy does, Karma will come around to him in it's own time.....

the owner should be more careful BUT i dont think your cousin should take it as the owner may come back to get it!

What if this happens:

www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/

oohh.. he in trouble....
I know i would hate to lose my laptop.. doesn't homeowners insurance cover stole laptopes, cell phones etc?

Rob said:

Technically, I believe no, but it is very morally wrong, ESPICALLY an expensive item like a laptop.

Click to expand...

You are wrong. Remember that article a few days ago someone posted in a thread? About mac users more intelligent than PC users... I am starting to doubt that, unless all of you are 15, who don't know any better yet. Educated people don't steal... have you looked at the prison demographics?

Ok ok, this is move out day on campus... I don't know how many of you are in school right now or how many of you have been to school (college) and I hope that is where your answers come from.

Its move out day on campus! Everyones stuff is EVERYWHERE. People set things down for just a moment to go and check something out. They start moving their stuff out of their building... Im pretty sure the person who lost that iBook is pretty ticked off someone stole it. Why the Kibbles and Bits do people steal? Its not yours, don't touch it. Your cousin needs to learn something about living in a society and so do the rest of you if you believe its ok to just take expensive things from people when they leave them lying around.

But because you can pick it up and put it in your backpack its ok to take it, however if someone say.. left the keys in the car and left it running in an empty parking lot it is not ok to take it, and 90% of you wouldn't. I hope to god that there is tracking software on that machine, and if he turned it on and connected to the internet someone will be looking for him and it.

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No one just leaves an ibook around, but I am sure all of you have looked around and left something of value sitting in the open at a distance or where you cannot see it for a short period of time so you can check something else out, or to respond to something in need. How would you feel if you come back maybe 20 seconds later and your stuffs been stolen? There is a mentality in america of Finders Keepers, what are we dogs? No we live in a society! Don't take property that isn't yours, because your making it OK for someone to do it to you, and I hope it does happen to your cousin.

Golly, what if he stole that iBook from someone who visits this forum? So yes, your cousin is a theif, and there is no reason for anyone to take anything that does not belong to them. "I need the money" is probably the dumbest excuse in college, he is not starving, he is in college which means if he does not have a lot of money now, he will very soon and honestly he probably wont get more than 500$ from it! I would not be friends with someone who has such low self control, I feel sorry for all of you who think that it is ok and your cousin.

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I bet a lot of people would think its ok to take things that are not theirs. And I also bet a lot of those people if not all of those people would be pretty furious if someone stole from them. Even though they have no right to be mad. You take something that isn't yours its called steal, you are a now thief. I hope this is just the first of many times your cousin shows lack of moral integrity, that way one day he will get caught and he will look back on that day and say "if I would have just walked away" or "sat their and waited for the owner to come back", or "found the owner" I never would have thought it was ok to take that wallet on the beach when the guy was in the water, and then I would have never taken a car with its keys in the ignition, and then something else and something else until, I never would have robbed a store, and now I am in prison.

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This is a huge subject for me, the Psychology of Evil was my senior thesis.

Graphite said:

You are wrong. Remember that article a few days ago someone posted in a thread? About mac users more intelligent than PC users... I am starting to doubt that, unless all of you are 15 like rob, who does not know any better yet. Educated people don't steal... have you looked at the prison demographics?

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***? I did not steal anything. So what, I am 15. Big deal.

I think there's actually a law here: anything under a certain amount in value (like 6$) doesn't have to be turned in. Anything over that must be turned in to the lost & found bureau.

Obviously, there's no way to enforce this, but it's a good rule of thumb.

Besides, he might get a decent finders reward!

i would contact the owner and demand a couple hundred dollars as a reward. but that is me.

Rob said:

***? I did not steal anything. So what, I am 15. Big deal.

Click to expand...

oh you had to read on... I said "who doesn't know any better"

your first post suggested you are ok with stealing.

actually never mind.. ha I must have miss read your first post this morning.

My experience... I'm in another country.... I'm on a busy sidewalk next to the street.... I have a $30K betacam... I set it down next to me while I unlock my rental van... I look down, it's gone. I look around frantically... but it's gone... Fortunately I have insurance....

Opportunistic theft is still theft.

Thanks for all the responses. I def. didn't intend this to upset anyone, but I appreciate all your opinions. I'll let my cousin know of the views you all have. Thanks again.

I think if somebody leaves somthing of value out in the open it should be there when they return. Right now I am in hawaii and i left my ipod (and my brothers ipod, and my moms ipod) all downstairs by the pool while I am up in my suite and I intend on those ipods still being there when I return later.

Well, if it were HIS iBook, how would he feel?

hey, can't he FIND OUT whose computer it is by looking at one of the class papers in it? it SHOULD have the author's name on it, no?

If the computer was registered, can't you contact Apple and declare it missing? Find the owner?