Burglar breaks $100K custom glass door with rocks at Boulder Apple Store

Cue up all the corny "how many of (insert the name of the competitor you have the most disdain for) products get stolen?"

You would think for $100,000 they could have at least made it bullet proof. I wonder if this was a case of someone going, "ooooh, Apple let's jack up the price a little".

I'm not into glass door manufacturing, but even if the manufacturer had four guys worked on the custom door for two straight months, I don't see the fair price being $100,000.

And the iPhone? Gorilla glass. Because Apple likes to throw stones.

Apple is now working on developing transparent steel.

I wonder if Apple has some sort of tracking for the display models. Something more than just "find my phone". It would make sense so they could track the stolen property. Something like lojack for the notebooks and desktops.

That was one expensive breakin....

$100k for something this large and thick isn't out of the question but Apple should ask why a couple rocks broke it. It's easy to add layers of lexan to make it a lot harder to break. Apple needs to find a different supplier. Their insurance would probably go down with better glass as well.

I thought it was transparent aluminium they were working on.

Pardon me, but did you just say aluminium?

http://rense.com/general20/transparentalum.htm

 

:)

Yes.  All people who speak proper english spell it aluminium.  Only Americans get mislead by craze idiots...

 

:P :P :P

LOL: "Slashdot (News for Nerds)"

Tongue in cheek humor; it was a discussion on a recent thread, hence my posting.
Edited by PhilBoogie - 2/18/13 at 7:24am

ahl-u-min-EE-umm to the fans of Top Gear...

Since aluminum wasn't discovered by an Englishman it doesn't really matter does it.

 

Yes and Steve Jobs, another American mislead by crazed idiots, chuckled every time the 'proper' pronunciation of aluminium was done by Jony Ives.

 

Apple needs to get away from glass and work on "Force Field" doors! 

 

You mean 

al-u-mini-um ?

 

It matters in the sense that both are correct.

Maybe Jobs was the one doing the misleading?  :P

 

A $100k glass door sounds like a prime example of form over function.

A
It was also named by a very indecisive Englishman.

1. The word is misled, not "mislead."

2. Here's Solipsism X's citaion from another thread, source unspecified:


aluminum (n.)
1812, coined by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), from alumina, name given 18c. to aluminum oxide, from Latin alumen "alum". Davy originally called it alumium (1808), then amended this to aluminum, which remains the U.S. word, but British editors in 1812 further amended it to aluminium, the modern preferred British form, to better harmonize with other metallic element names (sodium, potassium, etc.).

First recorded usage of the British spelling: Aluminium, for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminum, which has a less classical sound. ["Quarterly Review," 1812]

It ain't about proper English. It's about some overreaching journal editors deciding what spelling and pronounciation would be more harmonious with other metals.

 

Sure it does.  Regardless of who discovered it, it's spelled "Aluminium" and pronounced the same way.  

 

It's not the same as words like "colour" or "organise" which are fairly generic and have been in existence so long they've had time to find alternate spellings.  "Aluminium" is a fairly recent word that has never been spelled any other way in any official capacity.  Therefore spelling it incorrectly, (on the basis of simply a poor pronunciation yet) is "more wrong" than most other mis-spellings.  

 

There are rules to correct pronunciation in English, and scientific words in particular. 

 

Titanium isn't called (or spelled) "Titanum"  

Magnesium isn't called (or spelled) "Magnesum"

Calcium isn't called (or spelled) "Calcum"

 

Not pronouncing and spelling Aluminium correctly is an abomination that any science-y, geek-y sort of person should be ashamed of (American or otherwise).  

Scotty gave the formula away in '86. Why hasn't any been released since?

"Hello, Computer".

Sheesh.

Some low-life throws a few rocks in Boulder, Colorado and the end result is me getting educated about the beginnings of the word "aluminium".

Who could have foretold THAT particular chain of events...

 

"Davy originally called it aluminum, then amended this to aluminum"

You're completely wrong.

 

Creator says this is the name. It's the name. Just as much as a newspaper in one country invents otherwise.

Funny that poor Gazoobee has to go into a thicket because he can't see my post quoting Solipsism X, because he has me on his ignore list. Not funny, hilarious. To me, at least.

Check the post prior yours for the history of the spelling.

I most certainly didn't or I would've written, cue up the argument over the spelling of aluminum.

Love Top Gear!

There is no way that door cost 100k.  Misprint somewhere.

 

Unfortunately, it could very well be correct. Sort of a Blue Harvest situation with Apple these days.

Scotty gave them the formula back in 1986. On a Mac.
Edit: jungmark beat me to it.

Man, I love that show. Together with 500M others...

Apple is doomed as it was the asteroid (android) from the (Samsung) galaxy attacking the Apple store . Sell all of your AAPL now !!!

Thieves will just use Borg technology to transport through it.

Great! Now I want to know the origin of the word chain.
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

How come nobody ever breaks into the Microsoft store? They are starting to feel left out.

Hey burglars: next time, steal the door very carefully so as not to damage it, then hold it for ransom.  Easy $100K, no electronics to fence, and Greenpeace will pressure Apple into paying.  Because buying back the existing door would be far more energy-efficient than re-glazing a replacement door.  Vastly smaller carbon footprint too.

 

There are several solutions to Microsoft's "so quiet you can hear a pin drop" retail store problem.

 

1. Staged thefts: Microsoft employees can "break in" and steal racks of shrink-wrapped software and demo PCs.

Unsold inventory reduced (slightly.)

 

2. Free tickets to Selena Gomez and Joe Jonas concerts.  If you buy $100 in Microsoft merchandise first.

At least the store(s) woudn't be mausoleum-quiet for an hour.

 

3. Arson.

Why not use laminated glass like used in automotive windshields? It may not stop a car going through it but it will certainly stop rocks and clumsy thieves from getting in. Am I missing something?

First of all, whomever discovers something often gets to name it. That's about as much as a rule as all metals need to end in -ium. It's commonplace and happens enough times that one should expect that cause and effect relationship but it's not a rule. You are not an idiot for saying aluminum as this 1) the name given by Davy, and 2) accepted by the US and other countries. In fact, any real scientist in the UK will accept aluminum as acceptable even if they prefer aluminium.

These are simply variations in languages and it's the UK theychanged it after the fact, which is not a problem as that is how language works but it's certainly not because it was wrong. You can't have a wrong word if you invent it as all words are made up.

If you really want to deny the history of the word and adhere to a rule-of-thumb as a hard and fast decree then what about the metals: tin, gold, iron silver, mercury, etc.? Why aren't you demanding these only be referred to as stannium from the Latin stannum, aurium from the Latin aurum, ferrium from the Latin ferrum, argentium from the Latin argentum, hydrargyrium from the Latin hydrargyrum, respectively.

Note that I choose metals whose names are not using your rule but have the Latin 2-letter symbols that call forth the original Latin word that already ends in -um and therefore could have easily been changed to -ium if this were a scientific edict. Do you not allow people to say tin, gold, iron, silver, mercury, et al.? I would doubt it.

This has been an episode of Etymchemology with SolipsismX.


PS: As an American who has spent considerable time in the UK I use aluminium and other British spellings and pronunciation. I quite prefer the way aluminium sounds over aluminum but my preference in no way dictates what is considered correct for all.
Edited by SolipsismX - 2/18/13 at 9:43am