n. The distinctive white cord and earbuds associated with the Apple's often-stolen iPhone and iPod digital music player.
2008
Police suggest people make themselves "less attractive" targets by being discreet when using the devices in public, swapping out Apple's identifiable white earbuds (sometimes coined "mug me" earphones) for generic black ones, having the serial number on hand in case of theft, and personalizing the device in some way.
2008
Police call iPod assaults an epidemic, not unlike the spate of violent swarmings in the 1990s where the prizes were expensive running shoes and jackets. But iPods are more valued because one size fits all.
"They're ubiquitous," Vancouver Police Constable Tim Fanning said. Nearly every young person has one or wants one. Users are easy to spot, sporting the white ear buds, often referred to as "mug me" earphones.
"For a thief, it's like a crow seeing something shiny," Constable Fanning said.
"They're ubiquitous," Vancouver Police Constable Tim Fanning said. Nearly every young person has one or wants one. Users are easy to spot, sporting the white ear buds, often referred to as "mug me" earphones.
"For a thief, it's like a crow seeing something shiny," Constable Fanning said.
2005 (earliest)
Unsuprisingly, [iPod] customers would prefer to be robbed than be seen wearing something less trendy than the trademark mug-me earphones.
The distinctive white cord that connects the earbuds to the device is why iPhone/iPod users as a whole have been called the white-cord subculture. New York writer Izzy Grinspan says that these devices have "L-train sex appeal," meaning that their easily recognized design allows anyone to "identify a user at 30 yards, so that it's possible to scan a subway car and instantly know who's in the club." The members of that club greet each other with the "iPod nod" (or, I guess, the "iPhone nod", although doesn't have quite the same ring to it).