Could AirTags eliminate 'lost' guitar shipments?

[Carmel Cedar]

You may have heard about Apple's launch of "AirTag", a $29 disk that enables any nearby iPhone to report (securely, anonymously) the location of the AirTag via bluetooth signal. https://www.apple.com/airtag/. Effectively, it allows us to access the global network of iPhone users to locate any lost item. This is marketed as a way to find keys, backpacks, wallets, etc., and has been suggested as a way to track down stolen cars and other valued items.

How about for guitar shipments? If we're sending a guitar via Fedex, UPS, USPS, etc., and pop an AirTag into the case or onto the guitar, we should be able to find it's present location wherever it is. It's not like GPS tracking where we have an ongoing map of its route, but AirTag promises to give us the current location of any item it is on/with. So - for example - if FedEx "lost" our package, or we wish to verify the location tracking info they provide, we have an independent way of finding our shipment! And - if we are physically in the area the package is in, we can locate it to within a few feet.

The product launched last month, and has already been tested by two users (in UK and Netherlands) to track a shipment via their postal systems. They report it works. If a guitar is reported "lost" by a shipper, we can call the hapless carrier and share the location where the guitar is, or in extreme cases, go to their facility and find it within inches of its location.

Anybody up for trying it in this way? It does require two things:
(1) having an iPhone (or a friendly family member or friend with one), and
(2) buying a $29 AirTag (though the guitar recipient can always kindly send it back to the shipper).

I'm thinking this device may finally end the scourge of "lost guitars in shipment". Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?

[The Bard Rocks]

Everything's great - except the price tag. Does that mean it's $29 each time you ship a guitar? Or is that, I'd hope, a one-time fee for an app?

[dnf777]

Thats really interesting, thanks for explaining. I thought it was just another brand of the “tile” device. I have a hunch that any company that insures packages may have an interest in such apps, if not already in use.

Thanks to big data and networks, nothing will ever be lost, and everyone will know what food you hated as a kid and never eat as an adult!

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

Everything's great - except the price tag. Does that mean it's $29 each time you ship a guitar? Or is that, I'd hope, a one-time fee for an app?

I had a look at the app info... It looks like its a single fee for the AirTag and then you can use it wherever you want.

[scotchnspeed]

Aren't these just new to apple? Fairly certain these types of devices have been around a while. What problem it is trying to solve anyway?

[Carmel Cedar]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

Everything's great - except the price tag. Does that mean it's $29 each time you ship a guitar? Or is that, I'd hope, a one-time fee for an app?

Bard, AirTag is a physical device that travels with whatever you don't want to lose, allowing the phone app (and info from Apple's servers) to locate the item. So - $29 a pop (or can buy 4 for $99) per shipment, though you can reuse the AirTag if the recipient kindly mails it back after the guitar arrives. An image of it (the circle thingy within the keychain) is shown below, to the right of an iPhone tracking it's location:



The way I look at it, it complements shipping insurance - serves a different purpose, but helps ensure the shipment is successful. Not cheap, but with the increasingly variable service of shipping firms these days (not to mention their rising prices), it can be a worthwhile cost.

I can imagine it would be especially helpful if a luthier is doing a 'Roadshow' with one of their guitars - it can keep track of the instrument as it makes its way to various players. Or for a gigging musician - attach it somewhere inside one's guitar or amp, and if it 'walks away', the owner can find and retrieve it. Others can surely imagine many other uses for it!

[Carmel Cedar]

Originally Posted by scotchnspeed

Aren't these just new to apple? Fairly certain these types of devices have been around a while. What problem it is trying to solve anyway?

Yep, new to Apple. A device called "Tile" has been around for a while, and in more formats. Tracking with Tile requires other users with the Tile app are near the device (if I understand correctly), whereas AirTag takes advantage of every iPhone user that comes near the lost item. I'm guessing there are also other purveyors of these devices besides Tile and Apple.

Apple (as usual) ain't the first with the device, but may be the one to make it mainstream. With their huge population of iPhone users, AirTag will be far more likely to quickly and accurately find your lost or stolen item, since every iPhone walking by can sense it. Don't know what the number of Tile users is, but it's likely a lot smaller than the number of iPhones out there.

Problem it solves - Finds your "lost" guitar shipment, your stolen item, your misplaced car keys, etc. If you don't have these problems in your life, you can save your $29 and enjoy your good fortune! I just learned of this device yesterday, so am still getting my head around its uses and value for me. Am guessing it will be useless to many (esp. Android phone owners) but may be incredible helpful to others. We've all seen heart-breaking stories on AGF of precious guitars stolen, 'lost' guitar shipments (remember the Edwinson instrument that was 'lost' by FedEx for 6 months last year, in a Custom Shop thread?), and advice like putting stickers on your guitar case to more easily notice it 'walk away' at a gig. All of these (and more) might be resolved more quickly/easily with this newfangled thing.

I've read that this may become Apples next billion dollar business - not sure about that, but you never know!

[Graylocks]

AirTag guitar tracking might be useful in the US where I think Apple may have as much as 80% of the smartphone market. Not so much internationally where the iphone is only about 16% of the market.

If one were to do this I'd suggest including a postage prepaid padded envelope so that the buyer can easily drop it into the mail to return the AirTag to the seller.

[jayhawk]

Funny, I had t thought about this use for Airtags. I’ve only had one lost shipment and that was coming to me. Being able to independently track a major package is a great idea. I think putting it in a self addressed, postage paid envelope is the right thing to do. In fact I would put it in the case already sealed in the envelope and ask the receiver to drop it in the mail.

Jack

[seannx]

It could stay with the guitar post purchase, in the case or with velcro inside like a battery bag. Would be very useful if the guitar was lost, stolen, left somewhere by accident, etc.

[scotchnspeed]

There are 3 androids to every Apple. About 50/50 in the US.

Originally Posted by Graylocks

AirTag guitar tracking might be useful in the US where I think Apple may have as much as 80% of the smartphone market. Not so much internationally where the iphone is only about 16% of the market.

If one were to do this I'd suggest including a postage prepaid padded envelope so that the buyer can easily drop it into the mail to return the AirTag to the seller.

[jayhawk]

I’ve been thinking about this even to point of wondering about installing one inside a guitar to prevent theft.

Not sure it would really do what you want. The way the AirPods work is you pair them with your phone. In use they detect other iPhones and Apple devices and send a ping through that other device to an Apple server. Your Find My app uses that server data to tell you where it is. That means it is not real time location.

Your iPhone uses Bluetooth to actually talk to the Airtag. That means it has a range of around 35 feet. Also, if the Airtag and iPhone go some length of time without talking the Airtag will start beeping. OT sure what the shipper would do if one of their boxes start beeping. Not sure how long the battery in the Airtag would run the speaker.

Just a little cold water for the discussion

Jack

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

I’ve been thinking about this even to point of wondering about installing one inside a guitar to prevent theft.

Not sure it would really do what you want. The way the AirPods work is you pair them with your phone. In use they detect other iPhones and Apple devices and send a ping through that other device to an Apple server. Your Find My app uses that server data to tell you where it is. That means it is not real time location.

Your iPhone uses Bluetooth to actually talk to the Airtag. That means it has a range of around 35 feet. Also, if the Airtag and iPhone go some length of time without talking the Airtag will start beeping. OT sure what the shipper would do if one of their boxes start beeping. Not sure how long the battery in the Airtag would run the speaker.

Just a little cold water for the discussion

Jack

I was thinking the same thing, Jack. Somehow affixing it inside the guitar's body so that it is hidden and you can track it. In the next few years this technology will be miniaturized to make it much easier to use, like RFID.

[The Bard Rocks]

It looks like a big step in the right direction, but not exactly where we want to end up. Worth doing now for larger purchases perhaps. The enclosed addressed envelope for shipping it back is a good idea for the moment.

I have long thought that expensive guitars should have chips in them for positive identification. This is less handy but does a whole lot more. And will no doubt get better and better, especially if it catches on.

[tadol]

Have yet to buy one, but they look intriguing - I could easily see a $29 investment to put inside the case of a $3000+ guitar as a no-brainer. You should be able to tell almost exactly where it was throughout each step of the delivery process, no more wondering if it got stuck behind a door in the local post office, or if its driving around inside a delivery truck, and you’d know when it arrived at its destination.

But the devil’s in the details - I’d like to buy a couple and try just mailing one to a friend somewhere, and see if it really works - add that to my list of projects, Siri -