Air-Tag Print Tracking?

[Jim Cassedy]

I received a 35mm print last week that was shipped on cores, in metal cans, and
each can had an Apple Air-Tag inside. I have received high-security DCP's and
film prints with proprietary FedX or UPS tracking devices attached to the outside
or packed inside with the print, but all of those were shipped in cardboard or
plastic film shipping containers.

-->Will Air-Tags even work while inside metal cans?
AirTag35mm.jpg

[Ryan Gallagher]

If you have an iphone it should complain that someone might be tracking you when you are in proxmity to the print. If nothing then the cans probably are shielding it.

The new gen 2 airtags have a longer range, so maybe that protocol works. They may just want confirmation in the final destination, not the entire route.

Which archive/distributor was this?

[Jim Cassedy]

If you have an iphone it should complain that someone might be tracking you

I'm a Samsung/Android guy phone-wise, although I prefer Apple products for my
laptops and my main computer at home. ( an I-Mac) I do keep a couple of
windows laptops. mainly for interfacing with a few pieces of cinema equipment.
I was just wondering how effective an air-tag was when stuck inside a metal can,
but, as you said, maybe they're really more interested in knowing where their film
shipment IS, rather than how it got here . . .

[Sascha Roll]

Had this last year with prints from Vinegar Syndrome - I guess it works, or they would just stop using them...?
(Also in golden metal cans)

[Leo Enticknap]

I put AirTags in my checked luggage whenever I fly (and was once given an unpleasant surprise by one telling me that it was in still in Detroit shortly after I stepped off a plane in Pellston, MI), and my phone can see them, so they can definitely communicate through metal. My understanding is that they use Bluetooth to make contact with the nearest Apple device they can find, which then tells Apple that the AirTag is in proximity to that device, which in turn is what the tag's owner sees in the Find My app.

[Ryan Gallagher]

apparently the AirTag2s which just came out offer even more "precision" somehow.... I don't know if that is just when trying to locate something with the associated device... or with all devices it hails.

Will let you know, I have 4 on the way before this post, my brother is getting my old ones.

[Jim Cassedy]

Now that I'm getting older, sometimes I think I should maybe keep an airtag
in my pocket, so I know where I am.

[Randy Stankey]

You took it out of the metal can. It connected to your iPhone.

It might be shielded when it's in the can but, once the can is open, you've been pinged. The AirTag might not show any information during travel but in can show exactly when and where that can was opened.

[David Ferguson]

A couple of years ago, I carried a print from
the UK over to the US as hand luggage on a flight. I put an AirTag in that box, in case they asked me to put it in the hold (they luckily didn’t).

For the price of one of these, it seems like a great way to get some reassurance about shipping valuable prints around.

[Leo Enticknap]

Agreed completely. Shippers do occasionally lose stuff, and so even the small chance that a $25 AirTag will help to recover a shipment worth $5-10K makes it well worth the money, IMHO. And if you're shipping something that cannot simply be replaced by an insurance claim and writing a check (e.g. an IB print from the 1950s), even more so.

Pretty much everyone in this part of the world conceals one somewhere in their car. A friend of mine who is a sheriff's deputy is convinced that they've led to a significant reduction in auto thefts. Someone who steals a car now has to get it to a safe (for them) location at which to find and remove the AirTag before doing anything else with it, and for most criminals, that location is enough to give law enforcement a pretty good idea of who they are looking for. Vehicle thefts in San Bernardino County have dropped by around 15% in the last year, and he believes that the widespread use of AirTags is a significant part of the reason why.

[Marcel Birgelen]

The thing is, though, a "rogue AirTag" is pretty easy to find. For tracking cars, there are better solutions, that don't register as "rogue tracking device".

[Ryan Gallagher]

Management seems like a nightmare too... does apple offer AirTags for commercial use? How many "stuff" can one associate to a particular iCloud account. or do you have to start maintaining several?

I bet the distributor only has enough to cover their average load of prints out in the wild. Not likely they live in the cans forever, managing those batteries would be a nightmare. Mine lasted about 2.5 years before I had to service them.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Agreed completely. Shippers do occasionally lose stuff, and so even the small chance that a $25 AirTag will help to recover a shipment worth $5-10K makes it well worth the money, IMHO. And if you're shipping something that cannot simply be replaced by an insurance claim and writing a check (e.g. an IB print from the 1950s), even more so.

Pretty much everyone in this part of the world conceals one somewhere in their car. A friend of mine who is a sheriff's deputy is convinced that they've led to a significant reduction in auto thefts. Someone who steals a car now has to get it to a safe (for them) location at which to find and remove the AirTag before doing anything else with it, and for most criminals, that location is enough to give law enforcement a pretty good idea of who they are looking for. Vehicle thefts in San Bernardino County have dropped by around 15% in the last year, and he believes that the widespread use of AirTags is a significant part of the reason why.

Yeah I always assumed they wouldn't be too useful for that since all the thief needs is an iphone to be notified of the device. But I stand corrected because of the time required to locate them. However, the Gen2 Airtags in theory offer precision location features (maybe only to the owner?). I would stock up on some Gen1 tags if Gen2 offers precision location to the 2nd party phone that is warned about "being followed".

Apparently, both are easy enough to disable the beep feature on, which I expect was typically implemented for car tags.

[Jim Cassedy]

(edited) .. does apple offer AirTags for commercial use? .

I have received film and DCP shipments, from FedX and UPS which have had some sort of propriatory
air-tag like device inside. I don't know who manages them. These were usually used for high security
advance press and/or preview screenings where I guess they were possibly afraid of someone getting
hold of the content and either boolegging it or doing an unauthorized screening- - even though the
DCP's were encrypted.

(edited) Shippers do occasionally lose stuff,

RIght before Christmas, one of the major carriers lost an entire friggin 70mm print of
"ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER", which we were bringing back for a return engagement.
That's Five big-ass 70mm reels. Tracking said it was delivered here, and signed for by
someone whose name none of us recognized. I went to all the neighboring buildings with
a picture I had of the shipment from when we had played it back in September. No Luck!
As our play date was approaching fast, and the print was M-I-A, they shipped us a 2nd print.
- - and then, 24hrs before the 1st show, TWO 70mm prints showed up!

I'm still not sure where the first one was for the several days it was missing. Brad was the
shipper, and he said something about 'duplicate tracking numbers' causing the print to go
astray, but I still don't know if it was just riding around SF on a truck or if it got delivered to
some other address- - and who DID sign for it? More info will have to come from Brad, if
he cares to share it, but - - that's one shipment I wish someone HAD put an air-tag inside.

The first several 70mm OBAA return engagement shows were sold out- - and most, if not
all, of those people were expecting to see it in 70mm, so they would have been upset if we
had to substitute a DCP. We were the only ones in the San Fran area playing it in 70mm,
except for some shows that same week at the AMC Metreon IMAX

How Do You "Lose" or Misplace 5 Big Boxes (appx 2ft x 2ft) Weighing Around 200lbs, Or More?
OBAA_Boxes.jpg

BONUS PICTURE
While waiting for my OBAA print,to show up I went over & visited a friend at the AMC Metreon
IMAX to get a look at theirs. They had OBAA and SINNERS on their platter the day I dropped in.

[Jim Cassedy]

I don't know what happened to the IMAX picture that was supposed to be in my previous post.
It's too late to go back & edit that one, so here's the missing picture, along with the original caption:

While waiting for my OBAA print to show up, I went over & visited a friend at the AMC Metreon
IMAX to get a look at theirs. They had OBAA and SINNERS on their platter the day I dropped in.
ImaxMetreon.jpg