I genuinely think HN's emergent property of discouraging jokes actively encourages this kind of misunderstanding and inability to process ambiguous titles using common sense.

A cable that costs $20 - $30 retail NEW doesn't seem worth risking jail time over.

There's no risk of jail for theft in Seattle.

https://crosscut.com/2019/10/whats-seattle-doing-solve-its-s...

And people wonder why there is so much crime...

About half blame poverty/insufficient government handouts and excuse the theft.

About half blame not prosecuting crime.

But no one wonders. Everyone "knows".

You don't need government handouts, you need sane policies that stop making CoL so expensive.

People break into cars to steal pocket change in the cup holder, so a $5 cable isn't outside the realm of what a thief would grab. Especially if they're already in the car.

You may be underestimating how significant $20-$30 is to some people.

Edit: wording.

Are you suggesting a stolen cable brings the same sort of premium as a new one from Apple?

Regardless, I'm not suggesting this at all. My point is that there are likely ways to get something worth so little without risking significant jail time.

You may be surprised to learn that the economics of small scale theft are pretty weird. https://priceonomics.com/why-thieves-steal-soap/

This is kind of my point. I guess I underestimated the demand for iphone cables.

It's worth it for someone. I've had people break into my car for 3 quarters and a half ounce of super glue.

Man they're selling stolen $25 bottles of tequila on 3rd Ave. Not even expensive stuff is hot commodity now, especially if you live in a cash world. Most of the stuff the street bazaars sell is straight up junk. A shiny Apple cable is worth it

It's like soap, which is much cheaper. Both are easily sold.