willfulwizard

> In an earlier attempt on Tuesday to change an AppleID password (which is the same password used to log into iCloud and iTunes), Apple customer service offered up a different response, saying that passwords could only be changed over the phone if we were able to supply a serial number for a device linked to the AppleID in question — for example, an iPhone, iPad or MacBook computer.

Adding (or worse, substituting) a serial number helps, but seems insecure in the event of a lost/stolen phone. A device serial number, plus all the already mentioned info: name, address, last 4 characters of a credit card, are all reasonably easy to extract from a stolen phone. Would be nice if some piece of info not usually stored on a phone were required. I suppose that a lost phone is already a security breach, but any containment would be an improvement.

Giving out that sort of information would change some amount of people from just buying now to waiting for the new product. That's nice from a customer standpoint but bad for Apple.

Consider:

1) Less outdated inventory moved.

2) More problems keeping up with new product demand, which Apple already can't do.

3) More customers think about the question of buy now or wait when making a purchase. This doesn't sound like a lot, but Apple strives for the simplest possible buying experience.

It violated the policy stated in the submission guidelines (http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

"Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something (e.g. to ask us questions about Y Combinator, or to ask or complain about moderation). If you want to say something to us, please send it to info@ycombinator.com."