> Can we stop endlessly puting Apple's various authoritarians missteps under the spotlight?
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or if you think the whole 'if you don't like something then shut-up and move' strategy is actually a logical solution.
It’s Apple. There is nothing else to understand. Just because of who they are, some people will claim it will change the world and some people will claim it’s bullshit or not working or evil. There are many more of the latter and they are quite annoying, but the best that can be done is ignore them.
> They've moved the needle in a positive direction, that's all that should matter.
Some people cannot seem to understand that a company whose interests align with those of the consumers, however imperfectly, is better than a company whose policy relies only on ideology. Then you have the contrarians who will claim that they are lying and black is white anyway.
Seriously? Perhaps heed the warnings? Whenever Apple tightened the reigns, thousand of apologists came to their defense. I wouldn't even have minded if they kept their obedience to personal decisions. But they extended their enlightenment to others.
> Worse, by fighting the issue so loudly and for so long, Apple has actually given the issue way more publicity than it would ever have received otherwise. It has turned what would otherwise have been a boring technical detail covered only by the Apple press into a mass-media news story. Apple has effectively contributed to its portrayal as a bad guy, with zero benefit to the company.
I can only agree with this conclusion. And I'm still somewhat surprised Apple would so intransigently do something that makes them look so utterly stupid and bad.
From my direct experience, anyone who speaks out against Apple's restrictive, walled garden approach and anti consumer practices gets downvoted hard and mass-flagged 'round these parts.
> Your point being? I said nothing that is contradicted by your comment.
You said this in reply to the parent:
> I don’t know how you convinced yourself that Apple is more interested in being aloof than in making changes that would help them make money but that belief is just as ridiculous as the belief that they are altruistic.
I gave many examples of Apple not willing to make changes to improve user experience. There are many more examples that I haven't yet mentioned.
> It always amused me how Apple is capable of producing so quality hardware and has so bright ideas in design, but makes so awful lot of questionable decisions in software.
> I have a MacBook Air and delete key is only 3mm apart from power key and I mishit it from time to time.
Am I the only one who thinks the first sentence is a bit sarcastic?
> The OP suggested that Apple is mainly successful because it is exaggerating the value of its proprietary efforts in its marketing vs. the success it has had co-opting the work of open source software.
No, he or she did not. I repeat myself: there is not a mention of Apple's success in the comment you're responding to, much less that this tactic is the principal reason for it. The argument is only that this tactic is something that Apple does plenty of. Every mention of Apple's success, starting with the comment of yours that I replied to, is a derailment.
You're either totally disingenuous here (by intentionally arguing against a point that was never made) or totally confused (by arguing by mistake against a point that was never made).
> Everyone derides Apple for not listening to the demands of users and then, when Apple finally does give in they... continue to deride them.
I explain such behavior to myself by keeping in mind that the internet is many people with many opinions. If one sees an inconsistent response to a topic, one is likely seeing disjoint groups of people that separately have consistent opinions, rather than a cohesive group that can't make up its mind. I find it easy to miss that when I'm not paying attention to who said what.
> What frustrates me the most is that Apple never admits a mistake
In corporate politics that would be a suicide. Only Jobs was powerful enough to make mistakes.
Anyway it is shocking what Apple does now. During Jobs Apple removed product features only used by laggards. Now Apple removes the features used even by pragmatists and early adopters[1]. Do you known how many people moved exclusively to wireless headphones and TH3?
Another surprising thing is ignoring the professionals. They are in minority and it is hard to see them on sales charts. But they are opinion leaders.
Many people overpay for Apple products because they want to look as real professionals. Majority don't care which laptop is the thinnest, they use products used by opinion leadres. With current trend, in 5 years Apple brand might be associated with rich bozos buying gold phones. Just look at the Mercedes S vs Tesla Models S sales in last 2 years.
You’ve missed my point, which is that you could remove the word “Apple” from your original comment and it would have made no difference. One kind of fanatic does not excuse another, nor have I claimed it does.
There’s no need to list Apple’s faults. I’m aware of them and support a large part of Apple criticism in the Tim Cook era (and not just technical[1]), including most of yours.
Where we disagree is in the insinuation the author is a fanatic simply for defending Apple. They’ve written a technical post and gave their conclusions, which may indeed sound apologetic but are far from rabid fanaticism.
> Fuck Apple.
In sum, it’s fine to decry the company but I disagree that people who like it and accept its tradeoffs should be immediately labeled as extremists.
> Some of my comments are grayed out because people are angry with Apple and like you, some people perceive me to be defending Apple, largely because I’m not joining in with the condemnation.
Quite the convenient narrative you have there.
No, it's because you make no sense and you are trying to defend the indefensible.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or if you think the whole 'if you don't like something then shut-up and move' strategy is actually a logical solution.
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