I just paid for 12 months worth of Skype subscription which I have used for just 2 calls back in January.<p>I want ALL my subscriptions to go through Apple Pay and App store.<p>Once I subscribed to New York times. The newspaper that was advertised to me for years in all Hollywood movies as a place where honesty and freedom are of highest priority. I had to spend an hour on a phone with their representatives to cancel it refusing to accept discount or a free subscription.<p>I don't trust many other companies. Especially if all my interactions with them are virtual and they are not specialized in information technology. At least big tech is quite rich to afford to think about users.<p>Each bank got their app and added some obvious features there: pay for utilities, for your phone etc. I want more progress here. I want to be able to see all my fees upfront in a clear format. I want to know my credit score. I want to be able to take this credit score to different organizations. etc. etc.<p>Big hope that fin tech will blow it up, but unfortunately start ups didn't deliver. There are some successful ones, but I think finance is too regulated for them to have a shot at a serious scale. Apple and Google have a shot at that and they will create a road for smaller companies.<p>The situation in Belarus is bad. And believe me I know. I was concerned as well about my device security. But to be honest at the end of the day it can't be Apple's problem. Belarussian government must be replaced by Belarussian people and Apple has nothing to do with that. And on top of that - what choice do I have. Android devices in Russia are preinstalled with Russian software while Apple's aren't. That's more important sign for me.
This all comes down to the statement near the end: "I believe Apple should simply refuse to cooperate with oppressive governments"<p>Which is another way of saying "I believe Apple should either not operate in certain countries, or should try to operate in those countries in defiance of the laws of those countries."<p>The beef is primarily with the government. Companies are stuck in the middle -- either operate in compliance with local laws (even if they believe those laws are wrong) or don't operate there at all (since the third option of operating in contravention of local laws doesn't usually last long, and has painful consequences).<p>It would be interesting to know what the people who live in the countries think -- would they prefer not to have Apple products (or any other company's products) unavailable to them?
Honestly, the arguments in this series of posts are not strong. I laughed out loud when I got to his complaints about Apple's headphone chips and the ease of pairing they allow -- and how it's somehow unfair that Apple, having developed this competitive advantage, is refusing to share it with other companies.<p>What IS it about Apple that makes a certain class of tech geek feel like they have to dislike them in such a public and performative way?
Many good points in the article. And the starting point is brilliant:
> Extract more revenue from your existing customers<p>That is the only way forward for a company so used to growth. pressure on its current customers is only going up to buy new services and pay more for the old ones. Old strategies that new tools and a device that is with you 24/7 bring to new abusive levels.
Saying that Apple banned Epic for "fighting back" is definitely twisting the truth a bit. Epic released a behind-the-scenes software update in direct contravention of the App Store rules, which they knew was going to get them banned.
While there are many reasons to fall out of love with Apple, including those discussed in this blog post, many people will simply not do so.<p>Apple has always had an unusual and often unhealthy relationship with their customers, which has garnished Apple fans with labels such as "Cult of Mac members" - Ch.3 through 5 of this satirical book actually analyzes why that is: <a href="https://github.com/jasoneckert/CultOfMac" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/jasoneckert/CultOfMac</a>
I never in my life bought that amount of software compared to the App Store, it’s convenient and mostly safe.
Apple paid revenue in the store is two times higher than Googles. I think this is directly correlated with convenience and safety.
From the OC:<p><i>"Censorship: Apple manages a global set of App Stores and cooperates with law enforcement in each jurisdiction in which it operates. ..."</i><p>Okay. We agree. What's the fix?<p>--<p>This censorship food fight is at least two problems.<p>#1 Which rule of law applies to international companies?<p>This is foreign policy. Just like trade agreements, treaties.<p>USA flagged corporations like Google, Apple, Facebook need a federal solution. Just like shipping, banking, and so forth. These corporations cannot act unilaterally, nor should they be expected to.<p>I have <i>no idea</i> what an international treaty covering speech and privacy would look like. Please share any and all ideas.<p>#2 Need for fair and impartial court system, legitimate enforcement.<p>FAANGs cannot be governments onto themselves. If my app gets rejected, there must be a separate fair and impartial court system to hear my appeal and adjudicate. If an impersonator takes my profile, I need legitimate enforcement to restore my property rights. If a FAANG closes my accounts, I must have the right to sue for damages.<p>--<p>Again: Enough complaining about unfair, arbitrary behavior. We get it.<p>Start proposing solutions.
There's also this:<p>U.S. congresswoman calls out Nike, Apple and Coca-Cola for lobbying against Uighur labour bills<p>Jennifer Wexton says companies are publicly condemning forced labour and privately trying to water down bills<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.5825235/u-s-congresswoman-calls-out-nike-apple-and-coca-cola-for-lobbying-against-uighur-labour-bills-1.5825242" rel="nofollow">https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday...</a><p><i>The companies principally who are lobbying ... to have changes to your bills, are Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola [and] the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. What are they trying to do? What changes do they want to make to your laws?</i><p>Well, I don't know, because they haven't come to me to try to make changes to my piece of legislation, but the word is that they're trying to water down some of the enforcement provisions while publicly proclaiming that they are very much against and condemning forced labour. They're going behind the scenes and trying to change the law.<p><i>If they're against it, if they say that this is not in their interest, then why would they want to change your bills?</i><p>Because it's going to impact their supply chains and make it harder for them to profit off of this forced labour.<p><i>Which means that they're using the forced labour?</i><p>If they're not using it, it wouldn't be a problem. But, you know, it appears that they are using it. And if they are auditing their supply chains the way they're supposed to, this legislation wouldn't be an issue.
As a passionate Apple hater their new chips didn't make me go 180 but I'm certainly looking over my shoulder. I'm not going to lock myself into any prison but the idea it could be cosy enough to sign up is entirely new to me.
I'd estimate that the more one rationalises this the less likely to actually switch away from Apple.<p>It's actually quite simple: let things run their course. When the iPhone becomes too lousy, don't buy another iPhone. When the Apple Watch gets broken, don't buy another Apple Watch. When the laptop won't work, get something else.<p>Step by step you realise all the Apple gear you have is just broken or old stuff.
Silence. This is my comment. Waiting for legislative solution agains big tech in a financial depression is a pipe dream. So...I vote with my money. No more Apple tax for me.
Wow, honored our post is so upvoted and discussed! In case anyone wants to read the prior posts in our series, links below!<p>Part 1: Software and Services
<a href="https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-apple-part1" rel="nofollow">https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-app...</a><p>Part 1.5: macOS Privacy Scandal and App Store Policy
<a href="https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-apple-part1-5" rel="nofollow">https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-app...</a><p>Part 2: Hardware and Accessories
<a href="https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-apple-part2" rel="nofollow">https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-app...</a>
> I believe Apple should simply refuse to cooperate with oppressive governments – but this is an unlikely scenario, as they have extremely close ties and dependence to China, a current perpetrator of genocide against the Uyghurs.<p>I could imagine Apple eventually moving its supply chain out of China, but it seems unlikely that they would be willing to be blocked from China's marketplace as Google services are. I wonder where Pixel phones and Chromebooks are manufactured, and where their components are sourced?<p>I would also like to see Apple refuse to cooperate with authoritarian governments, but I don't see that happening sadly.
Money trumps everything. Everything done under the name of "we're are a privacy respecting company. We care about our users." is just a facade. Apple will sell you out in a heart beat if the law orders them to help them oppress their own citizens.<p>I wonder how do these people sleep at night knowing what they are supporting under the mask of company. What will their children think? "I'm so proud that my dad/mom contributed to a company which silently supported oppressive and genocidal government's and helped make the world a worse place to live for the people".<p>But let's go and buy iPhones and Macs and let them know we fully support their actions.
Complaints about Apple’s censorship shouldn’t be limited to just foreign governments, which is a myopic and self-serving stance I often see in posts like this. It’s important to demand transparent free speech policies across the board for everyone. Like other big tech companies, Apple also censors content that doesn’t align with their progressive biases. They’ve banned numerous conservative apps from their App Store, and have threatened to ban others (example: <a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/tech-tyranny-apple-threatens-to-kick-social-media-company-parler-off-app-store-if-they-dont-ban-offensive-conservative-content/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/tech-tyranny-apple-...</a>). They’ve also engaged in the cultural wars more directly by doing things like replacing the gun emoji with the squirt gun emoji (<a href="https://blog.emojipedia.org/apple-and-the-gun-emoji/" rel="nofollow">https://blog.emojipedia.org/apple-and-the-gun-emoji/</a>). At this rate I will be unsurprised when Apple decides to start blocking certain websites across their devices for wrongspeak.