It is flamebait, but the emphasis is not totally off, since Apple store employees are reported as spending hours trying to fix the problem without success, then telling users they have to pay for another phone to fix the problem.<p>Problems that (1) cause companies to charge more usually don't receive the same get-it-fixed priority as (2) problems that cause companies to lose money. This is an example of (1).<p>With these kinds of problems, it could be said to be laziness or carelessness causing a company to make money at the expense of users. But when a company is aware of this kind of problem and doesn't sufficiently prioritize getting it fixed, or in this case where Apple is trying to force users to pay for a new phone, <i>eventually</i> it <i>is</i> a sneaky way to force money out of customers.