4 ms·

> Apple has been excoriated by presidential candidates, and backed into the tightest of corners by the FBI: the moral case for refusing to hack into a terrorist

> Apple has been excoriated by presidential candidates, and backed into the tightest of corners by the FBI: the moral case for refusing to hack into a terrorist’s phone is hard to make – particularly in the US over an Isis-inspired attack during an election year. I can't believe The Guardian is sounding so hostile to Apple in this context. Don't they understand the consequences?!

lhnz 11y ago
It's not so surprising. A lot of people have been jealously watching on as 'fat cat' 'tech bros' eat into their industries. Now there are signs that the market will correct and that technology companies will not continue to get free passes with which to ignore government. In short, they want to see blood and will settle to see it whichever way they can. Tech on the whole needs to wise up politically. It cannot continue to accept the negative characterisations of its members, nor can it continue to do whatever it wants without any political ramifications. Even if we believe we're doing the right thing, we'll need to redeem ourselves in the public eye and critically evaluate solutions to social problems we've been implicated in (whether or not we are the sole cause of them.)
- mattmanser 11y ago
  It's odd, yesterday they had a fairly prominently displayed piece praising it (at least for the UK): http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/21/apple-smartphone-personal-data http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/21/apple-s... If you look through the other articles it's all been fairly pro-Apple: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/apple http://www.theguardian.com/technology/apple It's a bit strange that a business writer has been allowed to fairly anonymously attack Apple, in what has been a pro-Snowdon/privacy paper.
  - lhnz 11y ago
    I don't mean to discount the anti-censorship narrative. I'm merely pointing to another narrative that also exists and is gaining mindshare - demographic issues in tech, inequality caused by tech, tech ignoring government, people in tech being arrogant, etc.
  - toyg 11y ago
    pro-Snowden... but openly anti-Assange, and moving to the right of the political discourse at increasing speed (they dropped UK Labour in 2010, campaigned against the current Labour leader, and are keen to appease the US market).
    - frandroid 11y ago
      The Guardian is trying to grow in the U.S. market, not appease it. If the Guardian does nothing, it's not under any kind of threat other than being ignored. You appease someone who threatens you. /nitpick
      - toyg 11y ago
        They are appeasing the (mostly US-based) online market that is making them obsolete. See what happened to The Independent? That will happen to The Guardian as well, unless they can become a real player in the US and hence globally. I could have used "begging" as well but it would have been a bit degrading.
    - mattmanser 11y ago
      Well, technically they are moving to the right, but to left of centre from the far left. They used to be insufferable, I actually far prefered the independant in print. They used to have this tiresome war reporter who would write these highly biased and inflammatory pieces which weren't news but propaganda. And the opinion pieces, ugh. I used to rotate papers (telegraph, indie and Guardian), I personally thought the Guardian was terrible at unbiasedly reporting the actual news. As the Guardian has become the main left wing news due to the independant sucking on the web, I'm glad they've chilled out a bit.
vidarh 11y ago
What sounds hostile about it? They are describing the challenges Apple are facing, not judging them.
- codeisawesome 11y ago
  Frankly, yes on second reading I agree with your assessment. However the whole tone of the article, especially during "scan reading", seems to attempt to tilt the reader's judgement against Apple.
frandroid 11y ago
The article is doing an analysis of the current situation, not declaring its support for one side of the other. Like others have pointed out, there are other articles supporting Apple's position, but one must still see the threats for what they are.

lhnz 11y ago

It's not so surprising. A lot of people have been jealously watching on as 'fat cat' 'tech bros' eat into their industries. Now there are signs that the market will correct and that technology companies will not continue to get free passes with which to ignore government. In short, they want to see blood and will settle to see it whichever way they can. Tech on the whole needs to wise up politically. It cannot continue to accept the negative characterisations of its members, nor can it continue to do whatever it wants without any political ramifications. Even if we believe we're doing the right thing, we'll need to redeem ourselves in the public eye and critically evaluate solutions to social problems we've been implicated in (whether or not we are the sole cause of them.)

mattmanser 11y ago
It's odd, yesterday they had a fairly prominently displayed piece praising it (at least for the UK): http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/21/apple-smartphone-personal-data http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/21/apple-s... If you look through the other articles it's all been fairly pro-Apple: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/apple http://www.theguardian.com/technology/apple It's a bit strange that a business writer has been allowed to fairly anonymously attack Apple, in what has been a pro-Snowdon/privacy paper.
- lhnz 11y ago
  I don't mean to discount the anti-censorship narrative. I'm merely pointing to another narrative that also exists and is gaining mindshare - demographic issues in tech, inequality caused by tech, tech ignoring government, people in tech being arrogant, etc.
- toyg 11y ago
  pro-Snowden... but openly anti-Assange, and moving to the right of the political discourse at increasing speed (they dropped UK Labour in 2010, campaigned against the current Labour leader, and are keen to appease the US market).
  - frandroid 11y ago
    The Guardian is trying to grow in the U.S. market, not appease it. If the Guardian does nothing, it's not under any kind of threat other than being ignored. You appease someone who threatens you. /nitpick
    - toyg 11y ago
      They are appeasing the (mostly US-based) online market that is making them obsolete. See what happened to The Independent? That will happen to The Guardian as well, unless they can become a real player in the US and hence globally. I could have used "begging" as well but it would have been a bit degrading.
  - mattmanser 11y ago
    Well, technically they are moving to the right, but to left of centre from the far left. They used to be insufferable, I actually far prefered the independant in print. They used to have this tiresome war reporter who would write these highly biased and inflammatory pieces which weren't news but propaganda. And the opinion pieces, ugh. I used to rotate papers (telegraph, indie and Guardian), I personally thought the Guardian was terrible at unbiasedly reporting the actual news. As the Guardian has become the main left wing news due to the independant sucking on the web, I'm glad they've chilled out a bit.

vidarh 11y ago

What sounds hostile about it? They are describing the challenges Apple are facing, not judging them.

codeisawesome 11y ago
Frankly, yes on second reading I agree with your assessment. However the whole tone of the article, especially during "scan reading", seems to attempt to tilt the reader's judgement against Apple.

frandroid 11y ago

The article is doing an analysis of the current situation, not declaring its support for one side of the other. Like others have pointed out, there are other articles supporting Apple's position, but one must still see the threats for what they are.