3 ms·

As the "editor-in-chief of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s leading daily", why not do something? I don't mean complain, that's already happening, I mean act

As the "editor-in-chief of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s leading daily", why not do something? I don't mean complain, that's already happening, I mean actually do something. For example, ban all Apple products from the paper. Lobby the German government to ban all Apple products until Apple pay a sufficient amount of tax. Use the paper's influence to get people to stop using Apple's services. That sort of something. If not, then why not? Is it possibly that you don't really care? It's just a fun story that helps circulation a bit. Or, maybe, that you don't believe that you'll get much support and having a campaign that fails is bad for circulation? Possibly it's because this would have a direct negative effect on you and yours and, well, we wouldn't want that. Personally, I'm fine if you don't do anything but complain as protecting your circulation and your convenience is a perfectly reasonable thing. But don't be surprised that nothing changes.

dx034 9y ago
> For example, ban all Apple products from the paper. Lobby the German government to ban all Apple products until Apple pay a sufficient amount of tax. Use the paper's influence to get people to stop using Apple's services. That sort of something. Not sure if they even issue company phones. But if, that's maybe 100 iphones. And how should they lobby a government to ban iPhones? As official phones they're not used anyway (for security reasons) and the state has no say in what people use privately. Boycotts almost never work.
- lucozade 9y ago
  > As official phones they're not used I mean lobby for the ban on the sale of Apple products in Germany. As in, make it illegal to sell Apple products. And if you really want to put the cat amongst the pigeons, make it illegal to buy them. > Boycotts almost never work They absolutely can if they're popular enough. And they can in Germany too. If you don't believe me, check out the Shell boycott. And that wasn't officially sanctioned. I think it's reasonable to expect that a 40% reduction in sales in a market as important as Germany would cause Apple to think seriously about its position. Now, I'm not suggesting for a second that a ban on Apple, or even a boycott, would occur let alone be successful. But that's kind of my point. No-one's going to call for it because it's just not important to anyone. It's posturing.

dx034 9y ago

> For example, ban all Apple products from the paper. Lobby the German government to ban all Apple products until Apple pay a sufficient amount of tax. Use the paper's influence to get people to stop using Apple's services. That sort of something. Not sure if they even issue company phones. But if, that's maybe 100 iphones. And how should they lobby a government to ban iPhones? As official phones they're not used anyway (for security reasons) and the state has no say in what people use privately. Boycotts almost never work.

lucozade 9y ago
> As official phones they're not used I mean lobby for the ban on the sale of Apple products in Germany. As in, make it illegal to sell Apple products. And if you really want to put the cat amongst the pigeons, make it illegal to buy them. > Boycotts almost never work They absolutely can if they're popular enough. And they can in Germany too. If you don't believe me, check out the Shell boycott. And that wasn't officially sanctioned. I think it's reasonable to expect that a 40% reduction in sales in a market as important as Germany would cause Apple to think seriously about its position. Now, I'm not suggesting for a second that a ban on Apple, or even a boycott, would occur let alone be successful. But that's kind of my point. No-one's going to call for it because it's just not important to anyone. It's posturing.