4 ms·

One Email Explains Apple

38 points by 1cvmask 5y ago

zamalek 5y ago
> User protection, network protection, an owned developer platform and a sustainable API approach. The truth of this matter is that privacy and security is a feature, and that feature sells. There's a reason that Apple advertised this feature on billboards. They went in another direction, compared to the rest of the industry, and have a lucrative unique value proposition. They are not doing this out of the good of their hearts, as the article suggests. They are not a force of good, they are a force of profits. Apple continues to participate in some pretty evil practices, planned obsolescence and right to repair are two great examples.
- zepto 5y ago
  > They are not a force of good, If they do good things, then they are a force of good. > they are a force of profits. Yes, but this has nothing to do with whether they do good things or not. > Apple continues to participate in some pretty evil practices, planned obsolescence This is simply a false accusation. It is their stated goal to increase useful lifetime of their devices as much as possible. > and right to repair are two great examples. Also, just an empty claim. Their products are more repairable than most. “Right to repair” thinking applies well to things like tractors, but poorly to devices like phones.
  - salamandersauce 5y ago
    They have decent software update support on the phone side especially compared to Android but that's a pretty low bar. And let's not forget about the whole battery debacle where they "helpfully" slowed down iPhones without telling anyone once the small batteries for the size got too old. Apple goes against right to repair by actively restricting 3rd parties from getting replacement parts, they use software locks to pop up scary warnings about non-geniune parts being used if the serial doesn't match even if it was just swapped from another brand new iPhone. Right to repair applies to everything that can be repaired. Microsoft supports old Macs better than Apple does and over the past 10 years the Mac lineup has become less and less repairable with one exception the Mac Pro (and we'll see what's replaceable in the AS version...). Pretty much all parts are soldered to the logic board in all models which means users can't extend the useful life of machines by easily popping in new RAM or extra storage. If the SSD fails in an M1 Mac the entire unit is complete trash and can not be booted from an external volume unlike its Intel predecessors.
    - zepto 5y ago
      > they "helpfully" slowed down iPhones without telling anyone once the small batteries for the size got too old What a bizarre thing to mention if you are arguing for planned obsolescence. Slowing the phone increased the useful lifetime. > pop up scary warnings about non-geniune parts being used Counterfeit parts are an obvious and real problem - it’s good that it can be detected. Just because a battery has been taken from a used iPhone doesn’t mean it’s a good replacement. Also, batteries have shelf life. If you are comfortable with repairing your phone or trust the person doing it a warning message can be safely ignored. If you actually don’t trust a repair shop, then the message is a helpful warning. The things you list simply don’t support the claims.
      - salamandersauce 5y ago
        When people took their now slower iPhones to the Apple Genius and complained that their phone was now slow what do you think they typically said? Buy a new phone. Not replace the battery for ~$100 and it will be as fast as before, not we slowed it to make the battery life longer. Apple didn't tell Geniuses about this "feature" or anybody for that matter. Maybe some people would have been happier plugging in twice per day with a still fast phone instead of a slow one? Or would have just had the battery replaced instead of buying a whole new phone? It's not detecting counterfeit parts. As I said, you can swap the screen from two brand new iPhones and it will warn you about these parts being non-geniune. This is to scare users to use Apple or Apple affiliates for repairs.
        zepto 5y ago
        > … have just had the battery replaced instead of buying a whole new phone? iPhones still slow down when the battery is old. The only difference is in the documentation and UI, which was easily fixed. There is no conspiracy here. > It's not detecting counterfeit parts. As I said, you can swap the screen from two brand new iPhones and it will warn you about these parts being non-geniune. I personally bought a genuine battery and replaced it in my iPhone 3GS. The replacement was worse than the one I took out because it had been sitting on a shelf for years. Similarly, ‘genuine’ parts can be ones that didn’t pass QC, etc. > This is to scare users to use Apple or Apple affiliates for repairs. Why would it scare someone who trusts the repair shop? My car warns me about all kinds of things, but I trust my mechanic who I have used for more than a decade to tell me what matters. If you don’t trust your repair shop then the message is a useful warning and you would be better off going to Apple.
mhoad 5y ago
I saw someone on the Chrome team say that this was the moment Apple’s support for the web as a first class platform died. Not sure I would disagree with that conclusion given how things have played out since then.
- zepto 5y ago
  The formation of the Chrome team is the moment when Google’s support for the open web died.

38 points by 1cvmask 5y ago

> User protection, network protection, an owned developer platform and a sustainable API approach. The truth of this matter is that privacy and security is a feature, and that feature sells. There's a reason that Apple advertised this feature on billboards. They went in another direction, compared to the rest of the industry, and have a lucrative unique value proposition. They are not doing this out of the good of their hearts, as the article suggests. They are not a force of good, they are a force of profits. Apple continues to participate in some pretty evil practices, planned obsolescence and right to repair are two great examples.

zepto 5y ago
> They are not a force of good, If they do good things, then they are a force of good. > they are a force of profits. Yes, but this has nothing to do with whether they do good things or not. > Apple continues to participate in some pretty evil practices, planned obsolescence This is simply a false accusation. It is their stated goal to increase useful lifetime of their devices as much as possible. > and right to repair are two great examples. Also, just an empty claim. Their products are more repairable than most. “Right to repair” thinking applies well to things like tractors, but poorly to devices like phones.
- salamandersauce 5y ago
  They have decent software update support on the phone side especially compared to Android but that's a pretty low bar. And let's not forget about the whole battery debacle where they "helpfully" slowed down iPhones without telling anyone once the small batteries for the size got too old. Apple goes against right to repair by actively restricting 3rd parties from getting replacement parts, they use software locks to pop up scary warnings about non-geniune parts being used if the serial doesn't match even if it was just swapped from another brand new iPhone. Right to repair applies to everything that can be repaired. Microsoft supports old Macs better than Apple does and over the past 10 years the Mac lineup has become less and less repairable with one exception the Mac Pro (and we'll see what's replaceable in the AS version...). Pretty much all parts are soldered to the logic board in all models which means users can't extend the useful life of machines by easily popping in new RAM or extra storage. If the SSD fails in an M1 Mac the entire unit is complete trash and can not be booted from an external volume unlike its Intel predecessors.
  - zepto 5y ago
    > they "helpfully" slowed down iPhones without telling anyone once the small batteries for the size got too old What a bizarre thing to mention if you are arguing for planned obsolescence. Slowing the phone increased the useful lifetime. > pop up scary warnings about non-geniune parts being used Counterfeit parts are an obvious and real problem - it’s good that it can be detected. Just because a battery has been taken from a used iPhone doesn’t mean it’s a good replacement. Also, batteries have shelf life. If you are comfortable with repairing your phone or trust the person doing it a warning message can be safely ignored. If you actually don’t trust a repair shop, then the message is a helpful warning. The things you list simply don’t support the claims.
    - salamandersauce 5y ago
      When people took their now slower iPhones to the Apple Genius and complained that their phone was now slow what do you think they typically said? Buy a new phone. Not replace the battery for ~$100 and it will be as fast as before, not we slowed it to make the battery life longer. Apple didn't tell Geniuses about this "feature" or anybody for that matter. Maybe some people would have been happier plugging in twice per day with a still fast phone instead of a slow one? Or would have just had the battery replaced instead of buying a whole new phone? It's not detecting counterfeit parts. As I said, you can swap the screen from two brand new iPhones and it will warn you about these parts being non-geniune. This is to scare users to use Apple or Apple affiliates for repairs.
      - zepto 5y ago
        > … have just had the battery replaced instead of buying a whole new phone? iPhones still slow down when the battery is old. The only difference is in the documentation and UI, which was easily fixed. There is no conspiracy here. > It's not detecting counterfeit parts. As I said, you can swap the screen from two brand new iPhones and it will warn you about these parts being non-geniune. I personally bought a genuine battery and replaced it in my iPhone 3GS. The replacement was worse than the one I took out because it had been sitting on a shelf for years. Similarly, ‘genuine’ parts can be ones that didn’t pass QC, etc. > This is to scare users to use Apple or Apple affiliates for repairs. Why would it scare someone who trusts the repair shop? My car warns me about all kinds of things, but I trust my mechanic who I have used for more than a decade to tell me what matters. If you don’t trust your repair shop then the message is a useful warning and you would be better off going to Apple.

mhoad 5y ago

I saw someone on the Chrome team say that this was the moment Apple’s support for the web as a first class platform died. Not sure I would disagree with that conclusion given how things have played out since then.

zepto 5y ago
The formation of the Chrome team is the moment when Google’s support for the open web died.