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They sell computers.. I think you’re reaching a bit.

appletrotter 5y ago
Some people spend day and night on those computers (such as myself.)
yurishimo 5y ago
As an attempt to steelman their point, Apple has more employees than about 30 countries and has more CASH on hand than the GDP of over a 100 countries (220~ total worldwide). As far as regulations go, I think those points could be an argument that more regulation could be warranted.
- hrez 5y ago
  I just looked at AAPL and it has $62B cash and $136B debt. If you do the math ... where is all that CASH you're talking about?
  - Strom 5y ago
    The US also has a lot of debt. Thus debt does not seem like a valid counter-signal here.
    - hrez 5y ago
      US can print their own money. AAPL can't. It's like if you moved money from credit card to a checking account. You are not going get any richer from that. Just the opposite.
- judge2020 5y ago
  Apple's yearly revenue is ~140B, which would make it the 77th largest country by GDP if it were a country, and if you consider revenue and gdp to be similar terms. 0: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/real-gdp-purchasing-power-parity/country-comparison https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/real-gdp-purcha...
Barrin92 5y ago
that's like saying "standard oil just sells hydrocarbon". Computing underpins virtually every aspect of the economy, almost all communication, the national infrastructure, increasingly the military, and the public debate. The tech industry (of which Apple is the largest representative) is, and increasingly becoming even more, the second largest center of power within any modern nation. As evidenced by the fact that they can and have removed elected representatives (most of which I'm not a fan of to make that clear) from public debate.
- thehappypm 5y ago
  Sure, computing as a whole is critical. Apple overwhelmingly is just doing consumer stuff. Servers, military, voting machines, you’re not likely to see that Apple logo.

Some people spend day and night on those computers (such as myself.)

As an attempt to steelman their point, Apple has more employees than about 30 countries and has more CASH on hand than the GDP of over a 100 countries (220~ total worldwide). As far as regulations go, I think those points could be an argument that more regulation could be warranted.

hrez 5y ago
I just looked at AAPL and it has $62B cash and $136B debt. If you do the math ... where is all that CASH you're talking about?
- Strom 5y ago
  The US also has a lot of debt. Thus debt does not seem like a valid counter-signal here.
  - hrez 5y ago
    US can print their own money. AAPL can't. It's like if you moved money from credit card to a checking account. You are not going get any richer from that. Just the opposite.
judge2020 5y ago
Apple's yearly revenue is ~140B, which would make it the 77th largest country by GDP if it were a country, and if you consider revenue and gdp to be similar terms. 0: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/real-gdp-purchasing-power-parity/country-comparison https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/real-gdp-purcha...

Barrin92 5y ago

that's like saying "standard oil just sells hydrocarbon". Computing underpins virtually every aspect of the economy, almost all communication, the national infrastructure, increasingly the military, and the public debate. The tech industry (of which Apple is the largest representative) is, and increasingly becoming even more, the second largest center of power within any modern nation. As evidenced by the fact that they can and have removed elected representatives (most of which I'm not a fan of to make that clear) from public debate.

thehappypm 5y ago
Sure, computing as a whole is critical. Apple overwhelmingly is just doing consumer stuff. Servers, military, voting machines, you’re not likely to see that Apple logo.