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Difficult to imagine what Apple were thinking in the first place. Did they actually think there was a chance the EU would let this slide? Best I can tell, all t

Difficult to imagine what Apple were thinking in the first place. Did they actually think there was a chance the EU would let this slide? Best I can tell, all they've achieved is bringing even greater scrutiny on themselves.

zmmmmm 3y ago
When reason fails to explain people's actions, it gives you a measure of the strength of their ideology on something. In this case, you can see how deeply they believe in the concept of complete authoritarian control of their ecosystem. Enough that logic and practical outcomes barely matter in comparison.
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
  Or the tech gossip scene, sorry, “tech press”, doesn’t have full visibility over the circumstances.
- transitionnel 3y ago
  Chaining one sole thought-logic all the waaaayyyyy...untiiiilllll zap I think Apple may behave more creditably from here on out.
  - tempodox 3y ago
    I admire your optimism.
- diego_sandoval 3y ago
  That ideology hasn't stopped them from becoming the most valuable company in the world, so I wouldn't disregard it from the point of view of practical outcomes.
  - interactivecode 3y ago
    Dictators and monopolies are always very rich.
  - novok 3y ago
    That's a baby and bathwater conflation. Did they succeed despite this cultural aspect or because or both.
  - subtra3t 3y ago
    As of 9th March 2024, Microsoft is the most valuable company in the world, followed by Apple and Nvidia (which might take Apple's position soon).
  - fauigerzigerk 3y ago
    I think they are struggling to adapt to a new situation that has resulted from their own success. An ideology that helps you build and grow a new platform may not be equally suitable for running a dominant platform on which significant parts of the world economy depend.
- jfoster 3y ago
  That would be plausible if they stuck to their guns for as long as possible. In this case, they suspended the account, put themselves further into the spotlight, and then reactivated the account.
- roenxi 3y ago
  Well... all corporations [0] are modelled after authoritarian states. The only model that seems to work is a single person with dictatorial power and a tree shaped hierarchy. Pretty much everyone does that, and the exceptions prove the rule. It isn't weird that they have authoritarian views of how their assets should be managed. Hold in mind that everything involves trade offs. Authoritarianism is really good at monomaniacal focus on something that the dictator thinks is important, they just tend to fail at all the other stuff. And it is fine - indeed, remarkably effective - as long as people can leave when the focus isn't benefiting them. Democracy sucks at pretty much everything except being flexible in the face of change and empowering voters. You do not want your food supply being run according to democratic principles, you want it to work. [0] And most open source projects AFAIK
  - ReflectedImage 3y ago
    Authoritarian states are a very ineffective model. A leader can lead their small band of merry man to rob the highway alright. But it doesn't scale up to larger groups of people. If you talk to the CEOs of large companies or miltary leaders, you find that they are unable to exert effective control of their organisations. The organisation will do whatever it wants to do. The leader can make their command but at every level through the organisation that command will be slightly subverted. The more layers, the less of that command will get through. Since it's in the news, take for example Putin and Russia, Putin thought he had tank battalions that his lower downs had sold for parts decades ago. Based on the information in front of him, he should have taken Ukraine in several days regardless of resistance by the locals. And whilst you might think it's impressive that he cut the budget in US congress to Ukraine, back-handed deals to send old Soviet equipment from 3rd party countries to Ukraine were made and now they are exhausted London is loaning Ukraine, Russia's money. Putin's authoritarian Russia might be able to cut off the head of democracy but he's up against a five headed hydra. Democracy is a lot more scary than Authoritarism from a military perspective. "You do not want your food supply being run according to democratic principles, you want it to work." This is something that people don't really get, what's important is that the people delivering the food get the sack if they failed to do it. As long as that happens it's okay. That's the reason why socialist and overly authoritarian countries have supply problems, they don't have an effective mechanism to replace failing organisations. Venezuela isn't able to extract Oil because the Oil dereks are run by the local dictator's family members.
KingOfCoders 3y ago
Difficult to imagine what "companies" are thinking. I was working as an executive for subsidiary of eBay Inc. but would never imagine something like this happenening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal
throwaway67743 3y ago
They think they're above the law, as evidenced by their repeated poking and misrepresenting facts.
vikramkr 3y ago
Why wouldn't you think the EU would let that slide? Until recently all they've done is fine these companies amounts of money that are nice for headlines but not really that painful. Regulators with teeth is - new for apple

zmmmmm 3y ago

When reason fails to explain people's actions, it gives you a measure of the strength of their ideology on something. In this case, you can see how deeply they believe in the concept of complete authoritarian control of their ecosystem. Enough that logic and practical outcomes barely matter in comparison.

cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
Or the tech gossip scene, sorry, “tech press”, doesn’t have full visibility over the circumstances.
transitionnel 3y ago
Chaining one sole thought-logic all the waaaayyyyy...untiiiilllll zap I think Apple may behave more creditably from here on out.
- tempodox 3y ago
  I admire your optimism.
diego_sandoval 3y ago
That ideology hasn't stopped them from becoming the most valuable company in the world, so I wouldn't disregard it from the point of view of practical outcomes.
- interactivecode 3y ago
  Dictators and monopolies are always very rich.
- novok 3y ago
  That's a baby and bathwater conflation. Did they succeed despite this cultural aspect or because or both.
- subtra3t 3y ago
  As of 9th March 2024, Microsoft is the most valuable company in the world, followed by Apple and Nvidia (which might take Apple's position soon).
- fauigerzigerk 3y ago
  I think they are struggling to adapt to a new situation that has resulted from their own success. An ideology that helps you build and grow a new platform may not be equally suitable for running a dominant platform on which significant parts of the world economy depend.
jfoster 3y ago
That would be plausible if they stuck to their guns for as long as possible. In this case, they suspended the account, put themselves further into the spotlight, and then reactivated the account.
roenxi 3y ago
Well... all corporations [0] are modelled after authoritarian states. The only model that seems to work is a single person with dictatorial power and a tree shaped hierarchy. Pretty much everyone does that, and the exceptions prove the rule. It isn't weird that they have authoritarian views of how their assets should be managed. Hold in mind that everything involves trade offs. Authoritarianism is really good at monomaniacal focus on something that the dictator thinks is important, they just tend to fail at all the other stuff. And it is fine - indeed, remarkably effective - as long as people can leave when the focus isn't benefiting them. Democracy sucks at pretty much everything except being flexible in the face of change and empowering voters. You do not want your food supply being run according to democratic principles, you want it to work. [0] And most open source projects AFAIK
- ReflectedImage 3y ago
  Authoritarian states are a very ineffective model. A leader can lead their small band of merry man to rob the highway alright. But it doesn't scale up to larger groups of people. If you talk to the CEOs of large companies or miltary leaders, you find that they are unable to exert effective control of their organisations. The organisation will do whatever it wants to do. The leader can make their command but at every level through the organisation that command will be slightly subverted. The more layers, the less of that command will get through. Since it's in the news, take for example Putin and Russia, Putin thought he had tank battalions that his lower downs had sold for parts decades ago. Based on the information in front of him, he should have taken Ukraine in several days regardless of resistance by the locals. And whilst you might think it's impressive that he cut the budget in US congress to Ukraine, back-handed deals to send old Soviet equipment from 3rd party countries to Ukraine were made and now they are exhausted London is loaning Ukraine, Russia's money. Putin's authoritarian Russia might be able to cut off the head of democracy but he's up against a five headed hydra. Democracy is a lot more scary than Authoritarism from a military perspective. "You do not want your food supply being run according to democratic principles, you want it to work." This is something that people don't really get, what's important is that the people delivering the food get the sack if they failed to do it. As long as that happens it's okay. That's the reason why socialist and overly authoritarian countries have supply problems, they don't have an effective mechanism to replace failing organisations. Venezuela isn't able to extract Oil because the Oil dereks are run by the local dictator's family members.

KingOfCoders 3y ago

Difficult to imagine what "companies" are thinking. I was working as an executive for subsidiary of eBay Inc. but would never imagine something like this happenening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal

throwaway67743 3y ago

They think they're above the law, as evidenced by their repeated poking and misrepresenting facts.

vikramkr 3y ago

Why wouldn't you think the EU would let that slide? Until recently all they've done is fine these companies amounts of money that are nice for headlines but not really that painful. Regulators with teeth is - new for apple