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If Apple is willing to make all of its product lines gold just to make China like it more, I wonder what else it's going to compromise on (thinking security/pri

If Apple is willing to make all of its product lines gold just to make China like it more, I wonder what else it's going to compromise on (thinking security/privacy here).

dijit 11y ago
Everyone always brings up privacy with Apple. Apple has a history of rejecting NSA blanket surveillance (until Jobs died- according to NSA leaks) At the very least Apple has a business model that /can/ support user privacy. Google is an advertising company- what you don't pay in currency, they make up for by selling you.
- Caprinicus 11y ago
  Ultimately what privacy comes down to a lot of the time is how much information the companies have access to. Even if Google had the same stance towards privacy that Apple does, they would be inherently much much worse just because their entire business model relies on having tons of your data, which is the exact opposite of the way Apple operates.
lindig 11y ago
You are suggesting that marketing to people's aestehetic preferences might come with a technical, functional or security compromise. How so? Would you suspect Ford to compromise on safety if it started to make a car in a color that appeals to a certain demographic?
- qq66 11y ago
  Your example is interesting, because car color and safety are related :) The effect isn't strong, but white cars seem to be involved in fewer injury incidents per mile driven. Standard disclaimer about correlation/causality...
equoid 11y ago
Come on, its not difficult. Apple makes products in gold because it makes those products more appealing to Chinese consumers. If you're going to try and be an Apple hater at least also try to be intelligent about it.
madeofpalk 11y ago
I'm not convinced Apple making a different coloured product is a compromise, let alone anywhere near the same level as security/private
jrs99 11y ago
it's a huge compromise, since no one outside of china would ever by a gold macbook. Instead of Silver, Slate, and Gold for macbook colors, Apple should have gone with Silver, Slate and Green.
- altern8 11y ago
  A few women might get a gold MacBook, but I think it's the tackiest thing I've ever seen. It also sucks that they picked gold for the keynote and as the main image on the website :-/
mcintyre1994 11y ago
I do agree this is a conversation worth having - it's not hugely relevant to Western consumers (obviously there's no deal to give all data to China or something - they're still a US company), but it raises points about Apple's philosophy. They got the iPhone on China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier that is also owned by the Chinese state. They're allegedly set to make China their biggest market, and are making enormous profit there. It doesn't seem particularly unlikely that that deal did more good for Apple than for China Mobile or that there might be conditions attached to it. It'd be fascinating to hear what those could be. I have mentioned this before, and somebody mentioned there's a markup on iOS products from Hong Kong which could suggest there's something to the idea - and that people do know/suspect something too. You only have to look at the state of Android - specifically Google's version - in China to see something's up. Google have been locked out of China, Apple have been embraced. Of course Google have way more data to demand than Apple do - and perhaps the demands were so ridiculous Apple would have balked at the same - but it's an interesting comparison. It's also potentially the driving force that will mean Apple continue to take substantially all the industry's profit. Basically, it would be fascinating to have been in the room of Apple/China Mobile negotiations.
melling 11y ago
How is offering something gold, or the color gold, a compromise? What is the largest cellphone market in the world? China. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_mobile_phones_in_use http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_o... Can you explain how you make the connection between colors and security? It sounds like a subtle troll.

If Apple is willing to make all of its product lines gold just to make China like it more, I wonder what else it's going to compromise on (thinking security/privacy here).

dijit 11y ago

Everyone always brings up privacy with Apple. Apple has a history of rejecting NSA blanket surveillance (until Jobs died- according to NSA leaks) At the very least Apple has a business model that /can/ support user privacy. Google is an advertising company- what you don't pay in currency, they make up for by selling you.

Caprinicus 11y ago
Ultimately what privacy comes down to a lot of the time is how much information the companies have access to. Even if Google had the same stance towards privacy that Apple does, they would be inherently much much worse just because their entire business model relies on having tons of your data, which is the exact opposite of the way Apple operates.

lindig 11y ago

You are suggesting that marketing to people's aestehetic preferences might come with a technical, functional or security compromise. How so? Would you suspect Ford to compromise on safety if it started to make a car in a color that appeals to a certain demographic?

qq66 11y ago
Your example is interesting, because car color and safety are related :) The effect isn't strong, but white cars seem to be involved in fewer injury incidents per mile driven. Standard disclaimer about correlation/causality...

equoid 11y ago

Come on, its not difficult. Apple makes products in gold because it makes those products more appealing to Chinese consumers. If you're going to try and be an Apple hater at least also try to be intelligent about it.

madeofpalk 11y ago

I'm not convinced Apple making a different coloured product is a compromise, let alone anywhere near the same level as security/private

jrs99 11y ago

it's a huge compromise, since no one outside of china would ever by a gold macbook. Instead of Silver, Slate, and Gold for macbook colors, Apple should have gone with Silver, Slate and Green.

altern8 11y ago
A few women might get a gold MacBook, but I think it's the tackiest thing I've ever seen. It also sucks that they picked gold for the keynote and as the main image on the website :-/

mcintyre1994 11y ago

I do agree this is a conversation worth having - it's not hugely relevant to Western consumers (obviously there's no deal to give all data to China or something - they're still a US company), but it raises points about Apple's philosophy. They got the iPhone on China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier that is also owned by the Chinese state. They're allegedly set to make China their biggest market, and are making enormous profit there. It doesn't seem particularly unlikely that that deal did more good for Apple than for China Mobile or that there might be conditions attached to it. It'd be fascinating to hear what those could be. I have mentioned this before, and somebody mentioned there's a markup on iOS products from Hong Kong which could suggest there's something to the idea - and that people do know/suspect something too. You only have to look at the state of Android - specifically Google's version - in China to see something's up. Google have been locked out of China, Apple have been embraced. Of course Google have way more data to demand than Apple do - and perhaps the demands were so ridiculous Apple would have balked at the same - but it's an interesting comparison. It's also potentially the driving force that will mean Apple continue to take substantially all the industry's profit. Basically, it would be fascinating to have been in the room of Apple/China Mobile negotiations.

melling 11y ago

How is offering something gold, or the color gold, a compromise? What is the largest cellphone market in the world? China. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_mobile_phones_in_use http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_o... Can you explain how you make the connection between colors and security? It sounds like a subtle troll.