Considering samsung was caught and admitted to paying people to do just that I'd say it's not that far fetched. Maybe you live in cloud denial land?
Yep and so is Google if we apply your same principles.
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Apple Having Trouble Signing New Carriers Because of iPhone Subsidy and Minimum Purchase Requirements
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Considering samsung was caught and admitted to paying people to do just that I'd say it's not that far fetched. Maybe you live in cloud denial land?
Yep and so is Google if we apply your same principles.
Considering samsung was caught and admitted to paying people to do just that I'd say it's not that far fetched. Maybe you live in cloud denial land?
Yep and so is Google if we apply your same principles.
...but but but Google. But But But...
How has Google abused patents and/or stifled competition with them? I'm curious how you think they have.
It is just Apple's greed to control the market and because the iPhone is so sought after, they are making the carriers pay the big price just to carry it. I do believe at some point it will backfire on them, we all know they make a ton of money on their products, eventually they will have to come down in price. I was speaking with an AT&T District Sales Manager and one issue they have with Apple, is Apple tells them what they can and can not do as part of their agreements to carry the iPhone, other Phone MFG's are way more flexible, but I do assume (guessing) at some point carriers will not bow down to Apple and there are other products that are just as profitable for them. Time will tell with everything, so we will just have to wait and see for the future.
I agree. However, it's also partially the carrier's faults. T-Mobile wanted the iPhone so bad that they allowed people to bring unlocked iPhones onto their network without Apple's blessing, which apparently didn't piss Apple off enough to not allow them to have the iPhone later.
US Cellular, on the other hand, could activate* phones from Verizon / Sprint if they wanted to, but they refuse, and based on an outside-of-work conversation with a US Cellular representative, it's an offense that can lead to termination.
* US Cellular, Verizon, and Sprint are all CDMA carriers. Unlike GSM/LTE where a phone is activated by inserting an active SIM card, a CDMA phone is activated by the network recognizing it's MEID, a number unique to the handset itself (not unlike the IMEI of a GSM phone). US Cellular maintains a whitelist of MEIDs for "US Cellular branded" devices, which they've refused to place my iPhones on in the past.
I think Apple is in that middle ground between luxury and a company that just makes really good, mainstream products.
Is there such thing as a mainstream luxury product? If a luxury item garners 40% market share, is it still considered luxury? I do believe that Apple computers are luxury I think. The iPod, iPad, and iPhone I think are kinda in that middle ground but since they are so mainstream, I would say they are not luxury. To me luxury is something only rich people can afford.
Now a luxury phone would be the one made by Tag Heuer. It costs a mere $3,600 and is made from carbon fiber.
Is there such thing as a mainstream luxury product? If a luxury item garners 40% market share, is it still considered luxury? I do believe that Apple computers are luxury I think. The iPod, iPad, and iPhone I think are kinda in that middle ground but since they are so mainstream, I would say they are not luxury. To me luxury is something only rich people can afford.
Now a luxury phone would be the one made by Tag Heuer. It costs a mere $3,600 and is made from carbon fiber.
Any product that is selling 10 million units a month is not a luxury item.
Luxury, by the dictionary, means expensive or hard to obtain. If it was substantially more expensive than the competition, or it had a very limited production number, then it could be considered as a luxury. But since you can buy it literally everywhere and at really low price points, it just simple does not constitutes as a luxury brand.
Trying is different than succeeding. I am asking specifically how Google has actually abused their patents.
You are obviously not a gear head. Quality (build quality) and Ferrari do not belong in the same sentence. Ferrari is a luxury brand because of history, exclusivity, and cost of entry.
I hope Apple doesn't fall into the paranoid world of bean-counters. Steve Jobs said that Apple should focus on making the best products in the world. If they fall into low-profit mass production worlds of Samsung and Dell, they will surely lose.
In terms of pricing that's not a luxury brand as many phones cost that much if not more. In terms of consumerism, there was a brief period where Apple was considered a luxury brand and I'm sure some still see it that way. But at least in the phone market, they're run of the mill right now.
That's a distinction without a difference. They only failed because the ec stopped them. Your question is nonsensical.
Are you saying that if a guy got caught breaking into a car, that he wasn't breaking into the car just because he got caught and didn't actually succeed?
People like to call the iPhone a luxury item simply to make themselves feel better. Anyone can go get an iPhone 4 for free right now with two year contract or a 4S for $99 with two year contract. How is that considered luxury?
My question is not nonsensical. How can a question be nonsensical?
Your analogy isn't a good one. Why? Because I'm not arguing whether or not he was or was not breaking into the car. I am arguing whether he was found guilty of breaking into the car. Has Google been successful in abusing their patents. Key word is abuse. Is it abuse to do what you can to enforce the patents you own? Or is abuse asking to look at Apple's product line for the next 5/10/20 years to make sure none of their tech is going to use patents Google owns. I would say the latter is abusing their patents.
Because you're making a distinction that has no difference. It's like me asking you "wow you really think I'm a thief just because I'm trying to break into your car?"
So you are saying that Google can theoretically bring petty lawsuit after petty lawsuit as much as they want and sue the crap out of everyone but it only becomes abuse when they succeed?
How many times has apple succeeded? By your logic, apple is not abusing their patents either then are they?
Ok - perhaps you don't really want to discuss this - you just want to talk in circles and twist what I'm saying to suit your agenda. I never said what you're implying. Strawman.
Yes you did, you said that there is a difference between trying and actually succeeding and then challenged my statement that Google abuses its patents too. What exactly did I get wrong?
About "luxury" brand, if anyone can buy it at store (yes, almost all stores got iphones) then its not luxury. If they cant provide state-of-the-art support for customers, then again - its not luxury.
There is now nothing special in iphone, really, i don't even think that it should be called a high-end device (maybe in apple ecosystem it is). Take a look around, there are devices (smarphones) that are considered high-end and makes iphone 5 look like a toy. Better screen (retina is just a crap word now), much more advanced features, nfc, wireless charging, touch-to-send, cloud services bla bla bla.
I have an iphone 5 and Nexus 4 , and nexus 4 with stock raw android beats up iphone 5 ass all the time in all aspect of every day use of IT guy, and Nexus 4 is not even considered as a "high end" anymore.
(fanboys army activating in 1 ... 2.....3....)
There is now nothing special in iphone, really, i don't even think that it should be called a high-end device (maybe in apple ecosystem it is). Take a look around, there are devices (smarphones) that are considered high-end and makes iphone 5 look like a toy. Better screen (retina is just a crap word now), much more advanced features, nfc, wireless charging, touch-to-send, cloud services bla bla bla.
I have an iphone 5 and Nexus 4 , and nexus 4 with stock raw android beats up iphone 5 ass all the time in all aspect of every day use of IT guy, and Nexus 4 is not even considered as a "high end" anymore.
(fanboys army activating in 1 ... 2.....3....)
with regard to the iPhone, the Price has gone up unless I'm confused...the first iPhone was not subsidized so I recall paying 600 for an 8GB iPhone...the current iPhone in least amount of cheapest storage costs $650.00
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lux·u·ry
2
: a condition of abundance or great ease and comfort : sumptuous environment <lived in luxury>
3
a: something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary <one of life's luxuries>
b: an indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease
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1. I never said that "Google can theoretically bring petty lawsuit after petty lawsuit as much as they want and sue the crap out of everyone but it only becomes abuse when they succeed"
2. I didn't comment on whether Apple was or was not guilty of patent abuse. You brought Apple up. And keep bringing them up as if it's relevant to discussing whether or not GOOGLE has done it. Hence my "but but but" earlier.
Done discussing with you. We both know where this road goes.
anyone can buy a Rolex at a store yet it's considered a luxury item...and I personally consider Apple's customer support state of the art, compared to say oh.... Samsung, Google, Motorola and Microsoft...I own a Rolex by the way and I have to wind it and all it does it tell time....I also own a g-shock watch that tells time in 3 different countries, is charged by the sun and will set it's self upon entering a different time zone...yet the G-Shock is considered the "toy"
What i see in my area (Poland) i can buy iphone 5 almost everywhere, in any tech shop and any carrier. Can't say about rolex cause i simply dont know/care about it.
About state of the art customer support - i bought my iphone from carrier, and guess what? i cant repair it in OFFICIAL APPLE REPAIR CENTER. Carrier sold phones are ONLY repairable by CARRIER choosed repair centers (mostly not apple related). Apple cheats people in EU regarding warranty (known case, search about it). They apple-store "geniuses" are kiddo fanboys which doesnt have _ANY_ knowledge besides that they have written in instructions for sellers.
The state of the art iphone 5 case is scratched out of the box (especially black version), and guess what? apple doesnt consider this as a faulty unit.
You call it luxury? i got more support from Google Play (which doesnt even have partners in Poland, Google doesnt exist here officialyy) than from so-overhyped apple.
What i think _may_ be luxury i can pay for it a luxury money:
- 2 Yr warranty, with instant replacement when broken (by not user fault of course)
- 2+ Yr software update assurance
- High end quality
- High end additional services (cloud services) boundled with device
- Personalization (look/feel)
Nothing more in mind right now but thats a minimum to call the device a luxury one.
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