Personally, I think that PRSI is a valuable addition to the forum, for it allows for, and makes space for, discussions that do not - and cannot - take place elsewhere in the forum.
Moreover, it is easily avoided for those who do not wish to avail of it.
I would also put forward the argument that it is not really possible to discuss tech and computing matters in the sort of vacuum that is devoid of - or, has been stripped of - socio-political context for a number of reasons.
Tech, and how it is used, has utterly transformed our world and our relationship with it - and I would argue that the scope and range of this transformation has been on a par with the comprehensive changes effected by a number of previous such revolutions (for example, the invention of the printing press & moveable type & the development of paper; the Industrial Revolution, and so on).
This has implications not just for control of (and ownership of) personal information, and privacy concerns, and for online lives and social media platforms, but on who - or what - should have a say in how to regulate this, and discussion of such topics are entirely fitting in a tech forum.
Moreover, some tech companies are now far wealthier, more powerful and considerably more influential than many small or mid sized economies or polities or countries (nation states?) in the world, but are not at all accountable to any of their electorates or governments.
This is an area where I would certainly foresee tensions in the future, and to exclude discussion on the power exercised by tech companies in not just the global economy, but the global reach of their political and cultural influence, on the grounds that it is "political", is to draw a distinction that may serve to suppress discussion, debate and thought on some key issues.
Re Apple itself, the company's tax polices and labour policies are matters that I would deem of equal importance to Apple's undoubted skill in the field of technological innovation.
Thus, they are (to my mind) matters that would repay deeper discussion and closer interrogation, which cannot be done unless political and social matters can be explored.
However, recent events have made this even more pressing, as, in the wake of Covid-19, some bodies (such as the EU) are re-thinking their dependency on China for the provision - for example - of pharmaceuticals and antibiotics, as they wish to reduce trade dependencies (and develop their own capacity) in areas that they consider may make them vulnerable in the future unless such steps have been taken.
There are other issues in the tech world - such Silicon Valley's treatment of, and attitude to - women, and how that has had an impact on how tech is developed - (voice control commands that do not register or recognise commands issued by most women, as the timbre of their voice lacks the necessary depth - come to mind) where the provision of such a section in the forum allows for such discussion.
