When people try to gather in Hong Kong to protest
The last time there was a political gathering for the LGBTQ community
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Tim Cook Defends Removal of Hong Kong Mapping App From App Store in Leaked Memo
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The last time there was a political gathering for the LGBTQ community
Come on now... Apple is all in on China. China has Apple by the testicles. If they piss off the Chinese government, they will at a minimum hobble if not shut down Apple in China. Apple had no choice but to remove the app. The handwriting's on the wall. First China pressures Apple to acquiesce who's next the UK or the US or both?
Apple as a company is not responsible for setting foreign policies. Apple is a company, and does what is best for the company. China is where the products are made, they have the largest population in the world (India is closing in very quickly), if they aren't allowed to sell their products in China it will be a big hit for the company.
This is a discussion for US foreign policy/leadership. It is THEIR responsibility to address human rights violations in China, not a private company. If US leadership wants to take a stand and prevent US products from being sold in China due to human rights violations and Apple continues to sell its products then we have room to criticize Apple.
If Apple or it's employees (Tim Cook is an employee), want to take part in parade, or come out against anything that is up to them. If they want to make an app available or unavailable in the app store that is up to them.
If Apples actions led to US citizens getting injured/killed, could you imagine how that would play? We do have US citizens living and working in China. We can't have Apple taking a stand (keeping the app in the store) at the possible expense of US citizens over there.
This is a discussion for US foreign policy/leadership. It is THEIR responsibility to address human rights violations in China, not a private company. If US leadership wants to take a stand and prevent US products from being sold in China due to human rights violations and Apple continues to sell its products then we have room to criticize Apple.
If Apple or it's employees (Tim Cook is an employee), want to take part in parade, or come out against anything that is up to them. If they want to make an app available or unavailable in the app store that is up to them.
If Apples actions led to US citizens getting injured/killed, could you imagine how that would play? We do have US citizens living and working in China. We can't have Apple taking a stand (keeping the app in the store) at the possible expense of US citizens over there.
Can be used for that and has been used for that are two totally different situations.
What you write is the classic theory and one I largely agree with.
Nonetheless over the past couple of decades manufacturing has been badly hit in western nations. And a lot of that is down to the better regulations and wages there. One option is to slash our rules and wages. Another option is to push China to improve theirs. I consider the first one bad and the second one unrealistic and beyond our control.
So where does that leave us? In the past a "level playing field" was easier to see because transport costs from a distant land always gave some benefit to something local. But that has disappeared now. If a consumer goes online and sees two similar products and one is 5% less expensive he will likely buy that - though the other one might be from a country where wages are 15% higher and freedom of speech protected - said consumer has no idea.
Maybe I've just had an idea for a new app. But if the Chinese communist party tell Cook to ban it he would!
Especially in cases where the government has made the costs higher I can see an argument for trying to impose a related tariff on an import. An example would be from nations that have no animal welfare protections - it is cheaper for them to produce meat and undermines the whole point of our legislation. Another is where they use people on contracts that we would deem illegal in order to keep their wage costs down. If an American company had the chance they would do the same of course - see how many employ illegal aliens - but by and large they obey the law. This puts them at a disadvantage to Chinese firms.
I suppose it really is a complex issue!
The apps you mention only give your location if YOU choose to give up your location. The now banned app didn't work that way. Other people give your location.
For music streaming I have been using both Spotify and Apple Music for some time. I find Spotify much better at discovery and recommendations and Apple better at letting me manage my library. I will now just use Spotify.
I have been using Apple Photos but have always used Google Photo as a backup. Once I replace my iPhone SE with an Android it will be Google Photos only.
I have been using a Samsung tablet for the past three months. Perhaps not as fully featured as an iPad but much cheaper. Depends upon what one needs a tablet to do, if anything at all.
My 2013 MacBook Pro is from when Apple made quality laptops and is working well so I will not throw it away. Once it needs replacing I will investigate alternatives.
I am under no illusion that other tech companies are pure and don't engage in shady or unsavoury practices for the almighty dollar but I would rather not support Apple when Cook claims it to be so good and then caves in.
Millions will continue to purchase very high priced Apple products, possibly buy Apple Care to hopefully offset expensive repairs required as a result of the poor quality of some devices and carry on. It is an individual choice.
I love how you’re shifting the goal posts. Waze gives you other people’s location. Again, they’re identical from Apple’s prospective as the gate keeper for the App Store. Waze is used all the time for illegal purposes (so people can speed and avoid police while doing so). Your argument doesn’t hold merit. Apple can do what it wants; and people can choose to boycot them for being hypocritical and tryant-supporting. 🤷♂️ Again, very sad day for Apple and the world.
When people try to gather in Hong Kong to protest
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The last time there was a political gathering for the LGBTQ community
What a contrast! He's so woke, so keen on all the SJW stuff that one just has to laugh.
Somehow those sports clothing executives lecturing us all on morals about things like alleged police brutality while they have children whipped to produce cheap shoes and clothes in sweatshops are so obviously fake that it's easier to dismiss them. Cook has really tried to build a personal standing on this so it really hits hard with him.
The question you should be asking yourself is this: did banning the app solve the issue at hand?
Answer: it 100% did not. Users can still go to the website and use it in the same exact way. And they do this using the iPhone's safari browser.
Therefore, we should definitely ban safari. It's been used by organized crime groups for over a decade now.
It's a tool just like any other, it can be used for good or for evil. Ban all crowdsourced apps then? No? Ban live-streaming apps because they can be used to target crowds. The fact of life is he is a hypocrite, "morality" when it suits him and cost nothing. Just like blizzard dancing to tencents music or NBA. US of A ***** chinas ***. Just beautiful.
This is either really delusional, or it's brilliant satire. Tim doesn't give a rat's ass about the chinese people. He cares only about the Chinese money. Expected behavior from someone who just pays lip service to causes time and time again.
FYI: the manufacturing output of the U.S. today is more than double what it was back in the 1980s. The difference is that the number of jobs in manufacturing is 1/3 of the level in the 1980s. That means that automation and robotics have probably had as much of an impact on U.S. jobs as low wage workers in other countries. You also have to remember that retail prices per unit in the U.S. have very little correspondence to labor costs. Companies that moved manufacturing to low wage countries didn't lower their prices in the U.S. as a result. They continued to charge the same price and increased their profits.
Xi keeps them on his desk to alert Tim to crises. Kind of like the Bat Signal, but with testicles.
Save it Tim. As many of us already knew, your virtue signaling was just that.
Police come in all flavors, good and bad, like everyone else; and no screening process can completely prevent that, although an ineffective one and/or bad leadership can certainly increase it.
Commies and authoritarians on the other hand (worse if both!) are just bad, period.
" the Chinese government can’t be easily categorised." .... snort ... Wow!
Yeah, sounds like you've definitely put some thought into this, which is what I think events like this should prompt us to do.
Apple....that is a really poor choice.
Don't force me to jump ship. Because I DON"T STAND FOR THIS GARBAGE LIES!
The police brutality in HK is NASTY. They "LEGALLY" killing people. Commit crimes and blame them on the protesters and you side with them? Tim, I don't believe you DID NOT get forced into this by the Chinese government. Stand up for what is right and not stand down for the sake of $$$$$
Don't force me to jump ship. Because I DON"T STAND FOR THIS GARBAGE LIES!
The police brutality in HK is NASTY. They "LEGALLY" killing people. Commit crimes and blame them on the protesters and you side with them? Tim, I don't believe you DID NOT get forced into this by the Chinese government. Stand up for what is right and not stand down for the sake of $$$$$
Uh huh and allowing the Jews to immigrate would solve the killings. Look I get where you’re coming from but sticking American ideals in peoples face isn’t the right option.
True. A gallon of water can be used to hydrate a person, or to waterboard them. Clearly since something bad can be done with it, we should ban it.