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That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

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Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#281

Post by foldr »

sbuk wrote: post #188
laumars wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're on a tight budget, then £20 a month matters. It might be loose change to people like us, but unfortunately there are people who have to budget the meals they eat to bring costs down. And to use your watch analogy, you wouldn't expect people on tight incomes to buy a Rolex when a <£15 watch works the same.

The advice I give to anyone buying any tech is to buy the best that you can afford, then what you prefer (i.e. Android, iOS, Windows, Mac etc.). If someone on a 'tight budget' determines that an iPhone or an S7 is a priority, who are you to judge?

For people who have the luxury of some non-trivial amount of disposable income, there's not really any such thing as "the best you can afford". I could afford to get an iPhone 6S in the sense that I have enough money, but on the other hand, there are other things I might want that I could buy if I got a cheaper phone instead. Unless having a high end phone is a big priority for me, it makes no sense for me to get the best phone I can afford.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#282

Post by xlm1717 »

bogomipz wrote: post #59
dopamean wrote: post #29

This reads like outrage for the sake of outrage. Like someone looking for offense everywhere.

No it actually doesn't, his commentary is more about the disposable gadget culture and Phil's inability to understand that not everyone is in a socio-economic bracket where they can participate in the never-ending gadget refresh. Maybe you should reread it?

It's the kind of elitist attitude stereotypical of iOS users. Just goes to show they got that attitude straight from Apple itself.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#283

Post by JohnBooty »

skywhopper wrote: post #213
skywhopper wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are capable smartphones for much cheaper then an iPhone that could get the job done. That's what GP was likely getting at. True enough. And yet, if you yourself are not actually poor, you may not realize the value that a marginal luxury like an iPhone or Air Jordans or a top brand purse (sorry, I don't know what the hot brand of purses is atm) can bring to someone in that situation. Spending a few hundred dol…

In reply to pc86, yes, exactly. Do you believe everyone should make purely rational financial decisions, or only the poorest people in our society?

It's funny how people generally only make these criticisms of "poor" peoples' purchases.

You never hear people criticizing some middle-class guy for spending $27,000 on a Honda Accord instead of paying for a year of his kid's college education.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#284

Post by zepto »

Jach wrote: post #91
School-Cotton wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you have a really skewed picture of what most people use computers for. The iPad isn't meant to replace a laptop for people like you, which is why Apple is still selling the mbp.

Maybe they should drop the 'pro' labelling on the ipad pro. Because the surface pro line is a perfectly acceptable laptop replacement for power users and professionals looking to do computing.

The surface pro is a laptop.

The iPad Pro is a tablet for professional work. There are many professionals who can get their work done using an iPad.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#285

Post by simonh »

alienbaby wrote: post #236
ratbeard wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've got an iPad 2 that is not useless, but much worse after upgrading to ios9. I still play Kingdom Rush games on it but its so slow now its too frustrating to use for internet browsing and other things.

obsoletion built into the product roadmap

And yet Apple devices have longer software support lifetimes than any Android devices and better resale values for a longer time. That hardly sounds like a set of characteristics you'd associate with products designed to become obsolete.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#286

Post by cableshaft »

petra wrote: post #105
kdamken wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd disagree, no one is forcing people to buy iPhones. If the kids all have iPhones, then they have parents who aren't very good at not buying things they can't afford and teaching their kids that worth doesn't come from possessions.

>> no one is forcing people to buy iPhones. It's not that simple. I once heard a lecture from a psychologist researching the effects brands have on teenagers, and she said owning a brand can deeply affect a teenager's self-assurance, create anxieties, etc.

I didn't have brand name anything in high school. I got through it okay. Wasn't the most popular kid by any means, but I was shy to begin with (I didn't start being more outgoing until I started going to regular meetups recently, years after I had owned 'status symbol' iPhones).

I'm not denying that other teens can and do feel the way your psychologist said, but I'm pretty sure it's a learned behavior, not something innate, and can be unlearned.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#287

Post by DickingAround »

skywhopper wrote: post #184
noxToken wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not sure if I was suddenly without money, the iPhone would be what I would want to give up. If you have an iPhone and then become poor, sure. You probably won't get ahead much by getting rid of your iPhone. If you're already poor, then an iPhone (not a smartphone) is definitely a luxury. There are capable smartphones for much cheaper then an iPhone that could get the job done. That's what GP was likely getting…

> There are capable smartphones for much cheaper then an iPhone that could get the job done. That's what GP was likely getting at. True enough. And yet, if you yourself are not actually poor, you may not realize the value that a marginal luxury like an iPhone or Air Jordans or a top brand purse (sorry, I don't know what the hot brand of purses is atm) can bring to someone in that situation. Spending a few hundred dol…

Poor people don't need to 'seem less poor'. They need to be less poor. And admitting you need to save is the first step to doing so. I wonder if this need to seem less poor so often is actually part of how some of them get poor; wasting money/effort trying to influence perception instead of spending it trying to change reality.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#289

Post by raisedbyninjas »

ekianjo wrote: post #42

The superior attitude of Apple execs is nothing new. Even right at the start of the company that's a culture Jobs started with, looking down on all its competitors. What's rather sad is the laughing audience, to me, who left their brains at the door and laugh and applause when they are told to. Just like in 1984's iconic Apple ad, by the way. The loop is complete.

Apple has always sold elitism. They'll frequently add bullet points to products for some superlative to facilitate this. It doesn't matter if users have to throw away their old accessories or they have to trim out useful features like mouse buttons or a headphone jack. Getting to put on the box "thinnest" or "lightest" or "first" is more valuable to Apple than product utility. It's a strategy that has served them very well. As long as a market exists that values snobbery and luxury signaling, they'll have non-zero sales.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#290

Post by venomsnake »

widdershins wrote: post #13
Udo wrote: post #10

I'm an Apple-only user at the moment, both mobile and desktop. When Apple asserts that a desktop computer should be replaced by a locked-down handheld device with very limited capabilities, the odd thing seems to me is they don't realize these devices do very different things and fulfill very different needs. I don't worry about the demise of the desktop because I'm nostalgic, I worry about the loss of power and prod…

As far as I can see, Apple 'get' the different use cases better than some others in the industry. That's why they've been reluctant to add touch screen to their laptops as Microsoft have done, because they don't see it being useful. I think this was just an ill-judged offhand comment. P.S. I'm typing this on an 2010 MBP which, with an SSD upgrade, still works beautifully.

> P.S. I'm typing this on an 2010 MBP which, with an SSD upgrade, still works beautifully.

Congratulations. You have one of the last macs that were upgradeable.

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