Apple becomes the first $1T company

Post by linuxftw » Thu, Aug 02, 2018, 5:19 PM UTC

com2kid wrote: post #106

mikekij wrote: post #25

"A $600 phone?! Who's going to buy a $600 phone?!" -Steve Balmer

I worked in Windows Mobile at the time. He was just quoting what the best market researchers had told him. We were given a LOT of market research papers with in-depth customer surveys where lots of people said, repeatedly, that they would "never pay money for a phone". If you think back to then, phones were "free" with a 2 year contract. The idea of getting someone who was used to free to switch over to $600 overnigh…

Post by themihai » Thu, Aug 02, 2018, 5:20 PM UTC

penagwin wrote: post #146

trumped wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the tax system should be made simpler... no loopholes (I know it is probably not easy to accomplish, but worth a try) ... because middle class can't afford to avoid taxes like the rich does it.

That's simply not possible. The IRS themselves state that "tax evasion" is illegal, but "tax avoidance" isn't. A "loophole" is the use of deductibles to lower the amount you pay in taxes, that you choose to try to get. For example, you could get lower taxes by "getting married", even if you're just friends you can get lower tax rates, etc. That's a "loophole". Are we supposed to prove they "really wanted to get marri…

Post by chatmasta » Thu, Aug 02, 2018, 5:21 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #160

chatmasta wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can still complain about their walled-garden approach to software distribution, particularly the extortionist 30% fee and handicapping of non-native apps. Or their kowtowing to the Chinese censors.

I don’t think you were around before the App Store. The carrier were a lot stricter about what you could sell through thier stores and the carrier took a 70% cut. Not to mention the cut the publishers, wholesellers, and the retail stores use to take when you sold boxed software. Their cut is the same as Google’s and Steams.

Post by linuxftw » Thu, Aug 02, 2018, 5:22 PM UTC

npunt wrote: post #169

com2kid wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in Windows Mobile at the time. He was just quoting what the best market researchers had told him. We were given a LOT of market research papers with in-depth customer surveys where lots of people said, repeatedly, that they would "never pay money for a phone". If you think back to then, phones were "free" with a 2 year contract. The idea of getting someone who was used to free to switch over to $600 overnigh…

While phones were routinely 'free' or $99, iPods were wildly popular in 2007 and routinely cost $300+, and one of the three legs the iPhone stood on was being an iPod. It should have been a red flag back then if market researchers and the people that hired them didn't see this as a convergence of music player + phone markets; it was the point of the keynote ! I remember people complaining then that they had to carry…

Post by themihai » Thu, Aug 02, 2018, 5:23 PM UTC

ryanmercer wrote: post #101

delinka wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's tax they might generate , but most of that is not tax paid by Apple. Consumers pay sales tax and duties go right into the price of the products, employees pay income tax...

>That's tax they might generate, It's tax that would not have been paid if Apple did not exist. >and duties go right into the price of the products, And if the government said "Apple must now pay 50% on every dollar they make" guess what would go right into the price of the products... >employees pay income tax. Business owners must pay the federal government 6.2% of every dollar their worker makes until that annual…