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Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

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Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#371

Post by harywilke »

leereeves wrote: post #266
robocat wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My problem with your first comment is that you misrepresent the issues. Your second reply is worse because you introduce other different issues, without addressing the point (that Apple chooses compromises that you might disagree with). > Slowing down old phones without notice or permission wasn't the best response to aging batteries. Sure, it wasn't handled well, but you said that they did it to force upgrades... Th…

My second post addressed your claim that these issues are "well-designed compromises" by disproving it with counterexamples. MagSafe was at once an example of a port changed (MagSafe 1 to 2) and a feature removed (replaced with USB) that didn't fit your explanation "removing a common failure point". Even Apple didn't try to claim that slowing down old phones was a well-designed compromise; instead, they apologized. A…

"About a year ago in iOS 10.2.1, we delivered a software update that improves power management during peak workloads to avoid unexpected shutdowns on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. With the update, iOS dynamically manages the maximum performance of some system components when needed to prevent a shutdown. While these changes may go unnoticed, in some cases users may experience longer launch times for apps and other reductions in performance." https://www.apple.com/iphone-battery-and-performance/

Unexpected shutdowns vs. longer app launch times and other reductions in performance. a compromise.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#372

Post by walterbell »

how_to_bake wrote: post #253
walterbell wrote: post #38

Hi Apple. Please: • add VPN on/off to control center • allow per-app VPN via Apple Configurator, without enterprise MDM • once the above two are available, we can use Tor, IDS, DPI or pihole on a per-application basis, to reduce data harvesting • bonus1: allow the open-source iOS MDM community OR the iOS Shortcuts community to make it easy for novice users to have one-click install of "privacy-plus configurations" •…

I believe you now can use a Siri shortcut to create a button that goes in your widgets area that turns the VPN on or off.

Thanks for the tip. So arbitrary buttons can be placed in widget area?

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#374

Post by soneil »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #150
compcoffee wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He literally said that we as a society should be grateful for having Apple. Which is utterly cringeworthy. iPhone user thinks iPhone is best thing since sliced bread. News at 11.

I'm not usually one for fanboyism (and I say this as a full time Linux desktop and Android user) but Apple really do seem to be trying to do right by their customers in most cases. Certainly more than the competition. I've been considering switching for a while, but it seems the quality of their hardware and to some extent their software has slowly been going downhill post-Jobs.

I'm not sure it even boils down to doing the right thing for the customer. Apple want you as a customer. Google want you as a user. It's that simple.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#375

Post by sonnyblarney »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #32

I like Tim Cook, I think his heart is in the right place and as much as a corporation can, Apple generally does the right thing. I was having lunch with several lawyers at my company a few weeks ago. One of them was talking strongly about quality devices and Apple’s strong privacy stance. He literally said that we as a society should be grateful for having Apple.

"I think his heart is in the right place and as much as a corporation can, Apple generally does the right thing."

Don't assume moral disposition when a CEO is talking his book.

Maybe Tim is really a good person, who knows?

But if Tim were the CEO of Facebook he'd be singing a different tune.

Don't underestimate the ability of CEO's to align their personal views with that of he company.

Apple is sensing blood in the water on Google and Facebook, and this is a smart, basic PR move to go on the offensive against those companies.

Now - I do think it's likely that Cook does actually believe what he is saying - so I'm not fully calling him a hypocrite or anything. But he is a business guy, and were he to be the head of a company for whom this angle would not apply, I suggest strongly he'd have a different story to tell.

When businessmen speak, it's mostly 'just business'. I don't mean that cynically, just pragmatically.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#376

Post by reacharavindh »

Disclaimer: I use Apple products, and trust them slightly more than anything Google/FaceBook/startups because they don't have a business front selling my data to advertisement companies or 3rd party miners(as much as I know of).

But, I'm baffled by this PR as if they are the privacy messiah. Didn't they just sellout their Chinese users icloud data to the Chinese government?

Yeah. "It's the law, and Apple has to obey the law" is an argument, but here is a company that is willing to compromise their user's privacy in order to be able to sell phones in China. So, if US govt finds a way to say "it's the law" to reveal user data, I'm sure they'll bend over. This grand stand in media is just sickening and theatric.

/rant.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#377

Post by telchar »

Waterluvian wrote: post #207
Ensorceled wrote: post #194

The only problem is that Apple is the Mercedes of mobile devices. We really need a Honda and Kia version, a more affordable device that doesn’t track you. Apple is never going to give up their premium position.

That's exactly the problem I have. I don't want the unblockable ads and spying but I need my phone to be some cheap thing I don't have to respect or worry about. Once I started buying $150 phones every 2-3 years, I realised how much I need a device that I don't lose any sleep over it getting beaten to death and possibly replaced prematurely.

Speaking about unblockable ads, I had to set up a pi-hole to block ads at the network level because I couldn't block them on my ipad on any browser. Why does Apple make it so hard? Am I missing something?

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#378

Post by kodablah »

losteric wrote: post #364
kodablah wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Failing to adhere to Chinese law would mean exiting the Chinese market So? Failing to adhere to ad-tech needs would mean exiting the ad-tech market. Did I miss the other company CEOs' blistering attacks on the "Chinese anti-privacy cooperation complex"? Can we at least admit, since violation of privacy by chosen market is a choice, that Tim Cook is a hypocrite?

Why is that hypocritical? Apple does not require that you upload personal data to their cloud, and Apple has no say in Chinese law. Additionally, Apple's participation in the market (or lack thereof) would have no impact on Chinese data privacy laws, but participation has positive global effects through economies of scale and R&D revenue. A real hypocrite would actually have to enable oppressive behavior... selling d…

> Why is that hypocritical? Apple does not require that you upload personal data to their cloud, and Apple has no say in Chinese law.

They have a say in whether they are complicit. That they choose to operate in that anti-privacy market while demeaning others choosing to operate in their anti-privacy market is hypocritical. Could be considered worse if you factor in the consequences of that data.

> A real hypocrite would actually have to enable oppressive behavior

We disagree on whether providing technology for oppressive behavior is "enabling" it.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#379

Post by bunnycorn »

51Cards wrote: post #360

While I agree with this in principle let's also be frank and say that this is a much simpler stance to take when your company doesn't exist based on data.

What's hard is to not base a company on data. When you have more than a billion of active users, and you don't have just another app, you have the entire operating system and you are the sole gatekeeper to third party applications.

How many investors did Apple lose for not data mining users?

Look at the P/E of Google and Facebook and then look at the P/E of Apple... Apple sweats every dime of their $1T valuation.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#380

Post by bunnycorn »

buboard wrote: post #297

Why doesn't he put the the money where his mouth is? I haven't seen Apple making any attempts to create funding model for publishers, even though the success of their products depends on the wide availability of free content.

There was iAd, and nobody used it because it didn't steal users data.
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