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Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

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Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#41

Post by viraptor »

hellofunk wrote: post #25

> Apple practices tax avoidance using loopholes and lobbying. He’s cherry picking things here that really don’t have anything to do specifically with Apple. Amazon paid zero taxes last year and they had more income than nearly any company in the world. Google is also quite famous for the loopholes it finds. I’m not sure it’s fair to single out Apple specifically for this.

This is called whataboutism. This article is not about Amazon or Google. He likely has a similar opinion about those companies. But this is about Apple and the tax avoidance point is valid. (At least according to https://itep.org/fact-sheet-apple-and-tax-avoidance/ )

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#42

Post by johnchristopher »

azangru wrote: post #9

Most of the reasons in that list are ideological, not technical. I mean, I like listening to RMS, but prefer my choice of technology to be governed by technical reasons, not by what a company does in China or in Russia. Incidentally, given a choice between an Apple machine and a well-functioning GNU/Linux machine I would pick the latter.

Technology carry its own intrinsic political and ethical weight.

Choosing a tech over another tech for technical reasons and ignoring other aspects is a political choice.

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#43

Post by JdeBP »

unstatusthequo wrote: post #19
rbrbr wrote: post #10

I would like to see the same details about google / android and microsoft / windows from the author of this comprehensive list. And his conclusion what to use as an OS considering all.

He has more "what's bad about" various companies (and pay toilets). ;)

Indeed, there's a whole list of them right at the start of the headlined article.

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#44

Post by [deleted] »

azangru wrote: post #9

Most of the reasons in that list are ideological, not technical. I mean, I like listening to RMS, but prefer my choice of technology to be governed by technical reasons, not by what a company does in China or in Russia. Incidentally, given a choice between an Apple machine and a well-functioning GNU/Linux machine I would pick the latter.

[deleted]

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#45

Post by mark_l_watson »

+1 Richard

Sure, he is cherry picking examples, but there are a lot of examples to choose from.

I used mostly Linux at home for about 15 years, then switched to a decade of MacOS. My new laptop is a Linux laptop and I think I will go back to Linux as my main driver.

I am really conflicted about cellphones. I was unhappy with the crap ware preloaded on my Verizon Android phones. I am happier with a Verizon iPhone, as far as not having a lot of junk preinstalled. I am reading Cal Newport’s new book Digital Minimalism that is making me realize that I need to be more focused in how I spend any screen time.

I really like the iWatch and if/when it becomes possible to use one independently of an iPhone (now my iWatch with a data plan needs the phone for app installation and configuration) I would like to either ditch the phone or mostly keep it turned off.

Still, I differ from Richards opinions in that I think that Apple and Google do have some good privacy policies in place. I feel fairly OK using a personal G Suite account and Apple has a fairly good track record for privacy.

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#46

Post by jeromegv »

tokyodude wrote: post #21
why_only_15 wrote: post #7

Apple doesn't really spy on users imo. Internally, the privacy team is quite powerful and forces lots of safeguards about how exactly data can be used.

Same with Google. Google has privacy teams as well which are > quite powerful and forces lots of safeguards about how exactly data can be used. Apple recommends apps based on other apps I've downloaded. So does Google. Apple recommends music based on other music I've played. So does Google. Apple recommends books and movies as well based on similar data. So does Google. Apple keeps track of every placed your Apple de…

You seem to be simplifying things a bit too much. Apple doesn’t keep track of where your device has been. Your iPhone knows but it’s not being sent to Apple. Google has been shown to know this data even when you disable as many location services as you can.

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#47

Post by simion314 »

hellofunk wrote: post #25

> Apple practices tax avoidance using loopholes and lobbying. He’s cherry picking things here that really don’t have anything to do specifically with Apple. Amazon paid zero taxes last year and they had more income than nearly any company in the world. Google is also quite famous for the loopholes it finds. I’m not sure it’s fair to single out Apple specifically for this.

>I’m not sure it’s fair to single out Apple specifically for this.

This article was about Apple, go on the top of the page and you can navigate to other companies complains.

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#48

Post by badpun »

viraptor wrote: post #27
badpun wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding his argument against paid toilets: can’t this be said about any other basic neccesity? I.e. don’t pay for food, because some people can’t afford it - so food should be free.

At some level - why not? Getting enough food not to starve shouldn't require having money. That's what food banks, soup kitchens, etc. are about. It doesn't mean luxury food, just like the public toilets are basic.

There are free public restrooms (at least in my country), which are equivalent of the soup kitchens in your example. What he's proposing though is to NEVER pay for the restroom, even if you can afford it - you should always look for free one instead. He hopes that this form of boycott, if it becomes popular enough, will convince toilet owners to not charge for the use. In the food context, it would mean always eating in soup kitchens in the hopes that food producers will give out food for free (or it will be 100% subsidized by government).

The only difference between universal food and universal toilets seems to be the cost - i.e. it would be much more affordable for government to supply free toilets than free food for everyone. In this view his argument makes sense - both the need to eat and the need to pee when in public are fundamental, so if we can take care of at least one of them (toilets), then it's still better than nothing.

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#49

Post by fiblye »

why_only_15 wrote: post #7

Apple doesn't really spy on users imo. Internally, the privacy team is quite powerful and forces lots of safeguards about how exactly data can be used.

As an outsider, I have absolutely no way to verify what you're saying is true. I'd like to think that they're not spying on me, but I have no evidence about anything they do because Apple is not transparent about anything they do.

Re: Reasons Not to Use Apple (2018)

#50

Post by ndr »

jpdus wrote: post #24

Wow - regardless of whether one agrees with RMS, alone the fact that this submission has been heavily flagged already (and will thus drop from the frontpage soon) tells you a lot about the power of Apple and their fans here. HN urgently needs to address the flagging problems, this has been the case for many important but controversial topics recently and leads to a degraded quality of frontpage submissions in my view…

How can you see this has been heavily flagged?
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