gatorguy

It's already in circulation, and also on Amazon for the Kindle and in paperback. A little late now, and if anything Apple probably just helped sell more than a few copies. No doubt some excerpts will make it into web articles now that the blogosphere has been put on notice. Just be sure you can read German if you buy a copy for yourself.

beowulfschmidt said:

godofbiscuitssf said:

beowulfschmidt said:

Did the union workers have a contract for the benefits they received?  If so, how can it be illegal for Apple to meet the terms of that contract?  Or did the contract include a provision that says "we get any benefits anyone else does" as well?

It wasn't about meeting terms of a contract, it was about the fact that Apple engaged in union-busting by refusing to even make the benefits a possibility.

OK, so what?  Sure, it's a dick move, but what makes it illegal?  If the existing contract doesn't include those benefits, why is it illegal for Apple to decline to provide them to contracted workers?  Calling it "union busting" doesn't automatically make it so.  What law was actually broken here?

If you and others read the NLRB's report before staking positions, you'd better understand what Apple is doing that purportedly violates rules and regulations. It's not because "someone said it was union-busting".

Researching helps prevent phantom arguments. 
 https://www.goiam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/COMPLAINT-Nov-21-2363.docx

Appleish said:

Russia did the same thing. Makes me even happier with Apple's secure-ness. Russia and China want electronics that are easier to break into and monitor.

Then all Western phones must be secure because it was not just iPhones banned, it was all foreign-brand phones. Apple was not singled out. 

alanh said:

If a global 30% reduction in iPhone sales was ever iminent, Apple could easily afford to buy WeChat. It would be a good investment and basically a 'no-brainer'!

Apple would never get an opportunity to buy WeChat. It would not be for sale to them under any scenario IMO. 

 In addition, Apple absolutely could NOT easily afford them, probably out of Apple's reach even if they stretched. WeChat belongs to Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings. They are one of the most valuable companies in the world, worth well over $500 billion as of mid-May 2020.

omasou said:

Apple didn't fold to pressure from the EU.

They got exactly what they wanted.

Which is to make sure that Epic/Sweeney sign the new developer's agreement.

If he breaks it again, I'm willing to bet there will be absolutely nothing he can do to restore it.

The implication, according to EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, is that Apple did indeed "fold" after the commission contacted them with their concerns. 
Quoting, he says he takes "note with satisfaction that, following our contacts, Apple decided to backtrack its decision on Epic exclusion". 

9secondkox2 said:

Of course Apple caves. 

I mean, outside of USA government stepping in to prevent EU abuse, what are they going to do? 

Leaving the market is the only other option. 

This is government taking over. It’s sickening. Sure, the EU isn’t assuming the day to day reigns, but they’ve effectively become the Apple boardroom in Europe. 

If Apple didn’t “cave,” we all know the EU won’t give the the decency of a notice or warning that they’re not in compliance with draconian hot-takes. They’ll just fine them into oblivion and laugh all the way to Rolls Royce dealership. 

You do understand that Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon are being forced to make significant changes in their EU business models to meet the DMA mandates. These are not Apple-specific rules.

It's worth reading up on what the other gatekeepers are required to do to fulfill their obligations in the EU so as to understand it's not "poor old'Apple being picked on". 
For obvious reasons, the only stories we read here about the changes gatekeepers are making are those from Apple.

Here's a start for learning about the others, and FWIW I don't expect that the EU will agree they've all gone far enough yet :
https://digital-markets-act-cases.ec.europa.eu/reports/compliance-reports

darkvader said:

rob53 said:

"It was also reasoned by Masimo that the U.S. public would not be affected by an Apple Watch import ban as the sensor isn't "essential to the public health or welfare." This was due to Apple's warnings in fine print that the measurements from the sensor "should not be relied upon for medical purposes," Masimo declared." If the Apple sensor isn't of any medical value then why is Masimo suing Apple? Is Apple's implementation inferior to Masimo's? Is Apple's implementation even similar to Masimo's? Who actually owns the original pulse oximetry patents? Is Masimo violating someone else's patents? 

Pulse oximetry was invented in 1974, the patents are long expired.

The Masimo patents should never have been issued.  I'm not a fan of Apple bullying smaller companies, but this one is bullshit on Masimo's part.

The patents are not for inventing pulse oximetry. The ones Apple was accused of infringing have to do with the method of integrating and reading on a mobile device like a smartwatch. 

Apple patents a LOT of things related to technology they did not originally invent, as do 1000's (millions?) of manufacturing and technology companies, and individuals.

jfreedle2 said:

Just more proof that Google does spy on everyone and cannot be trusted.

In case you're interested in facts more than FUD...
Google cannot see the contents of any RCS Google Messages. They are encrypted end-to-end, from your device which encrypts them, to the receiver's phone, where they are decrypted. It is equally as secure and private as iMessage, and at least in one way even more so than Apple's Messaging.  At the very worst they might be able to log metadata, same as Apple can, which is hardly the same as seeing the contents of a message.

If you are comfortable with others potentially being able to read your RCS messages sent from your iPhone, just as they can read SMS messages now, then it won't matter if the GSMA ever makes encryption part of the standard.  They might not, and I don't think Apple will care. The GSMA has had years to do so and have ignored it despite Google's pushing them to add it. Encryption is not in the interests of the carriers, and they have been the ones leading the RCS standards body.  

So until there's movement on that front, while iPhone owners cannot be assured of RCS privacy and security, Google Messages users will be. That is unless an iPhone user enters that conversation and breaks the security with Apple's RCS. There's been no mention of Google requiring those unencrypted iPhone messages to display a different bubble color in Google Messages but IMO, they will likely have green bubbles as default, the same as the insecure fallback SMS now has, while blue is reserved for Google's encrypted and secure communications.

Of course an Android owner can choose to change the colors from the defaults, even to specific contacts in a conversation. 

lam92103 said:

Google has to be the whiniest crybaby ever. Either get with the AirTag standard or stop complaining. 

Instead they keep blaming Apple for not wanting to be a part. 

There is no "Airtag standard".  I suggest more research before commenting.
A snippet from a pertinent article that might help you and other readers better understand:

"Google has already announced that all Bluetooth tags compatible with the FindMyDevice network will support Android’s unknown tracker alerts. The iPhone does not have similar detection capabilities.

At the start of May, Google and Apple announced an industry-wide unwanted tracker alert specification. Bluetooth trackers that abide by that approach will be discoverable by Android and iOS. The two mobile platforms have committed to add support once the spec is finalized.

In the meantime they could of course launch the network service anyway but to their credit "Google is not launching the Find My Device (FMD) network “until Apple has implemented protections for iOS.” By making sure iPhone owners can find FMD-compatible trackers, this should hopefully reduce and help prevent the Google network from being used to track Apple devices without awareness from their owners. That would reflect badly on the FMD network and associated products, which is an ongoing occurrence for AirTags."

. 

macxpress said:

chasm said:

macxpress said:

Or people are just greedy and think they deserve more. They already offer more than nearly any retailer out there. 

Perhaps you didn’t actually read the article? The staff concerns are around the treatment of disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill staff, as well as shift patterns, pay, and disciplinary processes.

Just because Apple Stores may (or may not) be a better gig than Walmart, doesn’t meet they can’t improve. Being a top Apple Store employee requires a HUGE range of technical skills PLUS excellent communication skills PLUS genuine enthusiasm for selling and customer relations, and much more. Such jobs should be well-paid, and employees well-treated.

Perhaps they're just exaggerating to get more than they deserve too? 

They're also paid quite well for their skillset. For more than any other retailer. If you don't like where you work you can always go some place else. Nobody is making them work there. 

Have you looked into what Apple UK store employees make? Unless you're in management or an Apple Genius it's not much, roughly what sales staff makes at other retail stores.

So no, not "far more than any other retailer", even if the stores themselves are far more profitable per square foot than most anyone else's.