Arfshesaid...

Is this Apple Corp. giving a nod and a wink to frustrated and vexed governments who want Apple to relax security or (better) give them a direct access backdoor? By leaving remote access security to third parties (many of whom would be protected under the umbrella of "National Security" and could actually be security software developers on government pay-rolls), when a government department or foreign state gain access to a Mac users data, Apple can simply say to customers and the media "...it wasn't Apple who let the Russian/USA/EU/UK/Israel security services gain access your data...You should have taken more of an active roll in researching how to secure your Mac from people who don't respect your privacy...like, cough, cough...we at Apple do". Thus protecting a sham "Boo nasty Government", "Power to the People" trope.

Andrew_OSU said:

Arfshesaid... said:

I'd mostly prefer Siri being scrapped. It is a waste of time effort and a Mac users intelligence. It's plugged in to crappy old code like DevCALDev which can't handle multiple timed events in a single 24hr period. Siri's problems are very similar to those which the ill-fated Newton suffered from. Asking Siri to do anything beyond the most obviously mundane is like using a first generation Mac from way back when...

Ok well, that certainly isn't going to happen. Siri is too crucial. It is a big feature on literally all of Apple's main products. It is the ONLY way to interface with the HomePod. Siri isn't going anywhere.

Siri, sir, is not a big feature. Big features feature bigly. Siri's comprehension is not dissimilar to a drunk who is high on LSD. Siri is the computing equivalent of a person hard of hearing and suffering irreversible dementia. Apple needs to start afresh. Rip all Siri code completely from their products and start over. There has to be startup companies or private individuals who have prototype voice recognition code which is way beyond Siri's current capabilities. I remember when early Mac's had poor voice recognition and dictation prefs which performed almost as well as Siri does today and in some instances was better. 

It is still way too overpriced as an entry level Mac. Apple could easily afford to make a new Mac mini a loss-leading computer to bring Wintel/Amdow users into the Apple family. Had Apple pitched this new mini at $450 it would easily have become the number one computer in the western world (possibly the far-east also). As an Apple user since inception and shareholder thereafter, I would far rather take a small reduction or loss of dividends in return for much greater Mac OS penetration. As a socialist I believe Apple can well afford to embrace the less well off.

Just another good reason to boycott Israeli products. What would be the consequences of selling such technology to governments which don't give a damn about freedom of speech or basic human rights? Imagine such tech in the hands of government agencies like Smersh, MI5 or 6, KGB, Gestapo, NKVD-KGB, Stasi, NSA, CIA, Shin Bet, et al…it is almost too horrific to contemplate the powers such invasive surveillance services would bring. Not yet fully comprehended are the racist, sexist, misogynistic and socially destabilising words uttered by Trump and echoed menacingly by his followers just recently.

Will Apple discriminate between real "Terrorist" accounts and those of genuine internal political dissidents? Steve Jobs was a humanist and I do not see any restraining measures Apple are taking to protect this portal from excesses a potential "Police State" may one day employ. A portal which has the potential of being exploited as a tool of the State undermines liberty and freedom of speech and expression unless it adheres to the highest principles of humanism and human rights.

I wrote to Apple feedback and Tim Cook on several occasions to complain about and request the complete removal of any and all Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other anti"social media" apps from being built in to Mac, iOS, WatchOS, Having that trash on my Apple equipment without first requesting if I wanted it felt most unApple like and greatly disappointed me.

"Don't Be Evil" and "Do the Right Thing" are cynical mottos and as meaningless as the "meek shall inherit the Earth".