Mondain

mike1 said:

soundsinmotion said:

I hope Brazil wins, chargers are like 3-4x the price out there than they are for Americans. It’s not fair at all.

What's not fair? That you don't get what you don't pay for.

Maybe you should be more concerned with the ridiculously high tariffs and import duties on the chargers.

lam92103 said:

So Apple took away our way to upgrade the machine, removed USB ports, and now they are wondering why no one is buying?

dewme said:

When everything works out and customers do not revolt it's easy to look back on a decision like this as having been a smart move. Truth be told, Apple removed the dedicated headphone jack because they wanted to, not because customers were demanding that they remove it. If iPhones offered built-to-order options that included having a dedicated headphone jack, I would check that option box every single time, even with the upcoming iPhone 14.

Apple knew there would be some pushback when they removed the headphone jack, but they also knew the vast majority of their loyal customer base would quietly go along with their decision and whip out their credit cards to buy the latest iPhone anyway, plus throw in a few more bucks for a couple of dongles so they could still use their wired headphones, some of which cost more than an iPhone.

Apple banked on our loyalty and willingness to go along with a change that they wanted to push on us. They prevailed and we went along with it despite there being no obvious benefits for us. It's not like removing the headphone jack was ever a prerequisite for the other audio connectivity options that were already available on the iPhone, like Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Lightning dongles. The AirPods would be no less groundbreaking or any less delightful to use from an iPhone that also sports a 3.5 mm audio jack.

I'm not applauding Apple's decision to remove the headphone jack on the iPhone and will be even less enamored if they do the same with the iPad. They got away with it and we caved. They knew we'd still keep buying iPhones, and we have. I still have. This pattern of taking advantage of our loyalty isn't something Apple should be celebrating or something that we should view as a feather of inspiration in Apple's cap. They can only play the loyalty card so many times.

The fact that other vendors blindly followed Apple's lead should surprise nobody in the least. It does not validate Apple's decision, it merely shows that they are going to copy anything Apple does without putting any thought behind what or why they do things. Just like the removal of a charger from device packages, Apple's moves only embolden the hangers-on and followers. They know if Apple can get away with it, maybe they can get away with it too. 

crowley said:

Definitely won't be an early adopter on this.  Apple make pretty good consumer operating systems, but not nearly good enough that I'd trust them with my life driving down a high speed roadway.

bluefire1 said:

macinscott said:

@rotateleftbyte, why do you "hope he fails miserably"? Because he's an advocate for free speech? Because he doesn't agree with the arbitrary and biased way Twitter (and other social media companies) censor the opinions of those often on the other side of the political spectrum? 

I get it. Musk's personality can be off-putting. But should social media companies, which are the primary source for news for the majority of the population, be able to decide which views are allowed to be expressed, and which ones aren't? Should they be able to make stories disappear (Hunter Biden's laptop) if they deem it to be detrimental to their cause? And should there be no repercussions when posts flagged as fake news actually turn out to be true, while what has been pushed as the narrative is actually false?

Americans should be extremely concerned when the actions of Big Tech and our own government begin to mirror those of totalitarian regimes. And that is exactly what has been happening. I'll take free speech any day over controlled speech. I want opinions challenged. I want public discourse and debate. I want to hear all sides and draw my own conclusions. Don't you? 

Exactly! The public company censors comments that either stray outside of or contradict left-of-center talking points. As Musk recently tweeted, “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.” He’s right.