teejay2012

I just returned from business in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai, and everything that is said about China's traffic issues are true. Closed my eyes at times being driven around! You enter a lottery to buy a car even if you have money, but I am not sure if this is due to the congestion on the streets or if this is an attempt to limit pollution - if the latter, then an electric car makes sense. Even electric scooters. Car prices are very high as is gas, so if Apple gets into this they will definitely need an economic advantage within China. That would require a Chinese partner so this new investment makes sense. As an aside, where I traveled, there were many many iPhones and the price of higher end Android phones was not very different from iPhones.

What is China Watch arguing here? That the Chinese that work at these factories are the most oppressed and underpaid in the world and it is all Apple's fault? Take-home pay averages 4,200 yuan to 5,500 yuan ($650-$850) a month which is higher than many places pay in China. What do the Samsung factories pay their workers? In comparison, minimum wage in Greece is about $900 per month. India is not even on the same scale. The US is about $1,200 but MUCH higher cost of living. This all seems to be well timed Apple bashing ahead of earnings.

cnocbui said:

laytech said:

And still the Australian bank cartel keep it out of Australia. At least American Express offer it, one good reason not to use my bank card. 

I struggle to understand how a country so advanced with chip and pin and NFC payments is so far behind with implementing this technology. Oh wait, of course I do, banks protecting banks, and not giving a monkey's for their customer base. Profits for shareholders.

As a shareholder, I fully support their position of not paying a freeloader part of the profits generated from the infrastructure I paid for.

If I read your post correctly, you feel that Apple is the freeloader? I suppose as 'a shareholder', you have no concerns about security and never had one of your credit cards compromised? In the real world, consumers have and it is not fun to be a victim of identity theft in which your cc played a part. No matter. Consumers will pressure your bank to add Apple pay and the banks will increase their profit by offering merchants and customers better security. Stop being so unnecessarily negative.

mrich said:

So that begs the question: Just how many mass murder victims is Apple willing to tolerate?

Really? What does Apple have to do with mass murder in the US? Is an encrypted phone more dangerous than an assault rifle? If public safety is always more important than individual rights, why is any private citizen in the US allowed a gun? What's the point of removing encryption from iPhones when there are hundreds of encryption apps available that can block the FBI from reading communications. Talk about forest from the trees...

"...the politics of this will swing and it will become sloppy and rushed," Obama said. "And it will go through Congress in ways that have not been thought through.." Got it. In other words and like a bad cop movie.. 'we can do it the easy way. Or we can do it the hard way...'