22july2013

Nobody blames the stockholders. The stockholders own the company and elect the board of directors who can hire or fire the CEO. The problem is that the stockholders care more about money than human rights. Thus Tim Cook obliges them. The buck stops at the stockholders, who are represented at Apple by the Board of Directors. They want Apple to do business in every single dictatorship in the world. Let's name the Apple Board of Directors here, because this is where the real blame lies:

Name	Title	Board role
Arthur D. Levinson	Former Chairman and CEO,  Genentech	Chairman of the Board Compensation Committee
James A. Bell	Former CFO and Corporate President, The Boeing Company	Audit Committee
Tim Cook	CEO, Apple
Albert A. Gore Jr.	Former Vice President of the United States	Compensation Committee  Nominating Committee
Andrea Jung	President and CEO, Grameen America	Compensation Committee Chair  Nominating Committee
Ronald D. Sugar	Former Chairman and CEO, Northrop Grumman Corporation	Audit Committee Chair
Susan L. Wagner	Co-founder and Director, BlackRock	Nominating Committee Chair Audit Committee

"Apple's Board of Directors oversees the Chief Executive Officer and other senior management in the competent and ethical operation of Apple on a day-to-day basis and assures that the long-term interests of shareholders are being served. To satisfy the Board's duties, directors are expected to take a proactive, focused approach to their positions, and set standards to ensure that Apple is committed to business success through the maintenance of high standards of responsibility and ethics."

https://investor.apple.com/leadership-and-governance/default.aspx <--

The problem is the board of directors didn't read the last word in that decree: "ethics"... all they saw was "interests of shareholders" and "business success". These are contradictory criteria, and you know which one wins.

In Canada the 5G (FR2) spectrum isn't even going up for auction for cell companies until June 2021, so there's not much benefit here from the 5G feature. By the time 5G FR2 is here, the iPhone 13 will be out. Will Apple skip the number 13? Big question!

The word "iPod" when used to sell music devices was also a trademark Apple had sitting around but was no longer using. It was originally intended to be used as an internet terminal in places like airports, if I recall correctly.

Here's my summary of Apple TV+. You don't have to agree with me.

For all Mankind: A-. Good, but too much emphasis on boring life problems. I look forward to more sci-fi rather than so-sci (social sciences.)
Ted Lasso: A-. Good, because it's a character study comedy. Watch episode 3, right to the end. I cried, and I don't cry, or don't like to admit that I do.
Tehran: A. Very good. Visually and thematically akin to Jason Bourne, but with a bigger dose of realism. This show could last as long as Iran is a dictatorship.
Greyhound: B. Good, but felt more like a documentary than a story. I would have had a documentary film crew join him onboard, because it needed a sub-plot.
Snoopy in Space: No Rating. This show is meant for kids. It's probably good for kids under six years old.
Ghost Writer: No Rating. I couldn't get through this either because it's not meant for adults or it's not very good.
Here We Are: No Rating. I can't remember if I got through this or not. It's meant for kids. But I recognized the father's voice and I loved him in IT Crowd.
Tiny World: A+. Spectacular cinematography, which should win an Emmy or fire all the Emmy people. The stories are fabulous too. Pure gold.
Elephant Queen: B-. I liked it but I've already forgotten it so it couldn't have been that good. But I may watch it again.
Oprah's Book reviews: As Steve Jobs infamously said, "Who reads books?"
Dickinson: F. It's marked as a comedy?! The only thing funny is that it's marked as a comedy. It's a rewrite of history that's boring.
Servant: D. Who really wants to watch something so slow and constantly depressing? I gave up after a ten minute episode opening where nothing happened.
Central Park: B. Interesting characters, decent lyrics, fair music, interesting premise. A great formula for success. Episode 6 was best.
Mythic Quest: B-. How can a show about high tech misfire on Apple TV+? Misfires tend to happen when the same person writes, produces, directs and stars.
Home Before Dark: C+. Meh. Is this show meant for kids or adults? I'm not sure. Probably both. Not great, but not bad.
Everything else: didn't watch or rated F due to extremely poor content.

Coming soon is "Foundation". I am eager to see what they did with that monumentally important book series. This is the original series that the makers of Lord of the Rings were going to produce, but due to the glut of space movies they decided to use Tolkien's book instead. If done right, this series could spawn as many future shows as Star Wars. In fact some Star Wars ideas came from Foundation. As Isaac Asmiov wrote:

I borrowed freely from Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in planning the Foundation series, and I believe that the motion picture Star Wars did not hesitate, in turn, to borrow from the Foundation series.

Even the main idea of "The Force" in Star Wars seems to have been based on one of the books in the Foundation series.

I wasn't expecting Apple TV+ to have any good shows, but it does. Even though 50% of its shows are duds. Not a bad starting ratio. Even 50% of ABBA's songs were total duds. Keep it up, Apple.

randominternetperson said:
As you can read on the Justice department website, there is nothing illegal about having a monopoly or having monopoly power.  What's illegal is obtaining that monopoly through illegal means or using that power illegally.  That's where judges (reasonable or otherwise) come in to apply the laws to determine what illegal. 

Furthermore, the US Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY said in 1922 that professional baseball was exempt from anti-trust laws because NO PHYSICAL PRODUCT crossed state lines. I would like to point out that "App Stores" also have NO PHYSICAL PRODUCT. Supreme Court rulings stand until the Supreme Court reverses itself.