drdavid

jdw said:

"Twitter has had a tumultuous few days" ONLY in the eyes of the mass media, which includes AppleInsider.  And I say this truth as an avid reader of AppleInsider who continues to love content here.  But despite my love for AppleInsider, I call it like it is.  

Daily reporting of Musk is either mass hysteria, cancel culture at work, or simply capitalist profiteering from hot-button "shock" news to draw in more readers.  Or maybe it's all of those things. 

Here's reality...

It's not that big a deal.

Musk is a rich guy who for his own reasons bought Twitter -- a social media platform that I myself never use except for the rare cases of entering some kind of giveaway or sweepstakes.  FaceBook interactions mean far, far more to me.  (I'm not into Instagram either, for what it's worth.)  And while a large number of people really do care about Twitter, we all need to sit back, take a deep breath and relax because before Twitter existed, human beings existed and got along with each other about as well as we are today.  

Can the world live without Twitter?  You bet it can!  In some ways, it probably would be better for it.

So when a rich guy buys a company and then tries to get a return on his investment, he will try many things.  Some things he tries will fail and others will succeed.  Musk is playing with ideas now.  LET HIM!  The mass media is having a hay day with it only because CHANGE ALWAYS TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY!  But in the end, all the mass media does is manipulate the minds of readers.  That's right.  It's not some crazy rich guy touting freedom of speech that endangers minds.  It's the mind manipulating media!  The same is true of election time.  We have all this so-called "news" which is little more than biased commentary, all constructed to trigger people and indirectly influence votes.  Why?  Because triggered people help ratings and viewer/reader-ship.  Yeah.  It's as petty as money.  Or better: "filthy lucre."

Don't get me wrong.  I still like AppleInsider.  They are merely playing follow-the-leader when it comes to hot button and "trending" stories like this.  But in the greater scheme of things, this topic about Musk and Twitter doesn't matter.  If you died today and went to heaven, do you thing the saints will be asking you about the latest news on Twitter?  Think about it.  There are much, MUCH more meaningful things than the need to dwell daily on what Musk is doing with something new he bought.

Don't worry.  Be happy.

It's good advice for us all.  Yeah, it does work.  And if you leave somebody alone to think long enough, good may come of it.  Leave Musk and Twitter alone, and report on something else.  We all need a breather from this incessant Twitter/Musk news.  The only reason it seems to be a big deal is because the mass media wants you to believe that.  It's time we all stop listening to what others tell us to think and start thinking for ourselves, even if that means we need to take a break from the crazy daily news for a while.

lkrupp said:

Tech blogs always hate the bean counters but without counting the beans businesses usually fail eventually. Hate Tim Cook if you want, go right ahead and hate him. Hate Elon Musk if you want, go right ahead and hate him.

jdw said:

I'm mainly amazed that Apple Insider is allowing any comments under a "controversial" and obviously "political" post.  I've never quite figured out the logic behind the censoring of comments under particular articles.  For example, posts under the MS Office deals are constantly banned, preventing me from saying that I actually bought that deal via Apple Insider a couple times and have benefitted from it, although one of the codes was bad on my second purchase and I had to get support to issue me a new code.  Anyway, I'm a firm believer in freedom of expression, so I can't help but roll my eyes when I see comments are locked out here on AI.  I wish it would stop.

As to Ye (not sure why everyone still calls him by his old name when he legally changed his name) and his freedom of expression, well, he's a political hot-button figure who spouts off without deep thought, similar to someone else we know in the political world.  The actions of Adidas, Foot Locker, Apple and others isn't surprising, as they are for-profit firms who will do whatever makes them look good at any given time, so as to benefit their bottom line.  It's about money and image for them, not a matter a principle, no matter what they say.

As to freedom of expression for well known celebrities, logic dictates they will be held to a higher standard in accordance with their "apparent influence."  Whether or not Ye has the power to set the world against one segment of the population (it is a "segment" because there is no such thing as biological "race") is subject to debate.  I doubt he does, but the corporations and Hollywood celebs have filed their grievances against him.  Had a non-celeb nobody said the same words as Ye, I doubt anyone would have noticed or cared.  

The moral of the story is that you should think before you exercise your freedom to speak; and even when you have something to say, consider not saying it.  

"A closed mouth catches no flies."

StrangeDays said:

laytech said:

I think there is some clever marketing and clever creativity going on with the display. Is the actual display any bigger than the series 8? I suspect not, its not edge to edge on the ultra. Whilst, the 49mm size is now a decent size, more masculine looking for sports, I don't think size wise the display is any bigger. it is brighter for sure but that is a software tweak. Hopefully, I am wrong because the series 7, whilst bigger display, could still be bigger. Having said that, just ordered the ultra. Looks terrific. I imagine a few more iterations and the screen will get bigger within the same frame. For now though, excited to be upgrading from the series 7.

Don’t quit your day job, hardware analysis ain’t it.