AppleZulu
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Matter 1.4.1 will eventually make it easier to setup your smart home
I've been using a fair collection of Apple Home things for quite a while, and (at least since I eliminated everything Wemo) it all runs pretty reliably and steadily.
That is, except for the couple of times recently when I've tried introducing Matter devices. Then all of a sudden other things start randomly dropping out and getting glitchy. It could be coincidence, but at this point I'm hesitant to play with devices that only work via Matter. Also, I have definitely seen no reason to "upgrade" existing HomeKit devices to the Matter standard. It feels a bit like fixing something that isn't broken.
I imagine there will come a time when avoiding the Matter stuff will become more difficult, and I hope it's more reliable by that point.
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Petition calls for Apple to resume updates for discontinued AirPort routers
Given the continued emphasis on HomeKit and privacy and security all these years later, it still doesn't make sense why Apple got out of the router business. There are a lot of Apple customers who would buy an Apple mesh router system in a heartbeat.
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Apple supplier Pegatron says tariffs will mean third world-style shortages for US
As I’ve said before, when someone is setting your house on fire, “wait and see” is not a viable response.9secondkox2 said:
That’s all I’m saying. Just wait and see. As much as one side wants to believe trump is an evil bogeyman who can only do wrong, and the other side sees only positive qualities, reality will be what it will be.Wesley_Hilliard said:
We'll see what happens.9secondkox2 said:
Meanwhile China is removing some tarriffs snd msking exemptions.Wesley_Hilliard said:The economy is crashing. Ports are empty. Truck drivers have nothing to transport. Shelves will soon be empty of key goods. The dollar is dropping. Jobs are being lost. People aren't buying anything. There's no flow into the treasury. Our national debt is going up as a result of these tariffs as Americans do without. The global trade continues with the US removed unabated. We're the only ones harmed by this action. No one is negotiating anything.
So yeah, great plan all around so far.Like I said before, it’s too early. Less knee jerk reactions and more balanced analysis before we see the ultimate results.Nobody like a fight. But sometimes they’re necessary. And when you fight, you don’t do so just to fight. It’s to win. So far, we are seeing other countries wilting.China is already slowing export shipments and thst means less sales and less money going to China. They’ll feel it. That’s more money staying in America. Will it result in actual essentials not being available? It’s an interesting question since we don’t get everything from China. But posdible. It’s also posdible China silently shapes up (though not quite admitting so publicly) and everyone benefits. The other option is other countries and even American itself picks up the slack and a new global economy emerges. There are a number of ways it can go.But ultimately time will tell.I am not reflexively objecting to the tariffs because I don’t like Donald Trump. I am objecting because it is so clearly a bad idea that will do serious damage to our economy. I am objecting because it’s clear there is no plan. I am objecting because it’s clear that the president and his administration don’t understand even the basics of what they’re tinkering with, and they are lying to the public about it as they tinker.They have conflated others’ tariffs with our trade deficits. They have conflated trade deficits with the federal deficit. They announced worldwide tariffs on a list of countries, some of which are not countries, some of which are uninhabited, some of which don’t have tariffs on us, some of which we don’t have a trade deficit with, etc. They announced large tariffs on Canada and Mexico first, two of our largest and closest trading partners. The worldwide tariffs are applied indiscriminately on friends and foes alike, undermining longstanding alliances. They have cited China as the primary target of the trade war, while destroying any leverage we might have had against China, by launching tariffs against all of our allies. They had no understanding of how tariffs would impact American companies like Apple or auto manufacturers, so they announced carve-outs and exemptions, but then insisted they hadn’t, or that they’re only temporary. They had no understanding of how launching a trade war in the spring will probably cause the greatest possible damage to the agricultural sector. They have no understanding that tariffs won’t just increase prices for US consumers, but will result in cancelled orders, shortages and empty shelves, from now, all the way through the economically critical holiday season. They are unaware that the US lacks the capacity or lead time to ramp up and replace production of halted imports. They argue that increased tariffs will protect US manufacturing, but insist that they are doing deals that will eliminate the tariffs. The president announced that they have more deals in progress than there are countries. The president announced he is talking with Xi Jinping, yet China says there have been no calls or conversations.The list goes on. The incompetence and malfeasance is real and it is obvious.So no, I am not inclined to “wait and see” if this is all just three-dimensional chess and master statecraft. It is glaringly obvious that it is not.Just to add to the list, as I was writing this, bulletins popped up that the economy contracted last quarter, amid fears of recession.So no, we don’t have time to wait and see.
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US will not tolerate EU fine against Apple, says White House
I feel like a lot of people don’t understand how tariffs work. They are a government tax on goods being imported into this country. The US importers pay the tax. Then, either they eat that cost, or add it to the price of the goods as they are sold to US consumers.shrave10 said:Whitehouse is right here IMO. Unless Epic, Nintendo, and third party app stores for iOS all reduce their own commissions to developers to zero as well, Pres. Trump has full right to raise EU tariffs to the amount to recover any illegal fines to US companies.
It is not fair that all other platform vendors can charge a platform fee commission while Apple is not allowed to do same to recover costs of development, support, and marketing. Core platform licensing fees can be negotiated to be on similar or even slightly lower than that of other platform vendors but it can not be zero.
So what you’re proposing here seems to be that the federal government should collect $570 million in taxes from US consumers who buy EU-made goods and then give those tax dollars to Apple so they can pay the $570 million fine to the EU.That ought to show ‘em.
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A call from Tim Cook helped convince Trump to introduce tariff exemptions
It’s important to remember even as Cook manages some carve-outs for Apple that the underlying tariffs will be devastating for all the other businesses that don’t get the exemptions. I listened yesterday to an interview with a man who runs a business making the things new mothers need for their babies. Sippy cups, strollers and the rest. The 145% tariffs mean that he and his competitors have all cancelled their orders for new supply. They’ve already absorbed the previous tariffs, and the new rate would make their wares unsalable. They have sixty days’ supply already here, and it takes at least 45 days from placing an order to receiving it at the port. He can’t get the manufacturing tools and machinery he’s invested in out of China to move a factory here. He can’t afford to start from scratch, and even if he did, building a factory takes years.We are a couple of months out at the most from seeing huge shortages in the supply of all kinds of things that we use every day. This is not some abstract, academic discussion about economics. This is a looming disaster. And where do we always turn when the business world falters? Well, this administration has already fired the government employees and eliminated the government departments that would pick up the pieces. At least you’ll be able to buy that new iPhone at the normal price. Maybe.
