jdw
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Find My misfire leads to SWAT raid on grandmother
A SWAT raid on a home for "a" (in the singular) iPhone? That sounds like a rather enormous waste of tax dollars to me. I would say that even if the number was 9 iPhones. Maybe if it was 50 or 100, then I can understand a SWAT raid. But for one?AppleInsider said:
In addition to that SWAT raid tax dollar waste, you then have the waste of having to pay to compensate the lady for all the broken items, including collectable dolls, some of which may not be so easy to replace. And now you also have a lawsuit filed as well.
The police issue an apology (but refuse to pay for repairs) and expect that to end that particular case so they can then move on to the next SWAT raid, which could also be a mistake.
All the while, this poor lady is left with financial loss and with fear about what may next come through her door.
All over a SINGLE iPhone.
Madness. Utter madness.
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Apple tells suppliers to plan for shift of manufacturing out of China
Very good news!
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Apple Store crash victims sue Apple over '100% preventable' crash
I wasn't planning to respond to your post, because I greatly appreciated what you wrote and didn't feel the need to add anything to what you said. However, @muthuk_vanalingam wrote a post that explained his feeling that something else was needed from me. So in light of your "fire away" closing sentence, I will cite one example of where comments, now banned, can be useful...dewme said:jdw said:
P.S. I'm happy at least ONE AppleInsider article today allows Comments. Totally hilarious to see all the Musk/Twitter articles today banning comments (i.e., stopping free speech) when it comes to topics that discuss free speech. I've long taken issue with AppleInsider about that. There are risks with freedom, but it's worth it. No need to go full CCP to limit speech AppleInsider owners don't like. You're not a true advocate of liberty until you afford your neighbor more freedom than you are willing to afford yourself. I don't smoke or drink alcohol, but I don't go around calling for total bans on those things. And no, calling for more freedom to comment doesn't mean it's a free-for-all. So long as no crimes are being committed and no laws broken, it's a fact that some speech may be pretty naught (personally, I had profanity), but that doesn't mean we need to censor anything and everything we don't like. Loosening the comment restrictions is the right thing to do. There really can be a proper balance, without the need to complete block all comments under multiple articles. Blocking comments is more than just limiting speech. It's like AppleInsider is playing parent, spanking kids for having been naughty in other threads. And yes, I've spoken to at least one AppleInsider author in the distance past who told me about SEO and how AppleInsider content appears in search engines as justification for censoring comments, but that argument was not persuasive at all in my humble opinion. Strive for free speech whenever possible. Thanks.I'm not surprised by your post.Maybe there's a compromise solution, like relocating articles that the AppleInsider moderation team flags as deviating from its commenting expectations to a different sub-forum, but only as long as the non-culled comments don't explicitly break any stated rules or guidelines? I personally have no desire to engage in an unmoderated forum.I can definitely see where the comment section of some articles do end end up going down very off-topic rabbit holes that have little to do with AppleInsider's mission statement and primary purpose. Of course any changes like I've suggested would impose more workload on the AppleInsider staff. The fact that there is already infrastructure in-place in the "All Forums" part of the AppleInsider site may lessen the required effort. I don't know.Fundamentally, as guests on AppleInsider we aren't really in a position to make any demands, but suggestions are always fair game. We should always respect the concerns of our host and recognize that they are running a business here. We also need to be mindful of the need to self-regulate and apply our own self-moderation mechanisms, which I think sometimes get desensitized in the midst of a hot topic. I understand how it happens and I'm not immune to the temptation to get sucked into some of the rabbit holes or step dangerously close to the boundaries of the rules.I think it's basic human nature to engage and participate and voice our opinions but we must always be aware of where the boundaries are and try not push things too far. We also need to take responsibility for what we "say" and self-test whether our posts are actually relevant to the topic at hand, ensure that what we post represents our original ideas, and make sure that what we post reflects our own personal perspectives and understanding of the topic itself or a topic-relevant adjacency. There are no real personal consequences of us shit-posting here other than getting banned, but AppleInsider can suffer business repercussions if their site becomes too toxic for advertisers to be associated with.Nothing I've said has anything to do with free speech, but it has everything to do with us being considerate for what AppleInsider provides for us in terms of allowing us to participate in discussions around topics and subjects that are of shared interest to everyone. We really should never do anything that places AppleInsider in a negative business position. I'm assuming that shutting down comments is a damage control action, not an imposition on our freedom of self expression.Again, maybe there's a middle ground with mutual benefits that can be proposed by those who feel slighted by the eradication of comments from a topic. Fire away with some suggestions.
I have purchased two MS Office licenses because of AppleInsider advertising that. No comments are allowed under those AppleInsider posts, which is a shame because I would like to post my 100% SATISFACTION with those license purchases, and I would also like to add my experience with customer support to say that in one case, the license number given to me was unusable, but after waiting 72 hours, their support staff (not affiliated with AppleInsider) supplied me with a new code that worked. Honestly, I think comments like mine (what I just said) under the MS Office articles/ads would perhaps go toward making people feel more at ease with a purchase, allowing more sales of that. Not sure how much AppleInsider makes off each sale, but more is better than less, right?
Again, just one example of where comments may be a benefit for all concerned.
By the way, whenever I find I cannot comment under an article here in the forum, I can usually go to FaceBook and find the same article. Comments are not banned on FaceBook because they cannot be banned (I don't think). So that is one way to let one's voice be heard. It's just that I would sometimes rather write a comment here. I prefer full fledged forums to FaceBook, especially when typing multiple paragraphs.
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Apple Store crash victims sue Apple over '100% preventable' crash
I have the utmost respect for you as a moderator, but I disagree PROFOUNDLY with the above sentence and here's why. You are deliberately limiting the two words "free speech" to a government/legal/country level. I speak of "free speech" as the ability of people to speak. So when you read "free speech" in MY posts, please take those two English words "free speech" at face value.radarthekat said:Free speech is the right of citizens to speak out against government.
In my book, "free speech" does NOT mean mean anything goes. Like I said, it must be within the confines of the law, which varies country by country. Laws make speech freer when laws exist but are kept minimal. But like I said, my use of the words "free speech" transcends a legal or government only discussion. I am basically appealing to the powers that be at AppleInsider to consider something regarding that.
As to what AppleInsider allows or disallows, that is indeed your prerogative, just as it was with Macworld. They once had a forum and I participated in it as regularly as I now do in this forum. Then Macworld decided to close their forum, and now significantly fewer people visit their main website anymore as a result. Quite obviously, that is why AppleInsider has a forum -- so as to attract more people to this site because you know that people these days prefer engagement that a forum offers.
I am still a Macworld subscriber, so it's not like I am bashing them about their now defunct forum, although I would argue killing it was a wrong move. Nor am I bashing AppleInsider, believe it or not. It's rather obvious I prefer the news content here on AppleInsider as evidenced by the many years I've been commenting in the forum here, largely without issue. So in light of that, I feel I have the moral obligation to speak out when I see something odd or humorous going on. It's not a matter of "rights," but instead a matter of speech. And that speech is not speech afforded to me by any government or constitution but rather speech I appeal to AppleInsider staff for. For myself, yes, but for every other good member of this forum too. Yes, you've given us limited speech now, and I thank you. But please just open it up a little bit more.
Allowing more comments under articles here on AppleInsider would not result in chaos, nor do I feel it would somehow tarnish AppleInsider's image. The presence of @radarthekat in this forum is one very strong proof there would not be chaos. This forum is indeed MODERATED, and I've never taken issue with that moderation. Indeed, this forum is moderated well. I would say, even better than most other forums where pettiness and personal vendetta by power hungry mods tend to beat forum members over the head for daring to say any little thing they the mods dislike. That never has been the case here, which is why I have high praise for this forum and for its moderators such as @radarthekat ;. But my giving that heartfelt praise for forum mods, and for this forum, and for AppleInsider in general does not silence my heartfelt feeling that speech could to be a bit freer. More specifically, I think it's not so necessary to ban all comments under articles that are hot button issues.
I have disagreed with people in this forum because they have said some outrageous things. One person did that recently in fact, and all posts related to that, even my own, which said nothing wrong, was obliterated by a mod, although other comments in that thread were allow to remain. I haven't complained about that because like I said, moderation is okay when something runs afoul. I am only speaking about the ability to post freely under more articles that AppleInsider tends to ban comments. I may not even comment under some of those articles, but the knowledge that one can speak a few words under them is refreshing.
Lastly, I admit that I can be a bit provocative in my writing, but that is deliberate on my part. I've been "online" since my 300 baud modem days in the early 80's, and I've found that it's risky to be bold, but it almost always triggers much needed thought. Thanks for thinking about this forum and the benefits of freer speech. Keep up the great work!
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Apple Store crash victims sue Apple over '100% preventable' crash
I hate most lawsuits because the majority of the time, lawyers are in it for the money more than betterment of someone or society at large. With that said, I myself called for batteries when that story first broke. Makes absolutely no sense for ANY BUSINESS to not have concrete polls or similar to prevent accidental lead-foot drivers, especially elderly drivers, from plowing throw a building by accident. And while newer cars like Toyota have features like Safety Sense which prevents such accidents, that doesn't help people who drive older cars which lack those features.
Now while barriers can and should apply to any business, Apple more than other businesses need them because sometimes you have thugs who deliberately drive cars through the front of the store at night to steal products. A good set of barriers would help thwart that.
I just wish it didn't take a lawsuit to get the right thing done. And then it should be a discussion between Apple and the landowners, where Apple should not have to bear the total cost.
P.S. I'm happy at least ONE AppleInsider article today allows Comments. Totally hilarious to see all the Musk/Twitter articles today banning comments (i.e., stopping free speech) when it comes to topics that discuss free speech. I've long taken issue with AppleInsider about that. There are risks with freedom, but it's worth it. No need to go full CCP to limit speech AppleInsider owners don't like. You're not a true advocate of liberty until you afford your neighbor more freedom than you are willing to afford yourself. I don't smoke or drink alcohol, but I don't go around calling for total bans on those things. And no, calling for more freedom to comment doesn't mean it's a free-for-all. So long as no crimes are being committed and no laws broken, it's a fact that some speech may be pretty naught (personally, I had profanity), but that doesn't mean we need to censor anything and everything we don't like. Loosening the comment restrictions is the right thing to do. There really can be a proper balance, without the need to complete block all comments under multiple articles. Blocking comments is more than just limiting speech. It's like AppleInsider is playing parent, spanking kids for having been naughty in other threads. And yes, I've spoken to at least one AppleInsider author in the distance past who told me about SEO and how AppleInsider content appears in search engines as justification for censoring comments, but that argument was not persuasive at all in my humble opinion. Strive for free speech whenever possible. Thanks.
