jdw

Absolutely and utterly preposterous.  Government is the entity that puts the vice grip on everyone, companies and individuals included.  And when they run dry milking you, they then turn to someone else.  

There were plenty of phones in the market prior to iPhone.  It just so happened that iPhone was cool and refreshingly different, so a lot of people started buying it.  Then the copycats came out. (Android was basically an iPhone rip-off.)  Some of those smartphone companies still exist, but others are no longer in the market because again, consumers dictate which product wins.  People still think iPhone is cool, so guess what?  They still buy it.  And Apple gets bigger.  Imagine that.  But here's the thing...  Smart people invest.  And who these days doesn't invest in AAPL either directly or indirectly via mutual fund?  So you are getting something back from your favorite Big Tech company. They literally do pay dividends.  And guess who taxes those dividends like mad?  Yep.  Your beloved governments!

So when silly governments label tech companies as "big tech" they are foolishly slamming YOU AND ME for having dared chosen winners in the marketplace!  That's right, big tech didn't become big by accident or chance.  It became big and continues to grow because of how consumers FREELY CHOOSE to spend their money.  And yeah, when other competitors drop out because nobody want's their phone, the choices become fewer, but consumers aren't "limited" because THAT IS THEIR FREE MARKET CHOICE!

The best thing Big Brother can do is just leave us all alone.  End the foolishness. Stop the meddling.  Let the market be free. Over time things will change.  For truly, does anyone here honestly think we will still be using smartphones, as we know them today, 100 years hence?  And I assure you, that change will be because of consumer spending and corporation innovation, not because of governmental meddling.  The only thing Big Brother invents is a new way to tax or control you while making anything outside their control appear to be bad.  

I disagree with the article author regarding the 3rd "phones on a solid surface" set of photos.  In this case, the Pixel looks better because I can actually see some green in it, versus the iPhone photo which is basically black and while.  The iPhone crushes the blacks and brightens the sky too much.  Anyone who likes the iPhone in that photo is merely being tricked by the extra brightness, but in terms of color, detail in the blacks, and naturalness of the sky, the Pixel wins that one quite clearly.

"If you see something you think isn't right, speak up!"

That corporate statement to employees should probably be taken down in light of the fact so many younger people today are self-professed social justice warriors or political activists who, rather then just going to work and getting paid for their labor, seek to use their company as a platform for political activism.

For example a large number of Americans support the Biden Admin on border protection policy, while about an equal number support the Trump Admin's policies.  And that split is pretty much 50-50 across the US. So rather than get involved in that huge political mess, companies need to be more careful about encouraging their employees to get involved in social and political issues because the current polarization in American politics will always spark heated disagreements and fighting.

While some may argue the actions of corporate America are unethical (e.g., sales to the border patrol, in this particular case), it can also be argued that taking money from those corporations in the form of salary and then using your work environment to promote political change/activism too is unethical.

crowley said:

Apple were pretty quick about fixing the Safari lockup issue, so hopefully they'll have a fix soon.

So all the Safari-related issues that I've been reading about (sluggish performance, kernel panics, etc.) have been addressed in a Monterey update?  When I Google the issue, I am not seeing info about which version of Monterey fixes which Safari issues on the 2021 16" M1 Pro/Max MBPs.

Please fight more so the proposals are eliminated altogether!

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help."
—Ronald Reagan