retrogusto

I’d be curious to know if many people really notice the difference between good screen technologies and the absolute best these days, given the overall high quality of the various types. Of course we’d notice big improvements to battery life, thinness and/or durability that an improved screen could provide, and I know some people love those 120hz refresh rates, but the differences I’ve seen in recent years seem so minor to me.

designr said:

foregoneconclusion said:

The "supply chain issue" is that today's corporations have created a crappy supply chain. 

I don't know about that. I mean it worked (for a long, long time) until it didn't and the didn't work part was due to unprecedented (there's that word) circumstances foisted on the world by massive overreactions to COVID.

They've now learned (we can assume) and more resiliency will be built in and new balanced will be achieved.

And more specifically the wrong reactions. Companies slashed orders, in anticipation of a big slowdown in sales, but lots of people kept their jobs and were no longer spending money on things like travel, clothing and restaurants, so demand for lots of other stuff went up, but it takes a while to ramp up production once you’ve ramped it down, laid off workers, etc. Stimulus checks were lifesavers for many, but also did exacerbate the supply issues. Plus all of the other factors, which are probably the things you were referring to, like factory shutdowns and travel bans. This supply mess, along with the oil crisis caused by the Ukraine war, is also largely responsible for the global inflation we’re seeing now.

MisterKit said:

It would be interesting to see the numbers if Apple were not operating in a restrained supply chain mode. 

Yes. I was thinking it would be interesting to see what the numbers would look like if calculated at last year’s exchange rates, too, because it would give a much better picture of the growth year over year. 

This is really impressive under the circumstances. I guess they’re not missing that Russian business too much. If/when the supply constraints ease and currencies return closer to their historic exchange rates, everything will look even better. 

AppleInsider said:

AirPods looted by Russian soldiers in Ukraine in April gave away the location of troop movements. 

Ukrainians should leave fully charged Apple devices around in strategic locations in the hopes that this will happen more often. Or just attach AirTags to lootable stuff.