timmillea

Forgivably, this report and subsequent discussion has been totally US-oriented. Apple is a truly global multi-national with US sales a minority. I cannot imagine that Trump's authoritarian decrees will much influence Apple's business model - they will just make Apple products more expensive in the US. It will be interesting to see if US citizens obtain passports and travel overseas to buy cheaper Apple products.

As has been pointed out, isolationism has been tried before and resulted in recession. History is repeating. Let it all play out and current voters never make the same mistake in their lifetimes. The best way of learning is from experience of one's mistakes. 

beowulfschmidt said:

Anyone ever use this app?  Or any of the others?  What were the results?  Good, bad?

I used Babbel for months to try to improve my Turkish. I found the language unrecognisable from what I already knew and what I heard Turkish people speak. It was a waste of time and money for me. 

gavinthain said:

Project Babelfish

Precisely! Bless Douglas Adams for inventing them. Apple's next project should be the Infinite Improbability Drive. 

I largely agree with Carisma.

Unfortunately, governments always like to consider themselves above the law and that their semi secret services should have access to everything.

In Europe we have the conventions on Human Rights and Justice which apply to governments, all members of governments and to government employees, e.g. the secret services, as they do to every other citizen. No government is above the law. Of course, governments find this terribly inconvenient and are forever trying to circumvent these rights and laws. 

It is entirely predictable that the UK Government wants access to every citizen's communication but their first duty is to protect their citizens.

Apple is completely right. If there is backdoor access to anyone, then any malicious organisation (including governments) or person, could exploit it. Not just 'could', but it would be inevitable. Anyone could find themselves with a false but provable history of wrong-doing because of a back door to data - e.g. a political opponent, a business competitor, envious employee or just a jilted lover. 

The first duty of a government is therefore to ensure there is no backdoor access and to encourage absolute end-to-end encrypted communication for the safety and security of its citizens - and itself! . 

I have an original M1 MacBook Air, 16GB/2TB, with its perfect wedge shape. I see no reason to renew it until the design of the MBA is improved. From an aesthetics point of view, I would regard the current design a downgrade, regardless of chip.