lmac

I heard the interview. The guy still uses a Smith Corona typewriter. No smartphone, no email, no Internet. He has no idea what he's talking about. Nader has been a joke even since Bush vs. Gore.

Every time Samsung does one of these ads, they accidentally point out that Apple is the industry leader. Attacking Apple tells people who has the product you're afraid of and who you want them not to buy. Occasionally they hit the mark, but usually it's just pathetic.

Because Apple never looks backwards, I expect the Touch Bar is a test version of a fully haptic touch keyboard. Apple can't go touchscreen because it would look like they have fallen behind Microsoft. And they can't get rid of the butterfly keys and go back to scissor keys because that would admit their new keyboards are flawed. So a likely path forward is a large touchpad where the keyboard used to be. Maybe the entire flat surface will be touchpad, merging the keyboard and trackpad. Jony will be excited because it can get thinner. Wafer thin alu-min-eeeum. I can hear it already. Watch the fil-um. If it's well implemented, it might actually be a good thing.

lkrupp said:

So how about import duties on Apple products imported into the United States? Would that encourage Apple to manufacture in the USA also? Harley Davidson announced it will move manufacturing overseas to avoid foreign tariffs. Why is it always a one way street for us in the U.S.? Foreign countries can level all sorts of taxes and tariffs to encourage manufacturing in within their borders. But let the U.S. try the same thing and all hell breaks loose. When we do it it’s a trade war. Canada, for example, levies a 250% tariff on milk imported from the U.S. for the express purpose of protecting its dairy farmers from vastly more efficient and productive American dairy farmers.

Again, why is it a one-way street?

It's not a one way street. For example, the Canadian tariff on milk is 0.8%, and the 250% tariff only kicks in after the U.S. imports go beyond the agreed upon (by both sides) quota. Beyond the quota (how much milk do 30 million people need?) is considered dumping, and is designed to kill the Canadian dairy industry, just as the Chinese have been dumping below cost solar panels in the U.S. to kill the American solar industry. We should and do protect our local industries with tariffs too. It's not a one way street. We are not suckers, and we are not being taken advantage of, despite what some politicians would like you to believe in order to get you riled up.

However, your idea that the phones for a region should be made there (including the U.S.) is an interesting way to solve this problem and create local jobs. But Tim Cook would never go along with that because phones made in the U.S. for U.S. purchases would cost double or triple what they do now because of our higher standard of living.

$500 million is nothing compared to what the lawyers got.