Ya know something, RiddleKing, you can defend Apple all you like and sing its praises, that's your right, but Apple is slimy and I don't give a flying fech if Steve Jobs is dead.  He might be a hero to you and other Apple fanbois, but to me he was no more than a parasite who took tech from various sources, mashed it all together and called it his own.  Then he had the audacity to sue the creators of the original tech for patent breaches. 

The true inventor/innovator at Apple was Steve Wozniak.. PERIOD.  After he was ousted, the closest thing to an innovator at Apple was their legal team. It found new and different ways of suing tech owners into oblivion.  The process was all too often deliberately long and protracted so that smaller firms were bankrupted by it, thus leaving Apple pretty much free reign to use the tech as it saw fit. 

So no, Apple is NOT some angelic tech company looking out for its users or anyone else but itself.  And that stuff about 'security' for the benefit of iTunes users, that's total crap with a capital B... BULLSH!T.  Everything about that falls under Apple's 'walled garden', where it exercises control over everything within it... and if Apple does not like something you add that's purchased from them, it's amputated/excised without care or consideration of its cost.

Now, if you still want to defend Apple, sing its praises and complain about 'pot shots', I suggest you do it someplace where somebody actually gives a fech.  I'm sure there's forums where they like that sort of thing and will let you dribble on all day about how wonderful Apple is NOT.  Alternatively, you could have some fun and take a pot shot of your own... like tell us about how Apple invented half of Intel's inventory; or how Apple invented Microsoft and is leasing it to Bill Gates; or how Apple owns the patents on all Nvidia's graphics card development.

Yeah, give us a real laugh.

You gotta be joking!!!!!   I've resisted Apple since its inception and I no doubt whatsoever I'll manage it for another 20 years.

There is but just one single solitary product of Apple's I MAY have been interested in... but given its exorbitant price tag... not a fechen chance.

And it's not that fechen good.  For the price I could certainly build a much better PC with more power, greater speed and graphics, etc... and still have change.

Nope, Apple has nothing I want and nothing I need... so resistance is fechen easy.

Hehe!!!  I am RiddleKing of Borg... and I need to get out of this Apple fairytale I'm in before the real tech world leaves me behind.

[Oh, in case you didn't know, "I am Blank of Borg" is a thread that 2of3 started a few years ago... that's where the idea for the above line came from]

See, now that's what I'm talking about... a straight forward, no nonsense approach to the tech one buys.  For mine, if you find the product useful and value for money, then you should purchase it and be happy... and in your situation that seems to be the case. 

So what if you have Apple products and I don't.  I really don't care!  What does irk me, though, are the Apple fanbois who go over the top and will say and do just about anything to defend the company and sing its praises... even when it can be clearly demonstrated its practices are dubious at best. 

Hehe... tweak their noses, eh?  Well if that's anything like rattle their cage[s], count me in. 

Thing is, this thread was just meant to be a bit of fun... a poke in Apple's [AND fanbois] ribs, so to speak.

And why not, they set themselves up to be the targets of a bit of tongue-in-cheek ridicule.

I mean, I don't care if people own and enjoy using Apple products, that's their choice.  What I do object to is when the fanbois come across like they're holier than thou and put Apple up on some kind of pedestal like a saviour or some white knight in shining armour.  Apple is probably no better or worse than most companies out there, but it does keep a high profile with all its law suits and claims of inventing this that and whatever, so yeah, Apple painted its own target on its forehead.

And speaking of foreheads, and I know one should not speak ill of the dead, but I can't help but remember Steve Jobs in his turtle neck shirts/sweaters.  As he lost more and more hair, and the turtle neck make his head more prominent, I couldn't help but think that he looked more and more like a male 'member'  Had it been a strait jacket with a turtle neck. now that really would have been convincing.

Quoting RiddleKing,

reply 33

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2387223/apple-wins-itunes-antitrust-case-and-gets-to-keep-its-cash

 

 

I'm not laughing out loud. Really, I'm not..

Of course not!    So do you honestly believe it was a fair outcome and treats Apple users with any courtesy or respect?

Truth is, Apple can afford the best lawyers and can out-wait pretty much anyone in the deliberately drawn out legal bullshit, so no, the outcome is another travesty of justice. 

Oh wait!   There is no justice when people/firms go up against Apple in the courts.  For mine, the judges are either piss weak [in that they can see the travesty yet still award it to Apple], or they are fechen paid for and should be thrown off the bench.

No, there is nothing to celebrate here - not even for Apple fanbois - as Apple customers will get shafted more and more as Apple increases restrictions within its walled garden and imposes prices that are not unly unreasonable but bordering on criminal.

Now you might think that Apple is top dog, and probably it is in some fields... for now, but every dog has its day and the Apple will soon fall  from the corporate tree and be left rotting on the ground.  Like any empire or corporation, Apple's time at the top cannot last and its reign is soon coming to an end...and in some respects it has itself to blame for its early demise

Put bluntly, Apple never really invented anything since it booted Steve Wozniak, so now it is running out of fresh ideas and has little or no innovation to take it into the next decade. Essentially, since Steve Jobs passed on, Apple has lost too much ground to its rivals and has almost stagnated in some areas  In fact, Apple has been on a downward trend for a couple of years and would be struggling even moreso without the support of Intel and the other companies it draws [steals] its tech from.  

In essence, Apple will find that competition in its better markets [phones and tablets] is overtaking at an alaming rate... well alarming for Apple, that is.  As it is there are new and emeging players in the phone and tablet markets, and thus, Apple's market share will fall.  It's falling now, meaning eventually it will no longer be a market leader but an also ran.  Don't believe me?  History will tell you it's inevitable that Apple is going guts up... it's NOT a matter of if.... not as long as my arse points to the ground.

For mine, it can't come soon enough, just so I can tweak the fanbois noses even more.

in the real world they do have one record sale after another and are the only smartphone company making money. (there might be one or two Chinese or Indian manufacturers that make money also)

also: http://uk.businessinsider.com/apple-has-rocketed-to-a-new-all-time-high-market-valuation-2014-11?r=US 

in the real world Microsoft's marketshare in smartphone oss went down from over 40% to 3% in the last seven years.

in the real world it was Nokia who made a huge mistake betting on Windows Phone and had to sell their smartphone business to avoid bankruptcy.

you know who owns Beats Electronics?

If computers are for art, beauty and global inter-connectivity then why are they so ugly from other manufactures or rip offs of apple designs?

Jofo its always noble to favour the underdogs in any fight and apple left that status a long time ago so there now the enemy to everyone? I went from Acer, Hp,Dell, samsung and Nokia products to Apples Macbook Pro, iPhone 5s and iPad Air. 

The switch changed my life completely and in essence i began to understand how beneficial apple is to the world. I understand sometimes it seems unfair to others to be locked out of opportunities to make a buck due to copyrights/patents and the situation where apple exploited tax benefits of operating in other countries which was within legally approved grounds. Fortunately for them it has been for this long and unfortunate for those who didn't take advantage of cost saving foreign investments. If this situation changes in the future then apple will adapt, surely.. 

Ofcourse everything that has a beginning has an end and i don't think apple is there yet so lets not deter there momentum. Jafo--there products are awesome and i believe its something we can all be proud of. 

Bollocks, sheer and absolute bollocks.  The only designs Apple has are those it took [read ripped off] from other companies.  Apple is NOT an innovator or an inventor. No, it is a technological parasite... and the more you try to make it out to be anything more, the more I and others here will hate it. Apple has done more than enough to discredit itself, but it's fanbois like you who actually make people want to hate it with your holier than thou Apple-speak. 

So no, there is nothing to be proud of.  In fact, one should be ashamed, given Apple's filthy, underhanded tactics right across the board

Okay, so Apple isn't down and out yet, but inside the next decade it WILL be.... and hopefully you'll look back on this thread, know that I'm saying "told ya so" and it all leaves this dirty taste in your mouth.

And Moshi, don't believe all the positive press Apple is getting... try reading some of the negative as well... get a more balanced view of how Apple is really faring.  And no, I'm not providing any links to Apple's shareholder revolts/apprehension/distrust, etc... or to how various world governments are taking it to task to recoup billions in unpaid taxes.  It was world news and easy enough to check on if you're at all interested.  As per your comments regarding Nokia and Windows phones, in some markets they are [or are beginning] to outsell other platforms/brands... again, it was world news and verifiable if you're interested.

So much for a fun, tongue-in-the-cheek thread about Apple....GRRRRR!!!!

You are clearly interested in the wrong Apple products. Phones and tablets and other jewelery is where its at, not computers. 

Uh, when did Microsoft EVER have a 40% share in the smartphone market?  I have no doubt Microsoft has about a 3% share.  But that is up from 0%.  They are not a major player...YET.  They may be.  But they never had 40%.

No, I didn't forget you, me old mate, I just wanted to respond to the next couple of posts first..

As you will see, I have posted over in your thread and gave my opinion.... and very opinionated I was too.

I dunno, this 'ere thread was supposed to have been a bit of fun rather than a serious discussion, but the longer it has gone on [with the fanbois chiming in] the more I am growing in my dislike for Apple... then I read your thread and related articles.  All I can say is that it is a sad, sad indictment on the world when the greater part of society accepts, ignores or condones the abhorrent practices Apple is guilty of.  It's even worse when the fanbois praise and defend it.

There might be other companies with unsavoury practices, but Apple is the one I most want gone, dismantled, broken up into several small firms that are not inter-connected in any way and are forbidden to trade with each other.  Maybe that'll help keep the bastards honest... unable to create another monopoly with highly creative accounting practices that cheat the taxman AND consumers alike.

The other thing I hope for... judges that'll grow a set of balls and actually administer justice when Apple launches bullshit law suits to steal intellectual property it clearly did not create/ invent.

Yes, China and Indonesia share some of the blame, but Apple should shoulder the lion's share because, through its greed, it is exploiting cheap labour and resources, thus placing workers and children in unhealthy and dangerous situations.  Sadly, emerging economies resort to these practices, Britain, Europe and the US were guilty of using child labour in times before it was outlawed and we bacame more civilised.  Thing is, Apple has learned nothing, despite being a 1st world corporation that clearly should know better... but is either too greedy or just doesn't care or both.

As for outsourcing, there are no blessings.  Outsourcing creates higher unemployment for the country of origin, a fractured economy and higher prices... cos it is not automatic that companies will pass on any savings gained from exploiting cheap labour and resourses.  In fact, I have witnessed quite the opposite, with companies here in Australia actually increasing prices once their manufacturing base was relocated offshore.  The usual excuse is the high cost of shipping and handling, but that's a crock of shit because the money saved on wages is huge and the cost of shipping is negligible in comparison. The truth is, these companies use budget-type shipping firms that also exploit cheap labour, so the reality is that profit margins are often enormous.

One word sums it all up.... GREED!!!

back then when smartphones looked like this: 

it has been a steady decline since then.