Too bad this ends on this line. So you recommend trusting another corporation over Microsoft to be virtuous over the long term? The only OS you can truly control is well known, and it's Linux.
“Apple has lit the torch”, I mean that Apple is leading the way forward for privacy centric products and services. Whether one chooses to trust Apple and buy their products, that’s debatable. But, it is evident, and clear that Apple’s press, their marketing, keynotes, technology and their products in last 3 years have a central theme - Privacy.
I completely agree. The best reason i think to trust apple is because of their revenue model which almost entirely come from selling hardware. Now with their recent increase in revenue from services, i’m a bit worried that it could change in the future.
Great article! I'm curious if you have anything to add about Window's "Your Phone" app. Which gives Microsoft full access to your android phone and your behavior and data on your mobile device. Unlike apple which provides this feature with end to end encryption.
I feel like this is a next level of evil.
Apple, trust us, but we'll pull that app if your tyrannical government says they don't like it (referring to the Hong Kong protest map app). We'll put our data center in China since that's what the Chinese government ordered! Emojis of 2 men (or women) holding hands? Can't see them in Indonesia.
I think to be fair to Apple, their stance on this has two huge benefits even if you don't use Apple products.
First Apple has significantly raised the profile of privacy concerns. Their resistance to illegal demands to compromise customer privacy has been widely reported, and their advertising on this issue is a constant reminder to consumers.
Apple has also showed that it is not inevitable that big corporations must sell out customer privacy in order to succeed. Without Apple the narrative is that Google, facebook, etc have no choice, because this is just the way the modern world is and freemium is too powerful to resist. No it isn't, the stance Apple has taken and their success proves this.
Now Apple aren't immune to compromise, their folding to Chinese government demands for access to user data in China shows that they aren't invulnerable. If laws are passed that demand they surrender user data, they have no choice but to comply. However their persistent messaging on this is a helpful reminder to voters in the free world to care about this issue.
I’d rather take an usable thing that I control 50% than an unusable thing I control 100%.
I don’t think anyone said anything about the long-term; at the moment Apple is what I swear by for general-purpose computing; it’s the least terrible option. That of course can change depending on their actions and then I’ll re-evaluate my decision.
Too bad this ends on this line. So you recommend trusting another corporation over Microsoft to be virtuous over the long term? The only OS you can truly control is well known, and it's Linux.