Will you buy Apple Products after reading this?

One more event for me to go on my Apple bashing trip.

The question we need to ask is Apple the largest tax payer or is the company that has avoided paying the most tax.

Read the articles and let your blood boil.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/20/185639686/apples-complex-web-helped-it-avoid-taxes-panel-finds

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/apple-avoided-billions-in-taxes-by-using-firms-outside-us-congressional-panel/articleshow/20162728.cms

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324787004578495250424727708.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/with-complex-web-of-offshore-entities-apple-avoids-taxes-senate/2013/05/20/a59daea6-c16c-11e2-bfdb-3886a561c1ff_story.html

http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-tech-apple-used-subsidiaries-to-dodge-billions-in-taxes/20130521.htm

Another point to note is that the company was setup in Ireland in 1980. So how much more tax has Apple avoided.

The rules of Ireland says that the companies will be taxed where they operate and the US laws say that companies will be taxed where they are incorporated. So Apple incorporated a company in Ireland and carried out operations from the US. So it is neither taxable in the US nor in Ireland.

What Apple has done seems to be legal, but is it something that would be expected of a morally right company?

Apple gets a small spanking

A nice post on Apple and its patents http://readwrite.com/2012/11/07/apple-gets-a-minor-legal-spanking.

How very true, patents are being used for very wrong purposes.

High time the patent office sit up and take notice at the mess it has been created in the name of safeguarding inventions and protecting creators from fraudsters.

While one cannot do away with patents one needs to come down with a heavy hand on patent trolls and companies like Apple which are using patents to malign others and cut down businesses of others.

The Patent Office needs to take cognizance of its mistakes, acknowledge it and clean up its act and become wary of granting patents at the whims and fancy of the companies or being overawed by the person claiming the patent (this is possibly what happened with Steve Jobs and Apple).

Another good read, a year old but still very relevant http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/08/software-patents

What Apple Stole?

Read the link to see what Apple has stolen.

An honest Apple Store

I seem to enjoying all the Apple bashing that is going on. Here goes one more.
Honest Apple Store

Read the tagline.
Apple Vs Android
Enacted by Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck

It is definitely as childish as the above cartoon.

Where does a man using Apple Maps Walk into

Only Steve knows

Steve is god, right?

Apple Tablet Patents

Apple leaves no stone unturned. (Pun intended)

iOS 6 will take you in a entirely different direction (literally)

Disclaimer: Most of these are from makeuseof.com.

The Scared Apps of iPhone

Batman using Apple Maps

Look where all Apple Maps takes Batman to.

More Apple Jokes

From http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/apple-developers-life-cycle/
What an Apple App Developer faces.

More on Apple Maps

Why accidents happen

From http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/apple-maps/

All that one can attribute to iPhone glitches
From http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/raunchy-iphone-glitch/

Google a Life Saver from Apple Maps
How Google can be Life Saver when using Apple Maps
From http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/how-google-is-helping-apple/

Unoriginal Clock Face in iPhone and iPad

This another shameless copying by Apple. The clock icon in the iPhone and iPad are a ripoff from the Swiss Railway clock which is patented by Swiss Railways.

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tagesanzeiger.ch%2Fdigital%2Fmobil%2FApple-kopiert-die-beruehmte-SBBUhr%2Fstory%2F26209939

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57517054-37/apple-accused-of-ripping-off-famous-swiss-clock-design/ The two clocks side by side to clear any doubts of Apple Fanboys only the logo has been done away. Thankfully they have not substituted it with the Apple logo. We can possibly soon see Apple suing the Swiss Railways for what it has patented.

http://gizmodo.com/5945008/apple-totally-stole-the-design-of-the-ios-6-ipad-clock. See the comments by the Apple fanboys in this article.

Fun with Apple

Here are some links of funny jokes and videos about Apple. Most of the parody videos are based on the original iPhone introduction. Each parody typically takes a particular aspect in the introduction and parodies it.

The accuracy of Apple Maps helps Christopher Columbus discover America.

From http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/how-christopher-columbus-actually-discovered-america/

London Underground helps Apple Map users find their way to their destination
Looking at the plight of the users of Apple Map London Underground has decided to addon the following note so that the passengers reach their correct destination.

From http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/very-clever-london-underground/

The faithful herd following their Messiah

From http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/meanwhile-at-the-apple-store/ (A view of the faithful at the Apple Store)

Watch how desperately wants an iPhone 5

How blind are Apple Fanboys?

See the Original Apple iPhone Introduction

Now watch the parody

Here is Steve Jobs Resurrected rapping away in all glory introducing the iPhone 5 to the Apple Fan Boys
The lyrics "Get an iPhone 5, Don't ask why" summarizes the philosophy of the Apple Fanboys.

Another RAP Parody

Another parody exaggerating of Apple iPhone 5 features 

An Extra Tall Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone5 Vs. Samsung S III - Drop Test
Here is finally something that will give Apple fanboys to cheer about.

Another fantastic poke at the Apple Fanboys. This exemplifies the extent to which Apple Fanboys will go to justify and glorify everything that Apple does.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6823327/apple-coasting-keynote-with-christopher-mcdonald

iPhone for photographing Food

Apple Vs Samsung a different take

If you have not seen this, see this. It is a very different take on the Apple Vs. Samsung at The most amazing iPhone yet.

Why will iPhone's/iPad's market share growth be stunted?

The latest trends show that while the Android market is growing by leaps and bounds the Apple market seems to be reaching a plateau. It is not very surprising that this is happening.

However good, Apple's iPhone is a premium product with the minimum price for any iPhone being 200 USD (Ok, Ok 199 USD). And given that price point it will have only a limited market. In its present form it cannot hope to achieve a growth as witnessed by Nokia or is being seen by Android phone makers today.
Both Nokia and Android phone makers have phones that address a wider strata of people. One can get an Android phone for as low as a 120 USD (See this for some of the cheap Android phones available in India). And these phones give more bang for the buck than possibly the top end iPhone. These phones give facility

1. to addon a SD card of upto 32 GB or atleast 16GB. One can swap songs and photos with friends (Yes legally this will be piracy, but then we have a long way to go before we can fix this problem and we also need to have the music companies come down from their high pedestal so that there can be a middle path).
2. It has a music player which is probably not the best, but not everybody is a connoisseur of music and anything that beats out loud music is sufficient to satisfy most.
3. One can also watch movies. Most do not have access to HD content and so anything that plays a decent quality video is good enough.
4. Most of them have a FM radio which happens to be a staple diet of many of the people at the lower strata, 
5. possibly a 2 MB or VGA camera which is good enough to be posted on one's facebook or shared over email
6. To top it all, if the phone conks, it can be "fixed" in a shop round practically any corner (at least that is the case in India).

As opposed to this

1. iPhone is a closed system and one cannot squeeze more storage than provided. One cannot exchange music with friends easily. The only way to get to that storage is through iTunes which is possibly one of the most user-unfriendly software ever written.
2. iPhone reproduces every nuance of the music even after it is cut down to mp3. But as mentioned not everybody seeks that level of quality.
3. iPhone can record and play HD, but the population that today as access to HD movies are very limited.
4. iPhone does not come with a FM receiver. Although there are applications through which one can get FM channels, these require a data connection and data connections do not come cheap.
5. iPhone has a 8MP camera but many need it only to be shared over facebook or sent as an email and many cannot afford to send over a 3MB photograph. The internet data costs are too high.
6. If it is conked then cross your fingers and go in search of an Apple store and hope they can fix or replace it for you. It may not be so cheap as the shop round the corner.

Look at the infographics of the world by income levels.

From (http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/thumbs/1805c933-493c-4b85-be16-ad06eb342332/large/population-by-income-level_b1ea.jpg)

Less than 20% of the population fall in high income group and this is the set of people who can afford to buy and maintain an iPhone. There may be a few at the top end of the middle income group that may be able to afford the iPhone.

Check this. The top 10 countries that with smartphone penetration are all developed countries. And the population of the developed countries is limited compared to that of the developing and under-developed countries. iPhones are a dream for most in these countries.

All in all Apple cannot capture more than 25% of the world's market for mobile phones. By suing one Android phone maker after another Apple is not endearing itself to the masses. Add to it the alleged condition of the Chinese workers in Apple's manufacturing units in China.

Apple will have a tough time improving its market share without a major shift in strategy. It will need to something more than enhance its quality and adding features. It will need to "open up" and it will need to bring down the cost, which will mean bringing down the quality. Given Apple's history both are unlikely to happen.

So Apple please be content with what you have and let the world enjoy Android phones.

Update

A similar argument can be expected for iPads Vs. Android tablets.

Take note of this post. It shows that even the Rich and the Elite are cost conscious and would be swayed towards an Android device as opposed towards the Apple device given the right price point.

Apple tells Samsung what not to do

Read for a hilarious post on what Apple has asked Samsung not to do to avoid violations. http://www.pcworld.com/article/245493/apple_to_samsung_dont_make_thin_or_rectangular_tablets_or_smartphones.html.
It is clearly an abuse of patents. Apple cannot mandate that nobody else should be able to make flat, rectangular, thin tablets or smart phones.
Apple probably has genuine grievance against Samsung for certain violations, but the above requests are in complete violation of the spirit of patent's law.
The patent's office should also give a lot of thought before granting a patent to the technical companies.
Applying of very generic patents covering everything seems to be the trend of all companies so that they can sue others at the drop of a hat.

Selling soul to the devil

Despite the evils perpetrated by the chinese regime, companies have either sold their soul to China or are in the process of doing so. Apple has already sold major part of its soul to the devil by manufacturing all its i* products in China. Now it also wishes to tie up with China Mobile to sell its iPhone product to the chinese consumers. Once the chinese start buying iPhone in bulk, and it very likely to happen, it will possibly become the biggest market for  Apple. Once this happens is there anything that will stop the chinese regime from twisting Apple's arms to get what it wants. It has no problems in twisting its peoples arms and arms of people in Tibet and Taiwan and many parts of India, will it stop itself from twisting Apples's arms? Will the US Government react the same way it does when China twists the arms of Tibet and Taiwan? Just imagine one day the entire world will be in the hands of chinese. God forbid.

Should we buy Apple Products?

The earlier post http://chintanaigal.blogspot.com/2011/08/icon-steve-jobs-greatest-second-act-in.html indicated how nasty Steve Jobs had been to his coworkers.

Now look at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/08/01/red_delicious_and_rotten?page=full.

If one were humane then one would shun one's profit or trim one's profit and carry out manufacturing elsewhere and not in China. China is a country that is known for is Human Rights violation. Apple not only carries out its manufacturing in China but according to reports it is one of the companies that is least responsive to the problems faced by the workers in the factories that supply it with itis components.

Given this one should boycott Apple products and ensure that it is forced to shift its manufacturing units elsewhere. I guess no many shareholders are complaining as most of them do not have anything to do with the plight of the workers in the plants building components for the successful Apple products. But unless we act humanely today and take note of what is happening elsewhere and limit our luxury items, somebody would do the same to us tomorrow. As Christ said "Do unto others as you wish others to do unto you".

Yes I own an iPod, but I have no plans to buy any further.

iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business by Jeffrey S. Young

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Gives a good insight into the life of the mn called "Steve Jobs". Given the phenomenon that he is it will not surprising if one day the word "jobsian" is accepted into the English language with the meaning "Somebody who is extremenly creative with a streak of machoism and some sadism and somebody who epitomizes EGOTISM".

The book in no way pays homage to Steve Jobs. It seems to be a good "critical appreciation" of the person. It has given a balanced view of Steve jobs as an inventor par excellence on one side and the vengeful persona of Steve Jobs on the other side.

From the book it turns out that Steve Jobs himself has got a great sense of aesthetics, he is of persevering nature, he can be rude to the the point of disgust of others and he can be tight fisted. But at the same time he exudes a suave charm and possesses a charishma which can allure one and all who has not had to face his wrath. Steve Wozniack, his namesake, the geek who helped him the most when all he had was a dream, whom he exploited and then later ditched seems to have forgiven Jobs' faults, but not many can be as magnanimous after being at the receiving end of Jobs' wrath.

The book tends become a bit confusing with timelines in the last 100 pages, but otherwiste it is written tautly and is a good read.



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