HN user
This is something that really depends on where you live more than anything. I will say there is no state currently where you can afford an apartment by yourself making minimum wage.
Firstly, are you saying anyone who happened to be born in China is complicit in e.g. the crimes committed against Uighur population and thus doesn't deserve to be able to legally buy an Apple phone in their country?
I am not saying everyone in China is complicit in the Chinese government's human rights abuses. Purchasing a specific product from a specific company is not a right.
Secondly, if Apple exits a non-free country, do you expect that to improve the situation? Make the country freer?
In China this would leave the population to local tech, which is pretty much owned by CCP and subject to its every whim—as opposed to Apple’s cooperating to the degree required to not break the law.
I don't expect it to improve the situation, nor do I believe it's Apple's job to improve China. Apple's job is to have consistent beliefs about human rights if they're going to pretend to care about them.
What's the benefit to be had here?
The benefit is Apple puts their money where their mouth is. Saying they care about human rights and then cooperating with a serial abuser renders their policy irrelevant.
"We refuse to work with countries that engage in ongoing human rights abuses."
It is definitely a perk. That and cheap housing, paid-for education and years of experience in whatever field you get put in. The army and marines sent recruiters to my high school in a poor area and I got to hear about all these things twice a year. The military is a way out of poverty for a lot of people.
The VA isn't a great thing to compare medicare-for-all to. The VA's entire customer base has afflictions you just don't see in the general public.
I'd compare M4A to Medicare/Medicaid, if you look at patient surveys they are much happier in general than people who have to deal with insurance companies.
Exactly. Work or die isn't a choice, its a threat.
If I wanted a PS4 game I could go to gamestop or walmart and buy it. I can buy games used. As closed as consoles are there's much more choice in where you get your software than iOS devices.
If Epic somehow takes Apple to court and wins this you can still use the Apple app store. They could just do what android does and have the App store as default and have a toggle for 3rd-party stores if you're interested.
I've had good experiences with OnlyOffice on macOS.
Can your business take precautions to prevent the spread of an active pandemic? Good you get to stay open. Can your business take precautions, but isn't? You get to close. Does the nature of your business make it impossible to function with social distancing/masks? You get to close.
That's how it's been done in my state, and we've done very well compared to the rest of the nation. If we (nationwide) had actually shut down in the beginning instead of half-assing it we wouldn't be where we are now.
If your legitimate business activity undermines public health it is no longer legitimate until the threat has passed. We fought this out in 1918 as well.
oops, I'll edit my link
Close to home for me, the removal of mountaintops to get at coal seams in Pike county kentucky:
https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse#v=37.47362,-82.4710...
The mines are abandoned now
Edit: updated link - zoom out, a lot of kentucky is affected by this.