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0 pointsmikestew6y ago0 comments

The onslaught is so constant, I sometimes just want to scream at a clerk, "JFC, what happened to just exchanging money for goods and calling it a day?!" Of course, it's not their fault, the person I want to scream at is well insulated from screaming customers in some corporate office somewhere. But $DEITY forbid the clerk not ask, because someone's numbers will be down. That part will filter right the fuck up to the correct person.

Ignore your twitching knee when I say this, but it's one of the things I like about Apple: "here's some money. Might I have one of those fine devices you have on display?"[0]

"Certainly my good sir! Let me fetch one from the back...here you are. Apple Care? No? A fine choice, sir! Have a nice day!"

No cajoling about some card. If you don't want the extended warranty, it's a simple "no" and done. No popups on their internet properties asking to join their mailing list. I give money, they give me stuff. I'm sure there's some dark pattern I've missed, but for the most part the experience seems to be free of such jackassery.

[0] Admittedly, this part needs work lately at their retail stores.

0 comments

mey6y ago

Not sure how this will evolve but I will leave this with you

https://www.apple.com/apple-card/

option6y ago

Yes please, this is the only card I actually want mostly for security, privacy, zero fees and expense tracking reasons.

Disclaimer: I used to work at Apple in their online services division, and I know first hand that (at least during that time) they cared a lot about privacy (often against short to medium term financial gains)

breck6y ago

This does make me sad. The shift away from hardware and software to "services" and "financial products".

Despite the fact that I want the banks to be disrupted, I'd rather have a Stripe or Square or Coinbase etc do it, and have Apple focus on other things.

nothatsfalse6y ago

Oh God no! Not Square at least. They'll happily send your financial statements to random other people, then act like it's completely normal that they did that, and really weird that you're upset about it. Plus their customer service (for end users who buy products, not the merchants) is extremely adversarial. They have a really shitty chat bot that is the only way to contact them to get help when they screw something up. It's awful and very anti-consumer.

mikestewOP6y ago

Yeah, I signed up for that the day the beta invite hit my inbox. See above for reasons why. We'll see how it goes.

listenallyall6y ago

When you get the device home you'll need (edit: be asked) to sign up for an Apple ID and an iCloud account, I believe? They may not bother you at the point of sale but that's only because they know you'll be giving up your private info soon enough.

nothatsfalse6y ago

You believe incorrectly. If you want to use some other services for email, streaming, etc., you need neither an AppleID nor an iCloud account to use any of your Apple devices. They may ask you to enter or create one, but I haven't seen a case where there isn't a (small hard to see) way to opt-out.

listenallyall6y ago

They're still asking you for all that info. Saying no to a checkout clerk is easier and faster than finding the "hard to see" (your words) opt-out, which may only suppress the request for a week or month before popping up again.

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0 pointsmikestew6y ago0 comments

Ignore your twitching knee when I say this, but it's one of the things I like about Apple: "here's some money. Might I have one of those fine devices you have on display?"[0]

"Certainly my good sir! Let me fetch one from the back...here you are. Apple Care? No? A fine choice, sir! Have a nice day!"

[0] Admittedly, this part needs work lately at their retail stores.

0 comments

mey6y ago

Not sure how this will evolve but I will leave this with you

https://www.apple.com/apple-card/

option6y ago

Yes please, this is the only card I actually want mostly for security, privacy, zero fees and expense tracking reasons.

breck6y ago

This does make me sad. The shift away from hardware and software to "services" and "financial products".

Despite the fact that I want the banks to be disrupted, I'd rather have a Stripe or Square or Coinbase etc do it, and have Apple focus on other things.

nothatsfalse6y ago

mikestewOP6y ago

Yeah, I signed up for that the day the beta invite hit my inbox. See above for reasons why. We'll see how it goes.

listenallyall6y ago

nothatsfalse6y ago

listenallyall6y ago

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