For example, if one were to compress a lot of the recent narrative we see, an alternative take on this news would be something like: "Apple supports far-right billionaire who gave Nazi salute and is transphobic". An alternative (gaslighting version) could be "Gay billionaire gives money to richest man on the planet who pushes Nazi propaganda".
If one is principled or a social justice advocate, should one then not decry (boycott) Apple and Tim Cook's actions? What about the shareholders of Apple? What about Apple employees?
And if you don't, is it because you don't really believe those accusations against said billionaire OR is that you would rather have your devices or your salary or your AAPL stock?
But we can take it further. "Biden administration awards space contracts to world's richest man who pushes Nazi propaganda"
Somewhere, there's a flaw of logic OR a sense of hypocritical righteousness. Or maybe something else?
Complaining on social media sites (that one could argue are niche if you think about user numbers or share of advertising dollars or countless other metrics) is cheap and can be reasonably interpreted as loud but shallow moral outrage.
Man, I can name the number of times Apple has fixed things on this basis with one hand.
The smart choice was to regulate Cook and Musk while we had the chance, but apparently that makes our corporations angry.
Sad to watch the era of relative democracy and freedom seeming to come to an end, let's hope it's just a near-death experience.
The system is rigged to churn out awfulness.
In truth though, that was not kindness, it's a set of policies that those who support them call kindness (either as marketing or belief). Most people don't agree, which is why things are changing. Actual kindness still exists and is widespread, and people want more of it.
Twice is coincidence. But five examples of collaboration is a clear message.
I've used Apple devices my entire life, all the way back to when the Macintosh was made by Apple Computer. This is the first time I've ever felt like Apple doesn't want my money.
Is anyone maintaining a list of technology companies that aren't collaborating with the far-right?
The resulting political pressure is high: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/IACIO/2025/01/27...
Listen, Tim Cook gave Trump a personal tour of the Mac Pro factory in 2019 and then gave him a $6,000 Mac Pro when leaving office.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/20/apple-ceo-tim-cook-and-preid...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/tech/apple-trump-mac-pro/inde...
It's been half a decade of Tim Cook supporting Trump without any real consequence. You missed the boat to take a principled stance a loooooong time ago, Apple already used your loyalty for everything it was worth. It wouldn't shock me if Tim Cook retires in 4 years, having squeezed all the credibility out of himself he could get.
We all said this was going to happen, too. Apple's "we care about diversity!" and "privacy is a human right" shticks are blatant grandstanding. But maybe America needs another 4 years to simmer before we know how we feel about Mr. Tim Apple.
When the previous regime was pushing nonsensical things like 'men can get pregnant' Apple added emoji of pregnant men to their products. Now that a new government has landed which does not hold with such nonsense but which does include the owner of X in a significant advisory role Apple joins the fray. If the pregnant-men-lunacy ever raises its head again Apple will fairly quickly - but not as a first mover, that is not their thing - start adding more pregnant men again. They follow the money and have always done so which makes the often religiously tinted adherence to the Cult of Apple all the more ridiculous. If one thing is to come from this it will be the lessening of the zeal with which the cultists praise their Holy Corporation for which I will gladly say 'Thank you, Elon Musk, for making these people remove the blinds from their eyes even if unintended.'
2. Even if this goofy example was true, how is that at all equivalent to donating $1M to a Presidential inauguration, attending that inauguration, and resuming business with a company owned by a man with extremely close ties to that presidency?
This is classic "both sides" brain. It's nonsense on stilts.
Liar. The pregnant man emoji was submitted on Unicode version 14.0.0 on 2021 July and officially released on 2021 September 14. [1] [2] [3]
[1] https://x.com/Emojipedia/status/1415723027388567557
[2] https://www.unicode.org/history/publicationdates.html
[3] https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/new-emoji-2021-pregnant-m...
