No, I didn't forget you, me old mate, I just wanted to respond to the next couple of posts first..

As you will see, I have posted over in your thread and gave my opinion.... and very opinionated I was too.

I dunno, this 'ere thread was supposed to have been a bit of fun rather than a serious discussion, but the longer it has gone on [with the fanbois chiming in] the more I am growing in my dislike for Apple... then I read your thread and related articles.  All I can say is that it is a sad, sad indictment on the world when the greater part of society accepts, ignores or condones the abhorrent practices Apple is guilty of.  It's even worse when the fanbois praise and defend it.

There might be other companies with unsavoury practices, but Apple is the one I most want gone, dismantled, broken up into several small firms that are not inter-connected in any way and are forbidden to trade with each other.  Maybe that'll help keep the bastards honest... unable to create another monopoly with highly creative accounting practices that cheat the taxman AND consumers alike.

The other thing I hope for... judges that'll grow a set of balls and actually administer justice when Apple launches bullshit law suits to steal intellectual property it clearly did not create/ invent.

I did, indeed.

China, Indonesia, the bloody factory and Apple share that responsibility in my eyes...as well as those supporting Apple.

To be fair, I bet the same abuse goes on in any and every factory manufacturing anything in that country and wherever child labor isn't strictly regulated and enforced.

More blessings of "outsourcing". 

Yes, China and Indonesia share some of the blame, but Apple should shoulder the lion's share because, through its greed, it is exploiting cheap labour and resources, thus placing workers and children in unhealthy and dangerous situations.  Sadly, emerging economies resort to these practices, Britain, Europe and the US were guilty of using child labour in times before it was outlawed and we bacame more civilised.  Thing is, Apple has learned nothing, despite being a 1st world corporation that clearly should know better... but is either too greedy or just doesn't care or both.

As for outsourcing, there are no blessings.  Outsourcing creates higher unemployment for the country of origin, a fractured economy and higher prices... cos it is not automatic that companies will pass on any savings gained from exploiting cheap labour and resourses.  In fact, I have witnessed quite the opposite, with companies here in Australia actually increasing prices once their manufacturing base was relocated offshore.  The usual excuse is the high cost of shipping and handling, but that's a crock of shit because the money saved on wages is huge and the cost of shipping is negligible in comparison. The truth is, these companies use budget-type shipping firms that also exploit cheap labour, so the reality is that profit margins are often enormous.

One word sums it all up.... GREED!!!

No, they would have been not, you would be always better with Windows based PC. Apple computers just look good, but 90 percent of apps is for Win, so theyre irrelevant. Not to mention you cant fit bunch of titans into iMac.

On other hand the situation on the phone/tablet market is way more balanced, to the point where it does not really matter, whether you choose iPhone, nokia or some android phone. Chances are, you would end up satisfied with either of them, as ultimately for most people its down to calls, internet and bunch of photos, which all of those phones do equally well.

So if you hypothetically wanted to own Apple product, which you dont, it would make way more sense to get their phone/tablet rather than computer. Therefore, you are doing it wrong .

back then when smartphones looked like this: 

it has been a steady decline since then.

both of them? as far as i understand those two never had those old iPods, but only newer ones.

where i live it is a non-issue. there is no public opinion about it, much less "the court of public Opinion."

it might be huge news in Australia or the US though. that would actually fit some of the stereotypes i have about those countries and their media (not that our media would be better, just a different kind of bad).

I don't really give a shit about Apple's business practices. I'm sure if you look at any large corporation you will find a ton of unsavory conduct. My reason for not buying any iProducts is simple: Why would I pay double price for an inferior product?

It's simple: Apple wants you to think it the shit.....when it's just.....shit in a shiny package! Anyone who says different is classified by me as a mindless iHole.

Enjoy your overpriced iCrap.

well my sources might be better than your's.

remember that mysterious high-ranking Microsoft official from America that was doing first-level customer support in Australia (aka the little birdie) who was telling you that support for Windows 7 would end in November 2014?

seriously, doom prophecies about the only profitable smartphone company are not exactly smart. there are plenty of others in line to go out of business first. as did Nokia (i predicted that) and Motorola in recent time.

maybe Nokia can make a comeback though. they can sell phones under their name again in 2016. right now they can only produce tablets ( http://n1.nokia.com/ ). a high-end Nokia phone running Android would be something i would buy.

Ah, the old switcheroo!  I am aware of Windows Mobile, however that was minimally a "smart" phone.  However, I will concede part of your point.  As I was thinking Windows Phone.  Which when combined with Windows Mobile, gives them 5% of the market.  NOt 3%.

So we both lose points, you for current, me for past.

3.  Regardless of your country, numbers do not change.  3 is not both.

And Apple did win - again through attrition.  You are welcome to buy and love them all you want - that is called free trade.  But they are losing market share because of the iTunes restrictions.  And that is the court of Public Opinion.

Moshi, you can paint it however you like, Apple is losing market share daily and soon will encounter various difficulties as stock piles up and major investors [aka shareholders] get nervous and pull the plug.

As for your sources being better?  Pfffft!

Exactly, the consumer stranglehold we all refer to as the walled garden is slowly but surely strangling Apple.  I know quite a few people who once raved about their iPods and iTunes, who now just carry a regular MP3 player and upload music from their PCs at no extra cost.  And others ditched their iPads because they had no USB ports and had no inputs/outputs. 

Then there were those who ditched their iPhones because IOS became stagnant and was getting left behind by Android.  Several switched to Windows Phone because they liked the interface better and found it easier to use.  And yes, Apple fanbois were coming out of the woodwork to boast how the AppleStore has more apps, but so what, that is so irrelevant when users find the WindowsPhone Store has the more frequently used and most important ones.

Simply put, Apple's days are numbered and its reign at the top will end as the tide turns on that war of attrition.  Much like the Roman Empire [and others] Apple will collapse under its own greed and love of power... and without Steve jobs at the helm, Apple's race to the bottom is somewhat accelerated.  True, the iPhone 6 is currently selling well, but Apple has little else to fall back on when sales go into decline and stock starts piling up.  And the fanbois can say "what about the iPad?", but it too is suffering declining sales, and maybe Microsoft's Surface hasn't made that big a dent as yet, when you combine the sales of Surface with those of Samsung, HP, Acer, ASUS and others, it is a significant chunk of the market not going Apple's way... and with sales of these alternatives to iPad consistently increasing, it appears that Apple is on a hiding to nothing and will capitulate.

Hehe, I won't even send Apple a sympathy card saying "it wasn't nice knowing you."

What is your alternative to this thing you call 'GREED'?  I mean that has actually worked.

Yes, greed has worked... for some.  In the process, however, it has helped cause/create unnecssary poverty, where the haves have it all and there's eff all else to go around.

Then there's two types of greed: one is where a person/company wants more than the others; and then there's insatiable greed, where a person/company wants it ALL.... and gets it  Apple falls into the latter group, and essentially having the absolute most [of any company/individual] isn't enough.  No, Apple wants to have it all; wipe out its competition; become the largest monopoly of all time, and become a law unto itself.

In fact, Apple has already become a law unto itself, in that it decides whose intellectual property it wishes to acquire [read steal] and manipulates the legal system and buys the judiciary to enable it to do it. Then there's the walled garden, which legally binds users to do as Apple says, when it says, and how it says... all in the name of insatiable greed.

As for an alternative to greed?  Pay workers a fairer wage to enable them to purchase more freely... profits will rise in due course.  Lower prices to make goods and services more afforable to low income earners and pensioners, etc.  In doing so the customer base grows and profit still grows.  In other words, it's easier to get a dollar from a million people than it is to get from one person.  However, this is a concept Apple chooses to ignore... at its own peril.  Catering to and ripping off its base of fanbois, while essentially excluding the rest, just won't cut it anymore.  While there's still some wankers around, consumers these days are becoming more savvy and selective, meaning that companies like Apple need to reconsider their business models/strategies or go under.

We have a retailer here in Australia called Harvey Norman - probably the greediest in the country - and recently its owner/director Gerry Harvey, tried lobbying/forcing government into taxing all online purchases from overseas as well as from within Australia.  His hope was to push internet sales prices up and to drive more and more customers into his stores.  Well it backfired in a real big way, as people, who hated his whiny ass on TV advocating that they pay more, stayed away from his stores in droves. 

I have always refused to shop in Harvey Norman stores and always will, and during 1000s of conversations with 1000s of people over the last couple of years or so, I have discovered there are 1000s of like-minded people.  Hehe, many ordinary Aussies have a name for Harvey Norman and/or Gerry Harvey... it's Hardly Normal, and that's because the majority have such a strong dislike for both the man and his business.  And no, I haven't gotten off the case of Apple.  It too has created for itself a very poor image and has garnered alot of dislike, even hate towards it through very public bombshells... like suicide prevention nets rather than improve Chinese workers wages and conditions, etc.

So yeah, while greed may have its upside - the amassing of great wealth and power - it also has its down side, and sooner or later people will give Apple and similar companies the flick.  Hopefully in the case of Apple, it's much, much sooner, not later.

"old switcheroo"? nonsense. i said Miscrosoft had more than 40% marketshare seven years ago. and it had.

"minimally a smart phone"? not really, it could do plenty of things. Symbian could do even more. surely more than the first iPhone (with no third-party apps) could do. but those operating systems didn't do it right and were a pain to use.

if it's about points, you lose again as the last numbers in that table are from 2011.