Well at least you are trying to engage in the discussion rather than just throw insults around. But the point the parent is trying to make is that on the contrary it's very difficult to determine if the smartphone you have in your hand is ethically sourced. To do the research for yourself you either have to be rich and have a lot of time on your hands, or have a really weird hobby. To rely on the various scare stories, for and against, probably just involves reinforcing the opinions you already have. I know I'm susceptible and tend to look for the argument that puts apple in the best light - it's a hard skill to learn to listen to arguments from the "other side".

All companies try to market themselves as different than the competition, that's a given.

Hmm you could be on to something. Perhaps they could price them at $800 and, you know, make even more money.

Au contraire. I know your wife very well. Every night!

Wouldnt it be better to use kinect-like motion sensors for this sort of thing? Seems pretty random to put hype that kind of tech in the carpet. Prone to drinks spillage, animal piss and wear and tear.

True but Apple didn't go after that market, they went after the much smaller high end smartphone market.

You might not agree with my comments and that's fine, but why call me a troll? I took time to craft my arguments (about 20 minutes) and unlike you I definitely have many better things I could be doing. Quite possibly I didn't do a good job, but it's quite sad to come here for reasoned debate and be met with that kind of response just because my opinion happens to deviate from the masses. Sorry, there isn't really any incentive to engage with your post any further.

I agree that apple are assholes for this shit and it highlights the terrible patent system. However I also think that Samsung are the bigger assholes who basically get a free ride by copying competitor products. I don't care what the legal system has to say about it and which team wins in the long run but in my book it's plain wrong.

Apple are guilty of this too of course, but do you want to know the difference? They have the confidence to enter fledgling markets where it's in no way obvious to anybody that there is a golden opportunity to be had and then they bet big. They bet way big, ramping up production, tying up components in mega deals.

Sony on the other hand cherry pick by copying business opportunities that are already successful. That doesn't take balls, it just takes a fucking massive company who can produce a facsimile of a competitors product (maybe sometimes better) and ramp up their machine on a massive scale.

Whoops I picked a bad time to "cheerlead" apple, expect me to be modded down in 3...2...

+1 overrated

0 flame bait

-1 troll

Too late!

Wrong on two counts. Pepsi is horribly, sickly sweet to my taste buds - coke is clearly the superior beverage. Maybe you like that but either way there would have to be something wrong with you not to at least tell the difference.

As for shipping iturds, apple could get away with that shit exactly once. Never seems to occur to some people that a brand becomes respected because it's repeatedly associated with good products. Out of all the willful blind spots nurtured here on slashdot I find this one frankly... weird. Totally fucking moronic. Prove me wrong though by citing another brand that thrives despite shit products and customer contempt. And I don't mean one that makes money, I mean an iconic brand that attracts a lot of customer loyalty.

Yup, it's called the morality distortion field. Slashdot seems particularly susceptible.

I'm not judging you btw, I just thought this is an interesting analogy that might be worth thinking about. In other words it's moral for the world to stock up on nuclear missiles as long as nobody uses them.

However you seem to be beating round the bush and are trying to say Apple are the bad guys because they used them first vs Samsung?? The court case (and inevitable appeal) may give credence to Samsung acting first with their "copycat" weapon, time will tell.

Jesus H, only on slashdot. Yes, if by "piss off" you mean "google attempting to add value to their business to protect future revenues". They are not trying to act out some nerds fantasy battle.

Yep, because that's the story here, right?

My stance is anti bigotry, not pro Christianity. But that would be lost on cowards such as yourself.

It's ironic that you have to make slashdots equivalent of the sign of the cross so that you aren't modded down as a heretic for your subsequent words. Slashdot canon if you will.

We are all members of one cult or another as we can't escape indoctrination - except maybe for those dumped in a forest at the age of four and raised by wolves. I know this because most of us slip into the cogs of western society like those that went before us. There is a place in the machine for everyone.

That you proclaim yourself as rational makes me skeptical of you but I could be wrong, maybe I should have taken a chance and read the rest of your post, but I couldn't get past slashdots bigoted received wisdom on this occasion.