Quickies: If You’re Big Enough...

     ...you can get away with just about anything:

     “The software is functioning as intended,” said Amber.
     “Wait,” I asked, “so it’s supposed to delete my personal files from my internal hard drive without asking my permission?”
     “Yes,” she replied.

     I had just explained to Amber that 122 GB of music files were missing from my laptop. I’d already visited the online forum, I said, and they were no help. Although several people had described problems similar to mine, they were all dismissed by condescending “gurus” who simply said that we had mislocated our files (I had the free drive space to prove that wasn’t the case) or that we must have accidentally deleted the files ourselves (we hadn’t). Amber explained that I should blow off these dismissive “solutions” offered online because Apple employees don’t officially use the forums—evidently, that honor is reserved for lost, frustrated people like me, and (at least in this case) know-it-alls who would rather believe we were incompetent, or lying, than face the ugly truth that Apple has vastly overstepped its boundaries.

     I suggest you read the whole thing, though the snippet above was enough to send me into a fury.

     The question of the hour is only this: Will Apple suffer any sort of penalty for its arrogance?

• Will it be prosecuted?
• Will it be sued?
• Will it lose appreciable market share?

     In my opinion, it will not: it’s too large and has too many highly placed friends. Indeed, Apple’s top brass must have pondered the possibility of a backlash at some length before deciding to proceed with this outrageous scheme.

     In the America of 2016, size most assuredly does matter. It facilitates the purchase of influence in legislatures and subventions in the law. It allows the large and venerable to put pressures on the small and young that often compel acquiescence. And it guarantees that one’s opinions will carry weight in debates over standards and regulation.

     I have never cared for Apple or Apple products. From the first I’ve disliked their closed architectures, their developer-hostile systems, their faddishness and their cultishness. Having read the above linked article, never under any circumstances will I do business with Apple...which probably won’t bother them at all, as my specialties are real-time and federated applications, markets Apple appears not to care about.

     Would any Gentle Reader care to defend the Apple practice revealed above?