We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
|
Samizdata quote of the day – remember those Apple “1984” adverts? Apple is doing the public a service in challenging the government on this important matter of principle. Encryption enables more than just ‘secure’ communication – it ensures freedom from government snooping, too. That’s why privacy and freedom of expression have long been considered mutually reinforcing rights. Encryption protects not only personal data, but also the ability of journalists and human-rights activists to operate without fear of surveillance or reprisals. Compelling companies to pre-emptively weaken those protections risks chilling users’ ability to communicate freely, share sensitive information or challenge the powers-that-be.
– Freddie Attenborough
LOL Remember this?
|
Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
|
So… a Hooters girl obtained a sledgehammer and saved humanity
My favourite comment.
Whilst I do support Apple on this I hate them as an entity. Steve Jobs treated being CEO as being a cult leader. That Ridley Scott advert was pitched directly against IBM who produced an open architecture machine (nothing Apple has ever embraced except kicking and screaming) and I remember the “War of the Trashcan” and all the “look and feel” bollocks. I might have an iota of sympathy for Apple (despite them being the proverbial dog in the manage) for making GUIs (kinda) affordable if “look and feel” wise they hadn’t ripped of Xerox.
There is though a delicous irony about this whole story though. Almost the entirety of the woken use Macs. Apple is no underdog – it is the machine of the establishment.
Oh, and Tim Cooke is simply the Evil Paul O’Grady. Look at pictures of them.
“Steve Jobs treated being CEO as being a cult leader.”
Glad to hear that from someone else.I always used to annoy friends and family who were Apple devotees by saying:
“If Scientology were an IT corporation, it would be Apple.“
Mine too, John 🤣
Apple and Tim Cook may indeed be utterly vile – but that does not mean they are wrong on this particular matter.
One must always be open to the possibility that an enemy may be correct about something – and not just dismiss a point of view because an enemy is expressing that point of view, or may have dishonourable motives
And there’s a very brittle court ruling – one that can be reversed on a dime if the blowback is too big. “OK, with this new hearing, NOW they’ve shown that secrecy is needed.”
Robust court rulings are based on specific language, black-letter law, things that don’t change from Thursday to Friday. Brittle court rulings leave an easy out, allowing for “new” info that can cause a reversal. This one is very brittle.
This one tells Apple that it had better keep talking to the gov.
@NickM
Whilst I do support Apple on this I hate them as an entity. Steve Jobs treated being CEO as being a cult leader.
I’m not a fan of Apple either for a lot of reasons. But in a sense it is very conflicting. One thing I really despise is the walled garden of their app ecosystem. The arrogance where all payments go through them, and they take a big cut. They idea that they have to approve every app, and can reject a programmer’s hard work without any reason, almost without appeal. It is the ultimate tyrannical situation. But the other side to the coin is that they created an ecosystem in which many small computer firms could build a business within a comfortable environment. So I am really quite torn on it. But I think it is ironic that the lefties who constantly complain about monopolies and demand trust busting, are typing these words on one of the most implacable monopolies in human history.
But this is the thing about Apple, it is both infuriating in one way, but also a real stand up corporation in other ways, including their strong resistance to government intrusion. I don’t like their products. I find the idea that they are somehow vastly easier to use than others baffling. I can never get them to do what I want. And Safari, their browser, is notorious in my business for being difficult. But my view on the company goes from one end of the spectrum to the other constantly.
for making GUIs (kinda) affordable if “look and feel” wise they hadn’t ripped of Xerox.
I think that is largely a myth. They paid for it in a number of ways (unlike Microsoft) and PARC was not nearly as much of an epiphany as computer legend tells it. You might check out this great article on the subject. I think part of this is that magical origin story that Steve Jobs liked to put out there.
There is though a delicious irony about this whole story though. Almost the entirety of the woken use Macs. Apple is no underdog – it is the machine of the establishment.
I think that is true of the woke in general. They have this idea that they are speaking truth to power without realizing that nobody in power would dare disagree with even their most extremely esoteric views. I mean how brave of them to stand up and demand we reduce or dependence on fossil fuels or treat trans people with equality. I mean they are right out on the edge, fearlessly standing up to the powerful, wondering when the thought police are going to come break down your door, bravely hiding behind your screen typing insane screeds condemning people under your anonymous screen name. Such courage. Such selfless bravery. I mean, FFS these people need to get a grip.
But, I agree with the OP. Apple’s stand on this type of security is extremely important and beneficial. And they deserve a lot of credit for it.
Dear Mr de Havilland
Without privacy we are livestock.
DP
Quite so.