I have long criticized the current intellectual property system (both patent and copyright) as outdated and unneeded for the modern world. I criticize the companies despite the fact that they are a symptom rather than the cause because I and other consumers don't have the power to influence the politicians that generally only listen to big corporate donors.
By refusing to spend my dollars on Apple products (despite the fact that I use existing Apple products like the Macbook Pro I'm writing this on) and encouraging others to do the same, perhaps we can influence Apple and in turn they can influence politicians to change the system.
I know I'm tilting at windmills, but it's really all I can do. After all we are often told that the only way to influence corporate policies is with our purchasing habits. So let's change our habits until the system changes for the better.
#boycottapple #boycottthesystem
Reshared post from +Mike Elgan
Why Apple Sues
Apple’s critics generously assign a variety of motives to Apple for filing lawsuits.
Apple sues because it wants to control the market, overcharge for its products, exclude competitors from the market or punish competitors for daring to not think different. It’s all part of Apple’s “quest for global tech domination.
But these aren’t actual motives. These are appeals to emotion. They’re legitimate perspectives, but expressed to negatively encapsulate spectacularly complex technical, legal and ethical issues into sound bites that make you want to agree with the author that Apple is bad and wrong.
Apple has only one motive for patent lawsuits, and I’m going to tell you what that motive is:
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I don't really get the hate Apple is receiving because of this. They are a business in pursuit of making money. They're gonna use all the tools available to them to protect their IP and make the most money as possible. The patent system is broken but I don't blame Apple for taking the opportunities they took.
People think Samsung is the underdog when in fact they're also a multi-billion dollar company. Their early Android phones like the SGS were very heavily influenced by the 3GS and they had documents specifically saying to create their products more like Apple's I don't agree with all of the ruling but Samsung wasn't squeaky clean in all of this.
+Anthony Martirosyan I'm not hating Apple, but as I said the only way the system changes is to spend our money differently. If we stop buying products from the companies that make the most use of the broken system, they will push to change the system.
I'm sitting here on my MBP listening to my iPod with my Android phone beside me. I'm not switching back to windows or a zune because that won't put pressure on Apple. But I won't spend money on them until the system changes.
+Anthony Martirosyan I'm not hating Apple, but as I said the only way the system changes is to spend our money differently. If we stop buying products from the companies that make the most use of the broken system, they will push to change the system.
I'm sitting here on my MBP listening to my iPod with my Android phone beside me. I'm not switching back to windows or a zune because that won't put pressure on Apple. But I won't spend money on them until the system changes.