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The link is right there in TA:

http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html

However, having quickly scanned through it, I don't immediately see where it states the licenses are non-transferable (it does state that APP licenses are non-transferable, but this is a separate section to the music).

My partner works in a government affiliated company and has to use FDE for all PCs. Because of how they have implemented it they virtually all still use the default key (which wasn't random) and if you change it then you thwart the original intent of having quasi-hotdesks.

That kind of stuff drives me crazy. OS X's FileVault does this right by 1) encrypting the drive with a user's own password, so they pretty much have to remember it, 2) providing a recovery key that IT can store somewhere for later recovery if the employee gets hit by a bus, and 3) optionally registering the recovery key with Apple so that they can decrypt it for you (which might be nice for non-paranoid end personal users, even if most companies wouldn't want to use it).

Here's more information about enabling FileVault. While I've mentioned FV a couple of times in these comments, I'm not in love with it or anything. It's just that it works well and conveniently, and if other manufacturers can't do the same, then it's a problem with their implementation and not the concept in general.

It would be interesting to see the median cost savings, vs. average cost savings. For most, I'm guessing that the cost would be rather low - less than the cost of new hardware and setting the system up again if you lose it - but that you have some extreme outliers.

That said, for OS X, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (and similar for others, I'm sure) and Windows 7 it is trivial to enable.

Isn't that what the iOS app does? http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bbc-iplayer/id416580485?mt=8

I have Apple's keyboard dock and their Digital AV Adapter. You bet your ass I would work on some iOS apps directly on my iPad if I could. My laptop and desktop are both windows. I don't own a mac. Why should I have to buy a mac just to develop apps for my tablet?

pitifully small development registration fee

Which is enough to keep people away. If I had an iPad in high school, and no other computer access, I would not have been to afford that fee.

Apple has never required the purchase of a high-end desktop or workstation.

No, they have only required a system running Mac OS X, and now it is starting to look like Mac OS X is going to be locked down as well, or that Apple is going to start installing iOS on their consumer laptop / desktop lines.

Wrong. Outside of games it is in fact common.

Hm...what are the most popular apps in the App Store...

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/311311/20120308/apple-time-popular-ios-apps.htm

Well, if we delete the games from that list, what do we see? Google, Facebook, Skype, Microsoft, and a smaller company called TapTapTap. Where are these popular apps from individual developers? I guess maybe they are just not popular enough to make it into the top ten, but here is the top 100 for free apps, and I am not seeing too many individuals even when games are excluded:

https://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/free-apps/

So, let me reiterate my question for you: where are those individuals who supposedly write all of this popular software?

Users have that freedom if they want it.

...by attacking their own computers.

If they want to be in the App store they must pay the App Store owner, one way or another.

...and if they want to distribute their software without going through the app store, they can only give it to people who are also willing to attack their own systems. Nice choice.

You are envisioning some odd world were Apple is making tons of money on DEVELOPERS.

No, I am envisioning a world where Apple makes tons of money by controlling their products long after those products were purchased. That would be called "the world as it exists today."

There are other serious restrictions though, such as not having access to a proper file system or any useful APIs to allow the script to do interesting stuff.

Where do you get that? The script can write to the sandbox where the app lives; that sandbox is a "proper" unix-like file system.

Also not sure what you mean about API restrictions, again the script should be able to use any API the app can use.

Otherwise Codea would not be possible.

... than a company with a reparation to not share any collected information about anything to anyone, no matter what the price?

Apple? You know they operate (as a minority income) exactly the same business model as Google right? They're just not as successful at it, and far more successful with their other revenue streams.

http://advertising.apple.com/

By the same token, Google also have the Apple business model (sell devices and services for cash to customers), but they're just not as good as that bit as Apple.

All companies are basically the same...

There is a difference between "operating temperature" and "storage temperature".

iPhone max non-operating temperature: 113 deg F (45 deg C)
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Motorola Droid RAZR max non-operating temperature: 113 deg F (45 deg C)
http://www.valuesphere.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SmartCards&Product_Code=Moto_Droid_Razr

Apple MacBook Pro max non-operating temperature: 113 deg F (45 deg C)
http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/

There is a difference between "operating temperature" and "storage temperature".

iPhone max non-operating temperature: 113 deg F (45 deg C)
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Motorola Droid RAZR max non-operating temperature: 113 deg F (45 deg C)
http://www.valuesphere.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SmartCards&Product_Code=Moto_Droid_Razr

Apple MacBook Pro max non-operating temperature: 113 deg F (45 deg C)
http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/

MS is not to be trusted? But somehow Google and Apple are paragons of virtue? Sure, it always pays to be skeptical of Microsoft, but no more so than any of the other major players in the phone wars.

They screwed the owners of their last two attempts - Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.

To compare, Apple's iPhone 3GS will get support for iOS 6 - and it was released more than 3 years ago.

So buying a Windows Phone falls into the category of "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".

Begley's content is 'objectionable and crude' ... 'many audiences would find [it] objectionable."

It's, uh, "interesting" to read of this description being used while Apple's App Store sells the iFart app.

Or maybe they really haven't received any complaints about iFart. Ya think?

(And is it available for Android yet?)

Stop quoting bullshit prices,

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/iphone4s

Thais is only with a 2 year lockin. If you want to buy an iPhone, click on the link above and the unlocked/contract-free versions.

$650, $750, $850 is your "pretty standard across the board"?

Now, Samsung Galaxy S III,

https://samsungdirect.bbymsolutions.com/detail/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-mobile-phone-pebble-blue-sprint-/1667?navCode=ZZMq4MHX3z

$699

So where is the $100 price point??? Oh yes, in fantasy lock-in land. I guess I can sell you a $400 car too, and $25,000 house.

They aren't cheaper.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/iphone4s

This shows the unlocked (unsubsidized) 16GB phone for about the same as the i9300 (Galaxy S3 carrier-unbranded and unlocked) with 16GB.

Not cheaper... "more free."

Makes me wonder who had to be friends with who to get this greenlighted.

There was no need to be friends with anyone. I put in a longer post about this elsewhere, but it's not an app that does this but a configuration file that tells the phone to use their server as a proxy.

It's quite easy to build your own iPhone configuration files, anyone can download the iPhone Configuration Utility (They even have a Windows version) to build one. The trick is getting people to install the configuration...

But between building a config and applying to a device, Apple is never involved.

A configuration profile was also a way you could enable tethering at first when AT&T blocked it initially, though Apple/AT&T did fix that eventually...

Makes me wonder who had to be friends with who to get this greenlighted.

There was no need to be friends with anyone. I put in a longer post about this elsewhere, but it's not an app that does this but a configuration file that tells the phone to use their server as a proxy.

It's quite easy to build your own iPhone configuration files, anyone can download the iPhone Configuration Utility (They even have a Windows version) to build one. The trick is getting people to install the configuration...

But between building a config and applying to a device, Apple is never involved.

A configuration profile was also a way you could enable tethering at first when AT&T blocked it initially, though Apple/AT&T did fix that eventually...

At the mercy of Apple?

Yes, 3rd party developers are at the mercy of Apple and this is not some anti-Apple bullshit. See: Gatekeeper.

Only Mac Developer Program members are eligible to request Developer ID certificates and sign applications or installer packages using them.

Um. Schmidt resigned from the Apple board in 2009, 2 years after iPhone was launched. Google purchased Android in 2005. I would say 4 years is not "the second" after Google bought Android.

https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/university/

https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/university/

The devil is in the details, and apple gets the details right.

You're an idiot. Apple uses Intel CPUs and AMD/ATI graphics cards. Just look at the specs for the Mac Pro.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipad/ipad_accessories/keyboards

If you use a passcode to get into your iPhone, it is extremely secure. AES-256, secure. http://images.apple.com/ipad/business/docs/iOS_Security_May12.pdf

I suppose updating your BIOS is not extremely common in the Windows world, though I've done more than one BIOS update over the years despite having used only a single-digit number of devices that actually have a BIOS, so it isn't that rare. And I would agree that updating the BIOS on server hardware is particularly exceptional.

The problem is that whatever standard somebody comes up with for servers is liable to trickle down into consumer goods. We'd be better off deciding on a single set of good, sane standards that everyone can live with, including consumer product makers. Coming from the Mac world, where nearly every piece of hardware has seen at least one EFI or SMC update, making it "almost impossible" seems like a very bad idea for general-purpose hardware.

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4063

The 'warnings' and 'lies' you describe have yet to be seen by me..

Here, let me Google that for you. Amusingly Google autocompleted that for me from "app is d," so it's not exactly an uncommon error. Generally speaking, the app is not damaged when you get that error - it just isn't Apple-blessed.

So are the developers of that "App Store" app planning on becoming registered developers and signing the app? :-)

That message doesn't necessarily mean "not Apple-blessed"; sometimes it means "damaged or incomplete". Perhaps most of the time it means that, so that, "generally speaking", it is damaged.

Note that the "Mountain Lion: Damaged and Cannot be Opened FIX" video shows that, once you turn off Gatekeeper, it does let you run PwnageTool (unlikely to be blessed by Apple as it's a jailbreaking tool for iOS :-)), for which the message says nothing about damage, but doesn't show you whether Minecraft works after you turn off Gatekeeper - perhaps it doesn't, because perhaps the problem with the Minecraft app he has is that the executable image file really truly is damaged.

If you try and run it through the command line, it'll run just fine.

...which suggests that Gatekeeper is part of Launch Services rather than XNU.

Which kind of disproves the idea that Gatekeeper is about security, if all it takes to bypass it is fork() and exec().

So what program is going to do a {v}fork/exec or posix_spawn to launch it? And would Gatekeeper, in its default setting, keep that program from running? Perhaps the goal was to keep, for example, drive-by downloads from getting launched automatically, but not to keep nerds from running arbitrary executable images?

You mean the OS that, by default, blocks you from running content that isn't blessed by Apple? Yes, you can download apps from sources that aren't the App Store - but they still have to be signed, otherwise, it either will refuse to run or lie to you and say that the app is "damaged" and you should "drag it to the trash."

And if you try and disable this "feature" then it yells at you, warning you of dire consequences if you try and allow non-Apple-blessed apps to run.

Nice try, hater.

"Blessed by Apple" in this case means "Signed by Developer ". Doesn't sound like APPLE is "blessing" SHIT. Signing an app SHOULD be seen as a Good Thing(tm); because it not only means that the Developer has SOME "documentation" on file; but also means that your friendly-neighborhood software aggregator has not tampered with it along the way.

And besides, it's REALLY hard to override Gatekeeper. Here's how you do it. Better write it down; because it gets complicated: Right-Click on the file, and choose "Open". Yeah, Apple is one bunch of Draconian motherfuckers, I tells ya.

Apple disables the on the fly defrag if you are using an SSD

http://opensource.apple.com/source/xnu/xnu-2050.7.9/bsd/hfs/hfs_readwrite.c

Or 2 if you're in Australia. ;-)


Obligatory links: Australia pays $150 (13"), $200 (15") or $300 more (15" Retina) than the USA before considering the exchange rate.

Or 2 if you're in Australia. ;-)


Obligatory links: Australia pays $150 (13"), $200 (15") or $300 more (15" Retina) than the USA before considering the exchange rate.

Please excuse the crappy house "music" in some of the below videos. It's not my fault idiots on youtube don't know good music. ;)

For Android phones and smaller tablets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9H54r6AUNA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTDd5BrKL4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65f84mjN_8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhPtHkAkIFU

For iPhone:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-dashboards/id321293183?mt=8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOtcg5lg6_k

(and of course, TomTom GPS on a windshield mount is another excellent use)

for iPad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKNLBD2tmA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB53-6SWEOk

I have no idea what you're talking about with Gamestop. I was talking about Apple selling the iPhone 3GS for free and the iPhone 4 for $99...assuming you're willing to get a 2-year contract with each. Those were the older models and lower prices I was referring to.

I have no idea what you're talking about with Gamestop. I was talking about Apple selling the iPhone 3GS for free and the iPhone 4 for $99...assuming you're willing to get a 2-year contract with each. Those were the older models and lower prices I was referring to.

Apple are currently not getting along well with Amazon or Google and as far as I know have yet to officially acknowledge the existence of Linux.

http://web.archive.org/web/19990427014529/http://www.mklinux.apple.com/

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/ipad/#documentation/Porting/Conceptual/PortingUnix/intro/intro.html

It seems you've weakened your argument by pointing out yet another type of legal protection distinct from patents, trademarks and copyright that seems to overlap with them significantly.

Not at all. As your linked Wiki notes, trade dress is covered by the Lanham Act, which is the Federal trademark act. Trade dress is similar to a trademark, except that the trade dress covers distinct look and feel as opposed to a specific symbol, word, or logo. For example, ever notice how every McDonald's looks the same? That's distinctive trade dress. You can't build a restaurant called "Burger Palace" and use that specific set of arched windows, brick exteriors, mustard yellow seating, etc., etc., that would lead someone to glance at it and say "Hey, look, a McDonald's."

AFAIK, Apple isn't even bringing up trade dress in these lawsuits. I had never heard the term before and I'd guess the vast majority of non-lawyers have not heard it either so it could easily be used as an example of how far legal protection for products has diverged from everyday life and common sense.

Simply because you've never heard of something and didn't bother reading the wiki you linked to about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Jonner, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. For example and contrary to as far as you knew, Apple's complaint expressly mentioned trade dress infringement:

As alleged below in detail, Samsung has made its Galaxy phones and computer tablet work and look like Apple’s products through widespread patent and trade dress infringement. Samsung has even misappropriated Apple’s distinctive product packaging.

The specific section starts on page 8.

AirPrint

This took 2 seconds to find. It's amazing how low the bar for 'insightful' and 'nformative' mods is these days. Apparently all you have to do is make ignorant anti-Apple statements.

Which is ofcourse fine if you are buying a printer *after* you have bought your iPad. If you already own one then you are almost certainly screwed.

There's an app for that: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/icab-mobile-web-browser/id308111628?mt=8 There. Now you can download and upload files to your heart's content. Flash away!

http://www.apple.com/ipad/accessories/

Apple Wireless Keyboard
The incredibly thin Apple Wireless Keyboard uses Bluetooth technology, which makes it compatible with iPad. And you’re free to type wherever you like — with the keyboard in front of your iPad or on your lap.

AirPrint

This took 2 seconds to find. It's amazing how low the bar for 'insightful' and 'nformative' mods is these days. Apparently all you have to do is make ignorant anti-Apple statements.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/accessories/

Apple Wireless Keyboard
The incredibly thin Apple Wireless Keyboard uses Bluetooth technology, which makes it compatible with iPad. And you’re free to type wherever you like — with the keyboard in front of your iPad or on your lap.

AirPrint

This took 2 seconds to find. It's amazing how low the bar for 'insightful' and 'nformative' mods is these days. Apparently all you have to do is make ignorant anti-Apple statements.

The obvious ones are WebKit and CUPS, but finding each project that an Apple employee is involved with is not simple.

Apple resources: https://developer.apple.com/opensource/ http://www.apple.com/opensource/
Commentary: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/opensource/steve-jobs-effect-on-open-source/3101 http://trac.webkit.org/wiki/Companies%20and%20Organizations%20that%20have%20contributed%20to%20WebKit http://blog.openinnovation.net/2011/10/apple-contributions-to-open-innovation.html
And, for a negative to balance things out, http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Kernel-Log-Apple-streamlines-CUPS-1435991.html

The obvious ones are WebKit and CUPS, but finding each project that an Apple employee is involved with is not simple.

Apple resources: https://developer.apple.com/opensource/ http://www.apple.com/opensource/
Commentary: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/opensource/steve-jobs-effect-on-open-source/3101 http://trac.webkit.org/wiki/Companies%20and%20Organizations%20that%20have%20contributed%20to%20WebKit http://blog.openinnovation.net/2011/10/apple-contributions-to-open-innovation.html
And, for a negative to balance things out, http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Kernel-Log-Apple-streamlines-CUPS-1435991.html

it's that there's no mouse and keyboard or printing support (as far as I know)

You... don't know. Here's a list of a couple hundred printers that work with the iPad, here is a roundup of keyboard/case solutions for the iPad from The Verge. I'm not going to search for mouse setups for a multi-touch device for various reasons.

You know what really bugs me about your post? Since the first time I logged into slashdot, I've been reading about cases of FUD working against Linux and Open Source Software. Now I'm seeing Linux and Android fanboys with their heads up their asses, spreading the same kind of FUD. "Oh, as far as I know, it doesn't work with external keyboards." sure brings me back to the times of, "It seems to me that if it was good, they'd charge money for it."

It's kinda sad that Apple hates on Linux then actually released a product that's less functional, less flexible, and less compatible with other software than Linux.

Apple hates on Linux? Linux isn't even on Apple's radar. What they've made is a product that's more functional and flexible than a phone, while being considerably more portable than a laptop. They weren't trying to create a new laptop, they were aiming for a product between laptops and phones. Most people have extremely low demands of their computers. Email, Skype, a browser and a photo editing application. Hell, my girlfriend is technical enough to fix her own router, but I haven't seen her do anything on her laptop that she couldn't do on a tablet in the four months we've been living together.

Yes, that example already very clearly fell under such a law (since it already got shot down!). I pulled it out because it was high-visibility and has already happened. Consider this program. It measures your heart rate through minute differences in brightness. What if you, as a home user and not a medical service provider, have a heart attack because there was a bug in the code? Most of the FDA's work regarding complex devices involves code verification to ensure this doesn't happen. Some kind of certification is necessary to ensure quality and accuracy.

Why is this modded down? Besides, the Retina MacBook Pro batteries ARE replaceable, you just replace the entire top-case with battery, keyboard and trackpad as a single unit. It's $200 including the Apple-certified work to replace it: http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro/service/battery/
IMO, at the time the battery is worn-out, the top-case/keyboard/trackpad have seen better days anyway, which makes this operation much more affordable than on earlier MacBook Pro models.

I'm astounded - surely the issue here isn't a question of what you as the heavily manipulated consumer are getting for your money. What about the (at the least) *millions* of tonnes of electronic junk this kind of throwaway product is producing?

Well, if it's specifically referring to the Retina MacBook Pro, the question is "how much extra electronic junk will it produce over its lifetime?", as probably relatively few of them have been thrown away at this point. If it includes all laptops that don't have replaceable versions of components that are frequently replaced, the question is the same, but, as they've been around longer, we might have a better handle on that number.

The answer depends on:

• how often people would need to upgrade the machine (I kept my old MacBook Pro, maxed out at 4GB of memory, for about 4 1/2 years before replacing it with a new Retina MBP, maxed out at 16GB of memory, but maybe I'm not the typical case and people swap out their laptops more often);
• how often the old machine is passed on to a new user who doesn't impose as much of a load on the machine, rather than being discarded.

I don't know what the answer to those questions is.

Is the problem being ignored because it is always exported to some country you'll never have to visit?

If this statement from Apple is true, "country" should perhaps have the "r" removed, as it claims that "All e-waste collected by Apple-controlled voluntary and regulatory programs worldwide is processed in the region in which it was collected.", so, whilst it might be exported to another county in the US, it sounds as if it won't be sent outside the US were I to hand the old machine to Apple if it were recycled rather than refurbished and resold. Whether that statement is true or is greenwashing is another matter, however.

I have the impression that the major issue with recycling of the components of a Retina MBP is with the battery, and that the issue with the battery is whether it can be removed and recycled; it appears that opinions differ on that.

I'm astounded - surely the issue here isn't a question of what you as the heavily manipulated consumer are getting for your money. What about the (at the least) *millions* of tonnes of electronic junk this kind of throwaway product is producing?

Well, if it's specifically referring to the Retina MacBook Pro, the question is "how much extra electronic junk will it produce over its lifetime?", as probably relatively few of them have been thrown away at this point. If it includes all laptops that don't have replaceable versions of components that are frequently replaced, the question is the same, but, as they've been around longer, we might have a better handle on that number.

The answer depends on:

• how often people would need to upgrade the machine (I kept my old MacBook Pro, maxed out at 4GB of memory, for about 4 1/2 years before replacing it with a new Retina MBP, maxed out at 16GB of memory, but maybe I'm not the typical case and people swap out their laptops more often);
• how often the old machine is passed on to a new user who doesn't impose as much of a load on the machine, rather than being discarded.

I don't know what the answer to those questions is.

Is the problem being ignored because it is always exported to some country you'll never have to visit?

If this statement from Apple is true, "country" should perhaps have the "r" removed, as it claims that "All e-waste collected by Apple-controlled voluntary and regulatory programs worldwide is processed in the region in which it was collected.", so, whilst it might be exported to another county in the US, it sounds as if it won't be sent outside the US were I to hand the old machine to Apple if it were recycled rather than refurbished and resold. Whether that statement is true or is greenwashing is another matter, however.

I have the impression that the major issue with recycling of the components of a Retina MBP is with the battery, and that the issue with the battery is whether it can be removed and recycled; it appears that opinions differ on that.

hmm common sense would dictate pretty seriously that being able to replace the battery would be manditory for a laptop since they are anticipated to only have a 2 - 4 year life at best. plopping 3 grand down for the latest shiney to be shot in the knee because the battery died and it ends up costing as much as just replacing the laptop to fix it

...which is, fortunately, off by about a factor of 10 for the Retina MacBook Pro (in the US, it costs about USD 200 to replace the battery, for a factor of 15 if your Retina MBP cost USD 3000).

http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html

In particular, here's what's offered for replacement of batteries in MacBooks Pro with built-in batteries (a category that includes the Retina MBP). "A replacement battery can be purchased directly from Apple. The price of the replacement battery includes installation of your new battery and environmentally responsible disposal of your depleted battery.", and the battery for the Retina MBP costs USD 199, CAD 209, EUR 199 (including VAT - does that mean that it costs EUR 199 plus whatever your country charges as value-added tax?), CHF 219 (including VAT), GBP 159 (including VAT), JPY 17800 (including taxes), AUD 229 (including GST), and RMB 1498 (including VAT). As for how long it takes:

Length of time to complete the battery replacement will depend upon the repair location and availability of service stock. In general, the following replacement times apply:

Apple Retail Store
Depending on inventory availability this may be replaced the same day. Make a reservation to meet us at the Genius Bar.

Apple Mail-in (United States and Japan only)
3 - 4 business days after shipment of unit to depot.

Apple Authorized Service Provider ("AASP")
Please contact an AASP in your region for specific turnaround times.

As genie for today, I will grant you your wish: Apple Recycling Program. Not only do they pay shipping, you get a gift card, too.

This serves two purposes. Firstly it reduces the number of macs in the second hand market. Second, it is silly "green" propaganda/public relations so hippsters will buy more Macs and feel good about it.

Real recycling would be encourage the second market, don't expect that from Apple any time soon.

Yeah, it's not as if Apple does something silly such as selling refurbished Macs.

As the Apple Recycling Program FAQ says:

What’s the difference between “reuse” and “recycling”?

Equipment may qualify for reuse if it has monetary value and can be resold in the secondary electronics market. Equipment qualifies for recycling if it does not have monetary value; it will be dismantled so that materials such as metals, plastics, and glass can be collected for use in the manufacturing of new products, reducing the need to mine raw materials.

Why should I use the Apple Recycling Program?

By participating in the Apple Recycling Program you are helping the environment by extending the useful life of products that have value in the secondary electronics market. You are also ensuring that products that have reached the end of their useful life are recycled in an environmentally responsible manner in North America.

As an added benefit, if your product qualifies for reuse — meaning it has monetary value — you’ll receive an Apple Gift Card equivalent to its fair market value as determined by PowerON. You can use the gift card for eligible purchases at any U.S. Apple Retail Store or the U.S. Apple Online Store. If your product does not have monetary value, we’ll recycle it at no cost to you.

As genie for today, I will grant you your wish: Apple Recycling Program. Not only do they pay shipping, you get a gift card, too.

This serves two purposes. Firstly it reduces the number of macs in the second hand market. Second, it is silly "green" propaganda/public relations so hippsters will buy more Macs and feel good about it.

Real recycling would be encourage the second market, don't expect that from Apple any time soon.

Yeah, it's not as if Apple does something silly such as selling refurbished Macs.

As the Apple Recycling Program FAQ says:

What’s the difference between “reuse” and “recycling”?

Equipment may qualify for reuse if it has monetary value and can be resold in the secondary electronics market. Equipment qualifies for recycling if it does not have monetary value; it will be dismantled so that materials such as metals, plastics, and glass can be collected for use in the manufacturing of new products, reducing the need to mine raw materials.

Why should I use the Apple Recycling Program?

By participating in the Apple Recycling Program you are helping the environment by extending the useful life of products that have value in the secondary electronics market. You are also ensuring that products that have reached the end of their useful life are recycled in an environmentally responsible manner in North America.

As an added benefit, if your product qualifies for reuse — meaning it has monetary value — you’ll receive an Apple Gift Card equivalent to its fair market value as determined by PowerON. You can use the gift card for eligible purchases at any U.S. Apple Retail Store or the U.S. Apple Online Store. If your product does not have monetary value, we’ll recycle it at no cost to you.