I'm not a lawyer for a multinational company. My wife is, though. Contrary to popular opinion, lawyers don't all have to take "Evil 101", followed by "Mental manipulation for graduates 101"...
As for the judge not having the device available. If the judge sees fit to want the devices around while (s)he renders judgement, that device is going to be there. Ain't no lawyer going to argue that with the judge. Not a chance in hell. Of course, if the judge has already figured out (by, you know, picking them up and inspecting & using them), (s)he may not *need* to have the devices while rendering the judgement. In any event, it's up to the judge. Lawyers don't get to snatch the evidence back from the judge after a given time-period...
Nope, just like being a programmer doesn't mean you can add 2+2. It's pretty likely, though. [resists temptation to except Visual Basic programmers. Oh darn.]
Come on! The guy (woman, whatever...) spends his entire life meticulously examining statements for factual and legal accuracy. (S)he's the ninja of subtle-but-important-technicalities, and you're seriously trying to say he can't tell the difference between the two ? It's blatantly obvious they're different in *all-but-one* of the photos in the submitted document - they're even presented in perspective view to make it damn obvious, and the correct dimensions are printed in the discussion of the illustration we're talking about!
As for "subconscious bias", I think you'll find the mind places a lot more weight on what the body has physically held, played with, worked on, used etc. than some photo of same. Abstract mental models are all very well, but a physical thing resonates much stronger with our "feel" for something.
Are you seriously suggesting that a *judge* would be swayed like this ? Someone whose professional career and reputation is predicated around, you know, *judging* things on a legal basis. You are seriously expecting people to believe the judge can't tell the devices he's *holding* are different aspect ratios ?
I mean, if the difference is so major that it rates several stories on several websites over an extended period, surely someone can actually *tell* they're different, right ?
Because, if even a *judge* can't immediately, obviously, tell that they're different, it seems to me that Apple has a case...
When the judge made his decision, he had a powered-up iPad and a powered-up Galaxy tab in front of him, so he could see for himself whether they were similar - at least according to the BBC. If he thinks Samsung is in the wrong after playing with a physical working device, what does it matter if one image shows the aspect ratio incorrectly ? (all of the other images in the brief clearly showed the different aspect ratios).
Ironically enough, the iPad can be "opened up" to the end user because it's locked down in terms of what it can do. The PC is sufficiently versatile that it has far more possibility for mischief / catastrophic error. IT departments can be reasonably sure that an iPad app won't do much harm (they're *mostly* content-consuming) whereas PC applications are less secure, more capable (and therefore more dangerous) and more available (any potential miscreant is more likely to find a PC knocking around the ethernet than an iPad).
It's a simple matter of risk-assessment. The iPad's design and usage lend it to trusting users more.
As a European who has lived in the USA for a long time now, I think you've missed the original poster's point. The USA does not have any left-leaning parties, from the perspective of your average European: the USA has a right-wing party (the Democrats), a far-right-wing party (the Republicans), and a bunch of nutters ( the TEA party).
There are of course differences between the parties, and the Daily Show is indeed more biased towards the Democrats IMHO, but his point is that the "center" is not located in-between the two major parties. He's right - it's just not.
I don't watch Fox News either. I don't have much positive to say about any of the news organisations in the US though, it's all sensationalised and trivialised to the extent that it's hardly worth watching any of it.
Typically it's when I have 6 or 7 frameworks open, each in their own XCode workspace. When you're co-developing applications and the frameworks they depend on, it's very useful to have them all open at the same time.
Sure, I could get by with one screen. Hell, I could get by with 640x480 in monochrome. It doesn't mean I'm as efficient that way. My employer pays me a lot of money (although the Bay Area grabs it all back again:) and wants me to be as efficient as possible for that fixed cost. Purchasing a couple of larger screens is a no-brainer. Getting the SSD to compile on was a no-brainer too...
I know Apple engineers working on the OS and on the pro-apps. None of them are even remotely concerned about this - it's a slashdot-incubated fantasy of those who either can't or won't think for themselves. It ought to be clear to the meanest of intelligences that Apple will *need* a significantly more powerful environment than iOS to create apps for iOS. At work I have a Mac Pro with 3 30" monitors, and when I'm coding something significant all that real estate is in use. My friends at Apple say they are similarly equipped.
Even *if* a future iPad got thunderbolt, and therefore a larger screen, it still wouldn't come close - the Mac Pro struggles to compile an app with thousands of source files spread over several frameworks. Can you imagine how complex something like Final Cut Pro, or Aperture are ? I shudder to think how an iPad would do, and (as for any company) for Apple, time is money. They're not going to destroy productivity in their software division for the sake of some operating-system purity vibe.
Bottom line: To create the sort of interfaces Apple make, they need powerful machines. Having OSX is a competitive advantage for that because they can adapt it to suit. If you wish, consider OSX to be a cost-of-doing-iOS-business, then consider that you can leverage that cost into a profit center. Why would they remove a profit center ?
Not answering anything in your post other than the whole Japan thing was proven to be the result of "analysts", well, just making shit up. Apple does very well in Japan - according to a (later) WSJ [wsj.com] article, Apple has ~72% of the smartphone market in Japan.
It seems that the japanese appreciate "shit that works" over "shit that needs a degree to understand" just as much as other people.
Just sick to the bone of the stereotyping. I was born and grew up in Liverpool, moved to London for college and stayed there for 10 years or so before emigrating to CA after selling my company. London's a damn sight worse than Liverpool in terms of thievery and general being-an-arsehole, in fact a lot of places are, but some stupid bastard always comes out with same tired old line.
I'm wondering if you regularly insult other groups of people; perhaps you denigrate women as not the equal of a man, perhaps you are racist to the core, perhaps you vote "patriotically" (the N.F in the UK, Republican in the US, whatever elsewhere), perhaps you think the gay community is the scum of the earth. I don't know, and I'm not saying you do. All I'm saying is that you've evidentially stereotyped in one case, and that leads me to believe you're the sort of person who would do any/all of the above. Even worse, it's possible you're a Daily Mail reader / Fox News viewer.
If you're going to be an arsehole, it's better to be a creative arsehole. Put some effort into it man. Don't just trot out the same old stuff - we've heard it all before, ad nauseum in fact, which is why you got the equally uninventive FOAD response.
Yes, well the UK driving test is actually worth something. I had to do a hill start, 3 point turn, right-hand reverse, parallel parking, different speeds of driving, turning out of a blind intersection, roundabouts, emergency stop, and probably more that I don't remember.
In the US, I turned right out of the DMV onto a 30mph road, turned first right, turned first right, turned first right, turned first right, and then turned back into the DMV. I had already passed the "written" part of the test (really, multiple choice. One question was 'what does this sign mean?'. It was a STOP sign...). That was it. Apparently that's all you need to drive one of the massive honking SUV's they have out here at 100^W 65(hah!) mph on the freeway. It does explain a lot about the (apallingly-bad) standards of driving out here though. The Italians are better drivers. As someone who's lived in Rome, I really mean that...
Oh and for the record, I far prefer roundabouts to 4-way intersections. They're really pretty simple, guys... To be fair, that's probably more because that's what I started with, but still, to hear yanks talk about them, you'd think they were the spawn of Satan or something.
I point you to the exact frigging chart in the original URL that contrasts the USA to the rest-of-the-world. Obviously there is some merit in comparing the two, and obviously some people do in fact consider the USA and rest-of-the-world to be comparable.
Which is not to say that your comment is even relevant - I wasn't objecting to the 'largest market' part, I was objecting to the 'far and away' part. This was supposed to be obvious in the comment you replied to because I used the term 'far and away' 5 times!
Your original quote was that the Usa was "far and away Apple's largest market". If they don't even have a majority share of the market, it's difficult to see how they're "far and away" the largest, and in fact if the market is defined as 'the Usa vs the rest", the Usa comes out second-best. When I categorise something as "far and away" the leader, I expect it to have pretty much an absolute majority share of whatever is under discussion. That is not the case here.
Also, if you actually read the article, you can see the growth percentages
Americas 268% Europe 508% Japan 331% AsiaPac 727%
Given that the Usa has dropped its revenue share by 15% (59% dropping to 44%) over the 5 years measured and has a slower growth rate than anywhere else on record, I'd not feel comfortable categorising that market as "far and away" the largest market right now (ie: a year later than the figures report). Certainly it looks as though the Usa won't even be the largest market pretty soon, let alone "far and away" the largest market.
There's a lot more people *outside* the US than there are *inside* the US, and given how poorly the US economy is doing at the moment, the disparity in disposable income is less than it used to be as well.
One of the stated strategic advantages (by Tim Cook, the COO) of Apple's cash pile is to be able to pre-pay for strategic resources such as flash RAM, and therefore reserve enormous quantities at excellent prices. He (and Oppenheimer) have said this several times in Q&A section when they're reporting quarterly numbers.
Not so sure about that - don't Apple pre-pay for their flash memory, and won't it be on a contract where Samsung deliver X units every Y months ? Samsung don't care if Apple can't *use* the ram, the contract is just for supply.
Of course, Samsung will lose out on future contracts if they play this game, I'm sure Apple will (ahem) investigate Toshiba's flash-ram parts next time around, but perhaps Samsung think this is likely anyhow, so if they've already burnt their bridges, why not go for it ?
'Apple's patent essentially gives it ownership of the capacitive multitouch interface the company pioneered with its iPhone'.
Well, ok then. Isn't that what patents are all about ? This is the system *working* as designed. You can argue that the system itself is broken, but this seems to be exactly how it ought to be, within our current frame of reference. Apple designed a totally new and radical way of interacting with phones, and patented it. Sounds... reasonable.
Because that's the only person who matters, right?
Not sure of your point here - as I pointed out in the part you failed to include in your selective quotation, it was indeed free to me at the time, and I did indeed pay the collective taxes that everyone does afterwards. I don't really see how you get a snide comment from that, but never mind.
Oh, I think I can find ONE example, right here on Slashdot.
Yep, your words: "The problem is there are those who will not get a degree and so are paying for your education. Is that fair? ".
My words: " I still pay my national-insurance contributions over there. That's the tax that lets other people get free healthcare, pensions, education etc".
You really ought to be nicer to your fellow man. I'm telling you, it feels good. Honestly. You should try it.
Americans are among the most charitable people on earth.
Say what ? Who mentioned charity ? I'm talking about state-sponsored programs, funded by the taxpayer, to benefit the country as a whole, and individuals specifically. I'll just ignore the rest of that 'charity' stuff as irrelevant to what I was talking about...
My mother was diagnosed with cancer a year or so ago, and in the same week my uncle was rushed to hospital for open heart surgery. No-one in my family at home is what you might call "well-off". My father and uncle worked on the docks, my mother had several small part-time jobs. There's no way they'd be able to afford the treatment (they couldn't even afford the premiums! They paid off a house loan of £25k over 30 years, and it was enough of a struggle) over here. In the UK, they both got prompt treatment and they're both doing well today. It's entirely possible they'd both be dead now if they were from the US, and if they weren't, they'd be destitute because the best figures I could find for that sort of surgery was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No-one in the UK has to worry about changing jobs and keeping medical coverage. No-one has to worry about pre-existing conditions. No-one worries about limits on care, or co-pays. No-one, as a result, thinks twice about going to their doctor, which fact has other knock-on benefits (problems are found earlier, people live longer). I'd love to see the US actually care for its people. Currently, I think the situation is shameful, and attitudes like yours are forcing the country farther and farther away from a compassionate society. That's very sad.
oh for [insert random $DEITY here]'s sake. The 'free' here is clearly intended (to the meanest of intelligences) to be in the context of 'free to me'.
At the time, I hadn't paid any taxes at all (being, you know, a student and all) - so yes. It was free, gratis, libre, whatever you want to call it. Subsequently, of course, I paid my taxes just like anyone else, and you know what, I'm fine with that. I'm fine with paying a tiny amount over a long period of time (and since it's deducted before I see it, I don't really miss it. It's tough to miss what you never had) to get zero-cost-at-time-of-gain rather than racking up ridiculously, cripplingly high front-loaded debt on an individual, thereby severely limiting his/her choices in how to approach the rest of his/her life.
It comes down to a difference in approach. In the UK, this selfishness that I see in the US does exist (of course), but it seems far less prevalent - there's more of a "we're in it together" rather than a "screw you, Jack. I'm not paying for you unless it benefits me" attitude. Example: I don't live in the UK any more - I haven't for several years now, but I still pay my national-insurance contributions over there. That's the tax that lets other people get free healthcare, pensions, education etc. There's no gain to me (they'll have abolished pensions by the time I want to claim one) but I'm fine with helping other people out - it's a low cost (to me) and a relatively high gain (for them).
I've heard the same argument over and over about how it's unfair on those-who-pay to pay for those-who-don't, and it's bullshit. Sure, if human lives were as impersonal as figures in a ledger, the equation doesn't balance, but that's not how things are. We're not numbers, we're humans, and there's at least two things that ought to be "free" (as in: supplied, and billed to the society in general) in any sane, civilised society: one is education, the other is healthcare. Any society that doesn't provide those two is fundamentally lacking in common decency and humanity. Just IMHO, of course, but a shared view of pretty much anyone I've talked to in Europe.
Even from the perspective (warts and all) of a US citizen using the NHS, the money quote is
I can sum up my experience of the British and American healthcare systems in one simple sentence: given a choice between the two systems, I’d choose the NHS in a heartbeat. And though this is the experience of only one single person out of millions, unlike so much of the propaganda and hysteria surrounding the current healthcare debate, it is the absolute Gospel truth
.
"Healthcare in the UK is Free" might not be literally true - everything is paid for somehow (again, obviously!) , but it's still a lot "free-er" (in terms of liberty here, not cash) than anything in the US. It's a lot less partisan, a lot less divisive-of-communities, and a lot better for the have-nots, speaking as someone who probably counts as a "have". I think that's a good thing, and I'm happy to pay for it.
The difference is that the government *does* do shit for you in the UK.
Off the top of my head, the two things I've massively benefited from are:
- the healthcare (when someone tries to kill you and almost succeeds, you don't want to be bothered about health insurance, co-pays, and any ridiculous limits on hospital stay or benefits!)... I have excellent healthcare through my employer, but my wife couldn't afford the premiums (she was a contractor for quite a while, and the costs for personal coverage are... shameful... IMHO. Fortunately, my employer allowed me to have a 'domestic partner' covered, so I could get her on my insurance pretty easily. I still get the feeling we exploited a loophole to get medical cover, though, and frankly, that sucks. Where I'm from, "free" (read: low-cost and deducted from your pay-check so you don't miss it) excellent healthcare is a right, not something you worry over.
- education. My physics B.Sc. was free, I think I owed about £1000 on my bank overdraft at the end of the three years - pretty much all of that being beer money:-) and I actually got *paid* by the government to do a PhD. My US-born wife ended up with ~$70k of student loan for her two degrees (3 if you count the JD/MBA as two degrees). All paid off now, but that's still a huge difference.
Compare and contrast that with the US, and I can see your point. On the other hand, CA has nicer weather. I doubt I'll retire in this country (we'll probably go back to the UK) but it's a nice place to live, even if I do have to be sexually molested every time I come into and out of the country.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not a lawyer for a multinational company. My wife is, though. Contrary to popular opinion, lawyers don't all have to take "Evil 101", followed by "Mental manipulation for graduates 101"...
As for the judge not having the device available. If the judge sees fit to want the devices around while (s)he renders judgement, that device is going to be there. Ain't no lawyer going to argue that with the judge. Not a chance in hell. Of course, if the judge has already figured out (by, you know, picking them up and inspecting & using them), (s)he may not *need* to have the devices while rendering the judgement. In any event, it's up to the judge. Lawyers don't get to snatch the evidence back from the judge after a given time-period...
Simon.
you'd be amazed at the ability of judges and politicians to churn out opinions about things they never saw
Really ? Churning out opinions you say ? Amazing...
Simon
Nope, just like being a programmer doesn't mean you can add 2+2. It's pretty likely, though. [resists temptation to except Visual Basic programmers. Oh darn.]
Come on! The guy (woman, whatever...) spends his entire life meticulously examining statements for factual and legal accuracy. (S)he's the ninja of subtle-but-important-technicalities, and you're seriously trying to say he can't tell the difference between the two ? It's blatantly obvious they're different in *all-but-one* of the photos in the submitted document - they're even presented in perspective view to make it damn obvious, and the correct dimensions are printed in the discussion of the illustration we're talking about!
As for "subconscious bias", I think you'll find the mind places a lot more weight on what the body has physically held, played with, worked on, used etc. than some photo of same. Abstract mental models are all very well, but a physical thing resonates much stronger with our "feel" for something.
Simon.
Are you seriously suggesting that a *judge* would be swayed like this ? Someone whose professional career and reputation is predicated around, you know, *judging* things on a legal basis. You are seriously expecting people to believe the judge can't tell the devices he's *holding* are different aspect ratios ?
I mean, if the difference is so major that it rates several stories on several websites over an extended period, surely someone can actually *tell* they're different, right ?
Because, if even a *judge* can't immediately, obviously, tell that they're different, it seems to me that Apple has a case...
Simon.
When the judge made his decision, he had a powered-up iPad and a powered-up Galaxy tab in front of him, so he could see for himself whether they were similar - at least according to the BBC. If he thinks Samsung is in the wrong after playing with a physical working device, what does it matter if one image shows the aspect ratio incorrectly ? (all of the other images in the brief clearly showed the different aspect ratios).
Oh, it makes good link-bait ? You don't say!
Simon.
Ironically enough, the iPad can be "opened up" to the end user because it's locked down in terms of what it can do. The PC is sufficiently versatile that it has far more possibility for mischief / catastrophic error. IT departments can be reasonably sure that an iPad app won't do much harm (they're *mostly* content-consuming) whereas PC applications are less secure, more capable (and therefore more dangerous) and more available (any potential miscreant is more likely to find a PC knocking around the ethernet than an iPad).
It's a simple matter of risk-assessment. The iPad's design and usage lend it to trusting users more.
Simon.
And yet, despite this, it would *still* be for the best... Sad but true.
Simon.
As a European who has lived in the USA for a long time now, I think you've missed the original poster's point. The USA does not have any left-leaning parties, from the perspective of your average European: the USA has a right-wing party (the Democrats), a far-right-wing party (the Republicans), and a bunch of nutters ( the TEA party).
There are of course differences between the parties, and the Daily Show is indeed more biased towards the Democrats IMHO, but his point is that the "center" is not located in-between the two major parties. He's right - it's just not.
I don't watch Fox News either. I don't have much positive to say about any of the news organisations in the US though, it's all sensationalised and trivialised to the extent that it's hardly worth watching any of it.
Simon
Typically it's when I have 6 or 7 frameworks open, each in their own XCode workspace. When you're co-developing applications and the frameworks they depend on, it's very useful to have them all open at the same time.
Sure, I could get by with one screen. Hell, I could get by with 640x480 in monochrome. It doesn't mean I'm as efficient that way. My employer pays me a lot of money (although the Bay Area grabs it all back again :) and wants me to be as efficient as possible for that fixed cost. Purchasing a couple of larger screens is a no-brainer. Getting the SSD to compile on was a no-brainer too...
Simon.
Ok, You're wrong.
I know Apple engineers working on the OS and on the pro-apps. None of them are even remotely concerned about this - it's a slashdot-incubated fantasy of those who either can't or won't think for themselves. It ought to be clear to the meanest of intelligences that Apple will *need* a significantly more powerful environment than iOS to create apps for iOS. At work I have a Mac Pro with 3 30" monitors, and when I'm coding something significant all that real estate is in use. My friends at Apple say they are similarly equipped.
Even *if* a future iPad got thunderbolt, and therefore a larger screen, it still wouldn't come close - the Mac Pro struggles to compile an app with thousands of source files spread over several frameworks. Can you imagine how complex something like Final Cut Pro, or Aperture are ? I shudder to think how an iPad would do, and (as for any company) for Apple, time is money. They're not going to destroy productivity in their software division for the sake of some operating-system purity vibe.
Bottom line: To create the sort of interfaces Apple make, they need powerful machines. Having OSX is a competitive advantage for that because they can adapt it to suit. If you wish, consider OSX to be a cost-of-doing-iOS-business, then consider that you can leverage that cost into a profit center. Why would they remove a profit center ?
Simon
Doesn't look that way to me. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I guess we'll see on Tuesday which of us is correct, but I'm liking my position on this...
Simon
Not answering anything in your post other than the whole Japan thing was proven to be the result of "analysts", well, just making shit up. Apple does very well in Japan - according to a (later) WSJ [wsj.com] article, Apple has ~72% of the smartphone market in Japan.
It seems that the japanese appreciate "shit that works" over "shit that needs a degree to understand" just as much as other people.
Simon
Just sick to the bone of the stereotyping. I was born and grew up in Liverpool, moved to London for college and stayed there for 10 years or so before emigrating to CA after selling my company. London's a damn sight worse than Liverpool in terms of thievery and general being-an-arsehole, in fact a lot of places are, but some stupid bastard always comes out with same tired old line.
I'm wondering if you regularly insult other groups of people; perhaps you denigrate women as not the equal of a man, perhaps you are racist to the core, perhaps you vote "patriotically" (the N.F in the UK, Republican in the US, whatever elsewhere), perhaps you think the gay community is the scum of the earth. I don't know, and I'm not saying you do. All I'm saying is that you've evidentially stereotyped in one case, and that leads me to believe you're the sort of person who would do any/all of the above. Even worse, it's possible you're a Daily Mail reader / Fox News viewer.
If you're going to be an arsehole, it's better to be a creative arsehole. Put some effort into it man. Don't just trot out the same old stuff - we've heard it all before, ad nauseum in fact, which is why you got the equally uninventive FOAD response.
Simon.
Yes, well the UK driving test is actually worth something. I had to do a hill start, 3 point turn, right-hand reverse, parallel parking, different speeds of driving, turning out of a blind intersection, roundabouts, emergency stop, and probably more that I don't remember.
In the US, I turned right out of the DMV onto a 30mph road, turned first right, turned first right, turned first right, turned first right, and then turned back into the DMV. I had already passed the "written" part of the test (really, multiple choice. One question was 'what does this sign mean?'. It was a STOP sign...). That was it. Apparently that's all you need to drive one of the massive honking SUV's they have out here at 100^W 65(hah!) mph on the freeway. It does explain a lot about the (apallingly-bad) standards of driving out here though. The Italians are better drivers. As someone who's lived in Rome, I really mean that...
Oh and for the record, I far prefer roundabouts to 4-way intersections. They're really pretty simple, guys... To be fair, that's probably more because that's what I started with, but still, to hear yanks talk about them, you'd think they were the spawn of Satan or something.
Simon
Fuck off and die.
I point you to the exact frigging chart in the original URL that contrasts the USA to the rest-of-the-world. Obviously there is some merit in comparing the two, and obviously some people do in fact consider the USA and rest-of-the-world to be comparable.
Which is not to say that your comment is even relevant - I wasn't objecting to the 'largest market' part, I was objecting to the 'far and away' part. This was supposed to be obvious in the comment you replied to because I used the term 'far and away' 5 times!
Simon
Your original quote was that the Usa was "far and away Apple's largest market". If they don't even have a majority share of the market, it's difficult to see how they're "far and away" the largest, and in fact if the market is defined as 'the Usa vs the rest", the Usa comes out second-best. When I categorise something as "far and away" the leader, I expect it to have pretty much an absolute majority share of whatever is under discussion. That is not the case here.
Also, if you actually read the article, you can see the growth percentages
Given that the Usa has dropped its revenue share by 15% (59% dropping to 44%) over the 5 years measured and has a slower growth rate than anywhere else on record, I'd not feel comfortable categorising that market as "far and away" the largest market right now (ie: a year later than the figures report). Certainly it looks as though the Usa won't even be the largest market pretty soon, let alone "far and away" the largest market.
Simon
Not, actually.
There's a lot more people *outside* the US than there are *inside* the US, and given how poorly the US economy is doing at the moment, the disparity in disposable income is less than it used to be as well.
Simon
One of the stated strategic advantages (by Tim Cook, the COO) of Apple's cash pile is to be able to pre-pay for strategic resources such as flash RAM, and therefore reserve enormous quantities at excellent prices. He (and Oppenheimer) have said this several times in Q&A section when they're reporting quarterly numbers.
Simon
Not so sure about that - don't Apple pre-pay for their flash memory, and won't it be on a contract where Samsung deliver X units every Y months ? Samsung don't care if Apple can't *use* the ram, the contract is just for supply.
Of course, Samsung will lose out on future contracts if they play this game, I'm sure Apple will (ahem) investigate Toshiba's flash-ram parts next time around, but perhaps Samsung think this is likely anyhow, so if they've already burnt their bridges, why not go for it ?
Simon.
Well, ok then. Isn't that what patents are all about ? This is the system *working* as designed. You can argue that the system itself is broken, but this seems to be exactly how it ought to be, within our current frame of reference. Apple designed a totally new and radical way of interacting with phones, and patented it. Sounds ... reasonable.
Simon
You laugh,
Yes. We laugh at you.
Simon. (Also a Dr. But I'm a real Dr. People like you give medicine a bad name).
Not sure of your point here - as I pointed out in the part you failed to include in your selective quotation, it was indeed free to me at the time, and I did indeed pay the collective taxes that everyone does afterwards. I don't really see how you get a snide comment from that, but never mind.
Yep, your words: "The problem is there are those who will not get a degree and so are paying for your education. Is that fair? ".
My words: " I still pay my national-insurance contributions over there. That's the tax that lets other people get free healthcare, pensions, education etc".
You really ought to be nicer to your fellow man. I'm telling you, it feels good. Honestly. You should try it.
Say what ? Who mentioned charity ? I'm talking about state-sponsored programs, funded by the taxpayer, to benefit the country as a whole, and individuals specifically. I'll just ignore the rest of that 'charity' stuff as irrelevant to what I was talking about...
My mother was diagnosed with cancer a year or so ago, and in the same week my uncle was rushed to hospital for open heart surgery. No-one in my family at home is what you might call "well-off". My father and uncle worked on the docks, my mother had several small part-time jobs. There's no way they'd be able to afford the treatment (they couldn't even afford the premiums! They paid off a house loan of £25k over 30 years, and it was enough of a struggle) over here. In the UK, they both got prompt treatment and they're both doing well today. It's entirely possible they'd both be dead now if they were from the US, and if they weren't, they'd be destitute because the best figures I could find for that sort of surgery was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No-one in the UK has to worry about changing jobs and keeping medical coverage. No-one has to worry about pre-existing conditions. No-one worries about limits on care, or co-pays. No-one, as a result, thinks twice about going to their doctor, which fact has other knock-on benefits (problems are found earlier, people live longer). I'd love to see the US actually care for its people. Currently, I think the situation is shameful, and attitudes like yours are forcing the country farther and farther away from a compassionate society. That's very sad.
Simon
At the time, I hadn't paid any taxes at all (being, you know, a student and all) - so yes. It was free, gratis, libre, whatever you want to call it. Subsequently, of course, I paid my taxes just like anyone else, and you know what, I'm fine with that. I'm fine with paying a tiny amount over a long period of time (and since it's deducted before I see it, I don't really miss it. It's tough to miss what you never had) to get zero-cost-at-time-of-gain rather than racking up ridiculously, cripplingly high front-loaded debt on an individual, thereby severely limiting his/her choices in how to approach the rest of his/her life.
It comes down to a difference in approach. In the UK, this selfishness that I see in the US does exist (of course), but it seems far less prevalent - there's more of a "we're in it together" rather than a "screw you, Jack. I'm not paying for you unless it benefits me" attitude. Example: I don't live in the UK any more - I haven't for several years now, but I still pay my national-insurance contributions over there. That's the tax that lets other people get free healthcare, pensions, education etc. There's no gain to me (they'll have abolished pensions by the time I want to claim one) but I'm fine with helping other people out - it's a low cost (to me) and a relatively high gain (for them).
I've heard the same argument over and over about how it's unfair on those-who-pay to pay for those-who-don't, and it's bullshit. Sure, if human lives were as impersonal as figures in a ledger, the equation doesn't balance, but that's not how things are. We're not numbers, we're humans, and there's at least two things that ought to be "free" (as in: supplied, and billed to the society in general) in any sane, civilised society: one is education, the other is healthcare. Any society that doesn't provide those two is fundamentally lacking in common decency and humanity. Just IMHO, of course, but a shared view of pretty much anyone I've talked to in Europe.
Even from the perspective (warts and all) of a US citizen using the NHS, the money quote is
.
"Healthcare in the UK is Free" might not be literally true - everything is paid for somehow (again, obviously!) , but it's still a lot "free-er" (in terms of liberty here, not cash) than anything in the US. It's a lot less partisan, a lot less divisive-of-communities, and a lot better for the have-nots, speaking as someone who probably counts as a "have". I think that's a good thing, and I'm happy to pay for it.
Simon
Off the top of my head, the two things I've massively benefited from are:
Compare and contrast that with the US, and I can see your point. On the other hand, CA has nicer weather. I doubt I'll retire in this country (we'll probably go back to the UK) but it's a nice place to live, even if I do have to be sexually molested every time I come into and out of the country.
Simon