For the sake of those who do not refuse to think for themselves, let me say this: there was no agony in Steve Job's life, only the exaltation of living a full, rich, happy life in the course of which he saw the realization of his highest values. Steve Jobs was a true hero: an extraordinarily productive and creative man who inspired and gave hope to so many by showing them what incredible achievements are possible to a human being. He showed them a life worth-living. And, most importantly, Steve Jobs was a PROFOUNDLY MORAL man.
He was moral because of his values - the relentless pursuit of beauty and perfection in his work and life, to the utmost of his ability. He was moral because those values came from within himself, from the functioning of his own mind, and not second-hand from the morass of ideas going by the name of “morality” today. He was moral because he never gave up his ideas for the sake of others’ approval. He was moral because he did not give the unearned and undeserved and he did not seek the unearned and undeserved from others. He was moral because he had a SELF that embodied the best in man.
Those who measure morality by how much you give away to others, known or unknown, deserving or undeserving, do not understand that. They do not understand that before you can give, you have to create, but before you can create, your primary concern must be the process of creation itself, not the potential beneficiary of that creation. Yet, that is the only mechanism through which all can truly benefit. They do not understand the difference between forcing or cheating or defrauding and signing a voluntary contract. They feel guilty for buying a phone, but never question the morality that tells them they should feel so and never seek the roots of that guilt. They rail against the capitalist creator, but ignore the fact that bad working conditions are the logical result of a controlled economy, as if hundreds of millions of victims of communism were not enough to prove that. They scream in defense of the poor Chinese worker, but never ask how it happened that that worker never rose against its real oppressor.
Yes, Steve Jobs is my hero. And my other hero is Ayn Rand, who helped me understand what makes people like Steve Jobs possible. But she only showed me - my mind had to do the rest. I thought for myself, taking nothing for granted. I urge everyone to do the same.
Quoting the quote: "At the heart of common carriage is the idea that certain businesses are either so intimately connected, even essential, to the public good, or so inherently powerful—imagine the water or electric utilities—that they must be compelled to conduct their affairs in a nondiscriminatory way."
Since the author apparently supports the above view, the proper questions are: what is the public good, and does it justify the use of force ("must be compelled") against any individual or business who produces something deemed to be of public importance. A person who "compels" non-criminals to do anything they do not choose to do cannot claim to be an honest protector of the public good.
Only the government can stop you from speaking (and competing), as the government is the only entity that has the right to initiate force. A company cannot censor you; it can deny you access to its property, which is the proper right of its owners. A company cannot force you not to speak if you so choose using your own means or the means of any other company that would like to work with you. It has no obligation to support you and give you the tools you need, just because you need them. Do not confuse economic power with political power.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Force doesn't always look like the point of a gun. More often than not it looks like court time and lawyers' fees.
See Hays Code censoring film from 1930-1968. See RCA tying up the FM radio patent for years in court and NBC blocking the emergence of Television. See consolidation in the radio industry limiting the number of participants in broadcasting.
Wu puts it nicely:
“If making yourself heard cannot be practically accomplished in an actual public square but rather depends upon some medium, and upon that medium is built an industry restricting access to it, there is no free market for speech.
We sometimes treat the information industries as if they were like any other enterprise, but they are not, for their structure determines who gets heard.
But barriers in an information industry, trafficking as it does in expressive content, can represent more than a restraint on commercial aspirations; they can, depending on how crucially the information medium figures in a society’s communications, also restrain free speech."
Wu, Tim (2010). The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. Knopf. Kindle Edition.
Force is at the point of a gun, and only in that case you (or, rather, the government as your agent) should point a gun at it (or in a case of demonstrable fraud). A business which does not defraud you or physically force you to do anything can only have economic power. If you propose to point a gun at economic power (possibly because you think that the business in question is a monopoly), then the issue is much deeper. You would have to think about what justifies "compulsion", about the source of monopolies, and, fundamentally, about the rights of the businessmen who own and operate the businesses you have mind (as well as your own rights, which are the same). This is a serious thinking process, but one has to go through it to understand why Wu is wrong.
I do disagree with the anti-trust laws. I have taken a long hard look at anti-trust, both academically and professionally, and I think these laws are among the worst.
The whole issue is not economic, it is philosophical, about ethics - i.e. what is moral and what rights people have.
Mr. Wu, with whom you agree, goes well beyond anti-trust. For him, as long as a business is considered essential to the public good, that alone is enough to justify "compulsion" (see your first quote). Do you agree with that? Or would you try to prove (as hard as that can be) that Facebook and Google are monopolies first?
You say "we should vote with our attention", and I fully agree. This is a proper way to make a change. Another would be to write articles like the one you've just written, using your own means. Compulsion should be reserved for criminals.
Another honest answer - yes. I read her work only recently and was surprised to find out that she confirmed many of the conclusions I had reached, often quite painfully, myself. She provided the philosophical (theoretical) framework for those conclusions, which further helped me connect the outstanding dots.
She urges people to relentlessly ask the question why, to examine every premise for every important idea that guides our lives, to follow that premise to its roots, to look for contradictions. I put in the effort to do just that with her philosophy, and that effort matched the brainpower I had needed to build some of my most complex programs and models.
I am 30 now, but I really wish to have read her work when I was 20. If I could offer any advice, it is to read her books before you reach 30 and to think deeply about what she has to say until you are convinced (based on your best effort and knowledge to date) that you either agree or disagree with her. This would be much better than taking someone else's word for it.
Sure, the hardware belongs to the people buying the device. They can sell it, give it as a gift, break it. But they can't use the device every way they want. The device does only so much. The fact is: everyone bought a device in the full knowledge of all its limitations. Before purchase, Apple never promised a stream of wonderful applications and content at a price that the customer deems appropriate. They did not guarantee a great App Store, they did not even guarantee that they won't shut down the App Store and let the device be just a piece of hardware. The customer knew the limitations and bought the device anyways.
Changing the rules once you have a large installed base is always a delicate issue. How many current iPad owners knew their Kindle app (and others) might be deactivated by Apple in a couple of months because Apple decided it wanted a 30% cut?
Class action? Alright, let's see what a self-respecting judge would do in such a situation. Especially when your evidence is that Apple's actions "feel hostile" and "leave a bad taste" in your mouth.
When a customer purchases an Apple device, he/she knows what that Apple does not guarantee continued service. Apple does not contractually promise that apps will continue to be there, it does not promise it will work with developers, it does not promise it won't change the rules, it does not promise that it won't get out of business in six months and close the app store altogether. The customer is aware of all that beforehand but still buys the device.
Many people talk about user rights. The only rights a user has are 1) to sue Apple if the company violates a written contract between itself and the user and 2) to refuse to buy Apple's products in the future.
"A monopoly", "unethically created"... Apple's platform and its success are the result of the work of Apple's employees - the platform is good, this is why developers like it and use it. Any great innovation that comes first to market is alone there. Why? Because no-else had the same skill and vision to create it. It is successful. Why? Because it is good. If you classified the above as an unethical monopoly and killed it, we would still live in the dark ages.
There's a vast, vast difference between being first to market, and using that advantage to unethically create a monopoly by cryptographically locking users out of their own devices. If we fail to take a stand against such blatant violations of user rights, then that is what will undo the wonders of computing. Under the Apple model, innovation must follow asking your competitor for permission. Truly disruptive innovation cannot be sustained as long as Apple has unilateral control over the devices that they make, even after they are long past sold.
Apple has the right to do whatever it wants with its first-to-market product, as long as it does not break the law. There is nothing unethical about that.
Also, there is no such thing as user rights. The only right a user has is to sue Apple if he/she thinks Apple is in violation of its explicit written contract with any individual user. Before purchasing an Apple device, a customer knows that he/she may be "locked" out of the device, but he/she buys it anyways. A user knows all the conditions before the purchase. Apple does not guarantee that after you buy a device they will always provide a great variety of apps at a price you find acceptable. Apple does not guarantee a wonderful service, it does not guarantee great partnerships with developers, it does not even guarantee that it will be in business in a few months. All of that is perfectly clear to anyone who buys a device in almost any market.
Apple also has no obligation whatsoever to help any of its competitors innovate. If they cannot "innovate" without Apple, it is their problem to solve, they have to be smarter and more resourceful, create something on their own or convince Apple to work with them by demonstrating a compelling product. This is how a free economy operates.
"Dishonest", "steal", "anti competitive" - these are some heavy accusations. In the context of Apple's relationship with developers, dishonest would mean deliberately lying, cheating, or signing a contract and then reneging on it (in which case the developer has legal recourse). "Steal" is quite irrelevant here - if Apple stole anything from anyone, it would have been sued. "Anti-competitive" - if your definition of non-anti-competitive is letting anyone (especially small players) do whatever they want with your product for free (just because you are big and they are small), you would be right, but that would be a wrong definition.
The reality is that Apple is offering a product, a service, and clear terms of how it wants these to be used as a precondition for doing business. Developers can take it or leave it. I don't think dishonesty, theft, or the super-vague term of anti-competition can be applied here.
Sure. These are 'heavy' accusations. I feel pretty strongly about seeing a company I like go down this road. They are attempting to steal, and their behavior is dishonest and anti-competitive.
If they want to make money selling books or subscription services let them try on equal footing with other companies. They are actively attempting to grow their own ebook store and at the same time charging competitors an unavoidable 30% tax to sell on their platform.
Providing a store infrastructure on the phone is fine. Forcing application developers to use your api for in-app purchases is borderline. Disallowing any subscription based content to be viewed on the phone unless you get a shot at taking 30% is crooked, especially given the fact that they are in direct competition with some of those providers.
I understand big business. Apple desires to take a piece of every cash flow associated with a iphone from cradle to grave - whether they had anything to do with creating it or not. And why not? We're talking about a lot of money and the ability to diversify into the cashflows of businesses (journalism etc) they have nothing to do with. They are actively attempting to set up a toll bridge for all content consumed on mobile devices running their OS. They will probably succeed.
This may or may not end up being seen as legal. (I believe they are in a grey zone) I'm saying I don't believe it is moral. Apple didn't do anything to earn this money; they are simply trying to take it because it is there, and they can.
Apple is one of my favorite companies, it bugs me to see them acting this way. If MSFT were doing this sort of thing you'd have grabbed your torch and pitchfork long ago.
I understand your reasoning and completely disagree with it. The only way I can answer is to urge you to check your premises. That would mean thinking about the meaning of "equal footing" and answering why, in your view, Apple has the obligation to provide developers with any kind of footing.
You also use terms such as "unavoidable 30% tax" and "forcing application developers". Do you really think Apple has the status of a government (i.e. the ability to charge mandatory tax) and do you really think Apple is actually physically forcing anyone to do anything? And finally, since you believe their platform policy of taking 30% is "crooked", why do you think that charging for the use of your property is immoral? Or do you think that there are some "moral" boundaries that should be acceptable? What prevents the other parties from walking away if they don't like these terms?
I'm not sure I follow. A lot of your thinking seems to be predicated on the fact that Apple somehow owns your phone after you purchase it. They don't - you do. That's why you give them money for it.
Apple has tried to argue that it needs to retain strict control over what software you can and can't install for your protection. The fact of the matter (now apparent) is that they want to insert themselves into a transaction between two willing parties, without creating any marginal value.
What if your TV maker tried to charge a fee to your cable company because you were watching on 'their' TV?
What if Microsoft charged amazon a 30% fee because you purchased a book through 'their' browser.
What if Kitchenaid charged your bakery a fee per cupcake as you were using 'their' mixers.
The list is endless. At some point you need to assert your rights.
Again: if apple wants to make money selling me books, let them sell me books. Don't let them get away with selling something they don't own.
"... why do you think charging for the use of your property is immoral?"
This is the fundamental problem. Apple doesn't own my phone nor do they pay for my data connection. They are charging for my property.
When framing arguments about Apple, I find it helpful to ask, "Would this defense apply just as well to Microsoft in the '90s?" And as far as I can see, your arguments apply better to Microsoft in the '90s than they do to Apple today. All Microsoft did was create a Web browser, create terms favorable to their interests and ensure that their Web browsing experience was the default. Unlike Apple, they didn't require competitors on their platform to pay them money or GTFO, they didn't require competing Web browsers to use a restricted subset of Explorer's engine, and they certainly didn't demand a cut of any revenue from transactions done through Netscape.
And yet Microsoft was convicted of anticompetitive behavior by pretty much every court in the world. So even if Apple really is on the up-and-up, your reasoning doesn't come close to showing it.
The newspapers were filled for months with stories about serial killer called William Hickman, who kidnapped a 12-year-old girl called Marion Parker from her junior high school, raped her, and dismembered her body, which he sent mockingly to the police in pieces. Rand wrote great stretches of praise for him, saying he represented "the amazing picture of a man with no regard whatsoever for all that a society holds sacred, and with a consciousness all his own. A man who really stands alone, in action and in soul. … Other people do not exist for him, and he does not see why they should." She called him "a brilliant, unusual, exceptional boy," shimmering with "immense, explicit egotism."
An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand's law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand's behalf she secured Rand's Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O'Connor (husband Frank O'Connor).
There was a huge, multi-page expose about all of this stuff, but I'm having trouble digging it up. I'll edit this comment with it once I find it, but google searches will easily come up with all of this information.
I think you may be right. But that would be unfortunate, as I don't think the FTC should meddle in Apple's business. I think Apple's management should have the right to set any policy it considers relevant - after all, this is their platform. So, I hope the FTC takes no action.
Thanks for bringing up this good point. Let me explain. I think a government agency should not intervene if there is no law violation. I think this case is very clear - Apple is neither physically compelling nor defrauding anyone. It is offering terms of contract - contract between firms engaging in voluntary trade - and its counterparties are free to accept these terms or to walk away. However, if the FTC is not sure about this and needs to investigate to ascertain legality, I would say that the law they would be referring to is not a very objective one. I think that an essential characteristic of a good law is that its definition allows a person to understand, before he/she takes an action, whether that action is forbidden or not, and what the exact consequences would be if the action is actually forbidden. Clearly, Apple's management is sophisticated enough to understand an objective law.
About the role of the FTC: My understanding is that the FTC, together with the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, tries to ensure that companies comply with antitrust laws. Even though this is a different discussion, based on my knowledge of this field, I think that antitrust laws, generally, lack in objectivity. I disagree with many of them. This, however, does not mean that a company should break them. I would certainly not agree with such an action. A serious problem for companies is, however, that even with their hordes of sophisticated lawyers, it is very difficult for them to determine what constitutes a violation. As proof, consider the lengthy battles Microsoft has had with the European Commission. After years of fines and appeals, neither side fully understands the problem and neither side can define the actions that would guarantee compliance with the law in the future.
Very true. Many refuse to think logically and accept whatever happens to be the fashionable idea of the day.
My family and I also had to witness a similar experiment. I join you in your wishes.
He was moral because of his values - the relentless pursuit of beauty and perfection in his work and life, to the utmost of his ability. He was moral because those values came from within himself, from the functioning of his own mind, and not second-hand from the morass of ideas going by the name of “morality” today. He was moral because he never gave up his ideas for the sake of others’ approval. He was moral because he did not give the unearned and undeserved and he did not seek the unearned and undeserved from others. He was moral because he had a SELF that embodied the best in man.
Those who measure morality by how much you give away to others, known or unknown, deserving or undeserving, do not understand that. They do not understand that before you can give, you have to create, but before you can create, your primary concern must be the process of creation itself, not the potential beneficiary of that creation. Yet, that is the only mechanism through which all can truly benefit. They do not understand the difference between forcing or cheating or defrauding and signing a voluntary contract. They feel guilty for buying a phone, but never question the morality that tells them they should feel so and never seek the roots of that guilt. They rail against the capitalist creator, but ignore the fact that bad working conditions are the logical result of a controlled economy, as if hundreds of millions of victims of communism were not enough to prove that. They scream in defense of the poor Chinese worker, but never ask how it happened that that worker never rose against its real oppressor.
Yes, Steve Jobs is my hero. And my other hero is Ayn Rand, who helped me understand what makes people like Steve Jobs possible. But she only showed me - my mind had to do the rest. I thought for myself, taking nothing for granted. I urge everyone to do the same.