And the bad news keeps coming…

Nasty for those affected. 

I just got my second notice that I am receiving another check as a result of a class-action settlement against Apple for fixing the prices of e-books in their store.

And if you've been paying attention, the reaction to NSA and other acronyms causing damage to the US tech industry just hit the news this week. Apparently, the FBI are upset with Apple and Google for introducing new privacy features that put their users above the law. This is, of course, the national propaganda engine at full work. Your information is not safe, and will never be safe, using their devices (they are however perfectly fine to use if you keep that in mind).

The purpose of the debate now taking place is to give the user the false illusion that your data can be safe, if you just trust the big names in the tech industry.

Clearly, you must be getting pretty damn sleepy to believe such a bold-faced lie.

I predicted some months ago that Apple would go into decline and that a number of issues would come back to bite it.... and kona, among others, said it wouldn't happen.

Well, folks, welcome to the beginning of the end of Apple's reign at the top. 

It was inevitable that govrnments would eventually get pissed off with Apple's tax evasion, not just the EU, and now that is coming back to seriously bite it on the arse.  And so it should.

Quality control on Apple's iPod, iPad and iPhone has deteriorated over the last couple of years and the company has lost ground to Samsung, LG and others.  The latest issue, bending phones, does not bode well for Apple, either.  With Samsung becoming the leading smart phone supplier, Apple investors are getting quite jittery and it will take some enormous upsurge in company profits, not to mention quality and innovation, to retain them.

Then there's IOS and OS-X.  Many say they have become stale and lack innovation, that Android has gained too much ground and will eventually make IOS irrelevant.  And OS-X, well it never competed with Windows and never will.  It too lacks innovation and is losing ground to Linux distros.

So yeah, Apple is slowly leaking its life essence and will eventually become an also ran rather than a world leader.

ios 8 has been troublesome for me. Keyboard issues. Gestures not working. My iPad hesitating. This was released in poor condition. I don't think Steve Jobs would have let this pass.

Perhaps a petition to bring him back? ....;)

Your response is quite tame compared to many I've read.  While some IOS 8 features have been accepted as okay, the majority of responses I've seen thus far have been quite angered, to say the least.  If it were my OS and my company, I'd be worried.

Hehe, he certainly wouldn't...  uh, couldn't do any worse than his successor(s).... even in his current state/condition he's got more creative bones in his ... er, body.

I've read that bugs in iOS 8 and the update keep popping up. Apple even admitted that its iOS 8 was a disaster. I think what it is is that Apple rushed its newbie too soon because of Android and the like. If you see the competition coming out with really good stuff then common sense, to me anyway, says make damn sure yours does what its supposed to do from soup to nuts BEFORE releasing it to the public. 

And for some it gets even worse,  I read somewhere that some who updated to IOS 8 can not go back to the previous version.  One guy said that Apple advised him to factory reset his phone to reinstall IOS 7, but when he did as instructed by the Apple rep, he lost all his data and iTunes purchases.   Another complainant said that the IOS 8 update faied to complete and bricked his phone.... won't shut down, factory reset or anything.

Talk about Windows 8 being half-baked, seems IOS 8 was pulled out of the oven before the baking process began.

Nine cases...no pun intended.

What has me worried more is Foxconn, benzene usage in the factory and leukemia cases popping up.

First they needed safety nets (literally). Now, chemotherapy.

Hey...if you want to make a shitload of money....people have to die.

It's called 'economics'....;p

Yecchynomics.     

I dunno where that figure comes from, but I'd bet my lefty [nut] there's many more bent iPhone 8's than just 9.

Hehe, and there'd be millions of bent iPhone users [pun intended]

For mine, there should be some provision under the umbrella of the united nations to prosecute employers who fail to provide safe and humane working conditions... with NO legal arguments to trivialise cases or water down penalties, particularly when deaths have occurred.  And Apple should be held accountable for those deaths on its watch, with severe economic penalties and compensation being paid to affected families, etc.

If a major shareholder was penalised with the loss of a finger or three every time an employee died as a result of company neglect, you can bet employees would certainly be treated with greater care and respect... so yeah, a few forced amputations without anaesthetic should definitely be a consideration.

Time for ios 10!

Apple discontinued the Classic iPod recently.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/1/6880089/this-bent-iphone-6-poster-is-perfect 

 Perfect! Finally truth in advertising. 

Oh well, one less piece of crap to saturate an overcrowded market.

Still, gone or not, the quality of Apple products has nevertheless taken a nosedive and bendy phones has damaged its image.

Now the question remains if Apple will deliberately manufacture and release bent phones because all the 'bent' fanbois all want one.

Who knows, Apple could even be following Samsung's lead.  While Samsung has curved TV screens, Apple introduces the curved phone and later avoids a patent infringement suit for its curved TVs because it already uses 'curved technology'.

So yeah, this bendy phone thing could be Apple's backdoor into curved TVs.  Sneaky bastards!

Who said foresight is overrated.

Edit: This just in...

 http://news.yahoo.com/advanced-ios-virus-targeting-hong-kong-protesters-security-210741365.html

I think it was the Jews.

In fact, I think they passed a law against it..

Oh wait, wasn't that foreskin? 

Not really.  Tens of millions of iPhones sold in one day and a few cases of a "bent" phone because some hipster in skinny jeans sat on it doesn't mean anything.

I know people who will stick by apple anything, just like I've only had Samsung phones, 5 now, and they all still work.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/16/6209759/apple-has-an-embarassing-bulge

If only it were just a handful f bendy phones because some fanbois believe body-hugging jeans impress the lasses.  No, it's much more than that, including the OS going guts up on many, many users whose devices got bricked.  Then there's the fact that Apple is only now releasing the iPhone 8 with hardware standards that were present in the Nokia Lumia 920 2 - 3 years ago.

Yup, the days of ithis and ithat are numbered.  True, millions of units have been sold with tis new release, but there's still that many fanbois around to buy them.  However, with IOS 8 left wanting and hardware failing to meet expectations, many of those fanbois won't be in the familiar queues next time around.

Other manufacturers have reliable, more innovative units, and they are more than competitive, so Apple will need to lift its game considerably if it hopes to remain a market force.  However, without the vision of Steve Jobs, I very much doubt it can.