<story><title>A Message to Our Customers (2016)</title><url>https://www.apple.com/customer-letter/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>firebaze</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ll never buy anything from Apple again. Apple was to me the walled but good-willed garden, caring about their profits by respecting their customers and taking a stance against widespread anti-democratic tendencies. I own an iWatch, two iPhones and two MacBook Pros (one privately owned, one from my current employer).&lt;p&gt;The selling points of apple to me were to provide excellent hardware combined with excellent software, combined with a guarantee to protect my privacy.&lt;p&gt;The first point still holds true, the 2nd not so much anymore, and the 3rd was destroyed by the most recent move.&lt;p&gt;My stance will cause a ripple effect, I convinced quite a few people to use apple if they can afford it due to their general stance and their commitment to democratic values. Not all of them will listen if I now tell the opposite story, but most will. I hope Apple feels the effects of this decision in one of the upcoming stock-holder meetings.&lt;p&gt;Of course, I don&amp;#x27;t believe this helps against child abuse or any crime at all, in fact I believe the opposite effect happens: criminals probably know about moves like this one far earlier than the general public and react accordingly.</text></comment>
<story><title>A Message to Our Customers (2016)</title><url>https://www.apple.com/customer-letter/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>idunnoman</author><text>It is remarkable that Tim so clearly understood the problem in 2016.&lt;p&gt;With that one post, Apple and Tim earned trust from a group of people that trust very few. And in an instance, both Apple and Tim have now burned all of it.</text></comment>