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Apple's most valuable intangible asset isn't its patents or copyrights - it's an army of people who believe that using products from a $2.89 trillion multinational makes them members of an oppressed religious minority whose identity is coterminal with the interests of Apple's shareholders.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones
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@pluralistic@mamot.fr I seem to recall one passionate pro-Apple commenter specifically argue that Beeper Mini somehow hacked/trespassed on Apple's infrastructure/IP, thus the weakened security of iMessage.
They're not necessarily wrong in the claim that Beeper Mini is a hack. It is, in the sense it subverts the assumption that only Apple devices can use Apple services. It's also quite ironic: