Dude is still simping for Musk. No sympathy.

I've got no love for billionaires, and obviously this story overshadowing the migrant boat sinking in Greece is infuriating, but I'm really not a fan of the glee so many people on social media are expressing at the deaths of these five people.

Also, on another note, I seriously cannot get over the fact that the late CEO of the company, Stockton Rush, has the absolute perfect team name for a minor league football team from central California.

Nothing about Saudi Arabia is pro-consumer.

apple hates open standards

What about WhatsApp is open?

They are going to answer with some stupid reasoning like removing the 3.5mm jack.

But truly Apple stance on right-to-repair really is their only non-defendable stance. And this is coming from an Apple fanboy.

Don’t think you understand what objectively means.

Not an unfair complaint against Apple, but ignores Google's/Android's problematic "support" for RCS, and in this context of this comment seems to imply that What'sApp isn't "closed" like iMessage.

I feel that maybe you're reading my question as 'critique of China is inherently support for the west/US/etc' which I absolutely do not mean. I think that it's possible that painting all critique with a broad 'xenophobia' brush (while undoubtedly warranted at times) can prevent discussion in good faith.

If this is the thinking I can expect on this instance, perhaps this is not the instance for me.

I'm certainly not trying to be an Apple apologist here, as iMessage has plenty to critique. But it bears consideration that iMessage falling back to SMS is a certain amount of openness, is it not?

Not objectively

I’m not defending anything, other than basic usage of the English language. I’m not saying Bluetooth is better, objectively or subjectively, than a wired connection. You’re free to prefer one over the other, but any preference is just that, a preference.

I am asking this in full earnestness: is any critique of the Chinese government assumed to be rooted in xenophobia?

I’m in the minority here, but I don’t think any governments should be regulating the choice of cable in smartphones. I think it’s a convenience that they can dangle in front of people so they can say they are pro-consumer, while ignoring the working conditions of those who manufacture it, the taxes paid by corporations who make the phones, the lobbying done against right-to-repair laws, and the monopolistic tendencies displayed by these companies.

The governments have a real responsibility to hold these companies responsible for a lot of things, but I don’t think the choice of one small piece of the technology pie should be one of them.