Macalope: Apple’s political turn is leading it down a sketchy road
Here's the thing. Apple has to get into politics because politics are impacting Apple's business. It's getting harder and harder for Apple to operate when the entire world wants a slice of its pie despite having done nothing to earn it.
The EU is hammering Apple, calling it a monopoly, despite the fact that the data the EU has clearly shows Apple dominates no industry it operates in except maybe tablets and smart watches.
The same is happening in the US for the same reasons.
The problem for Apple is how does it stop this from impacting negatively on Apple? The only way it can do anything is to get in bed with the politicians, as much as Apple does not want to do this.
The world has changed so much in 10 years, that anyone not catching up is going to be left behind. Look at how many big players in the tech world have disappeared in 10 years. Nokia, the bastion of EU tech companies is no longer EU owned but is owned by the Chinese. All because they refused to move with the times.
This is why the EU is going after Apple. Not because Apple is doing anything wrong, but because European tech companies are not actually competing in the tech world. This isn't because Apple used illegal methods to stomp out the competition. It's 100% the fault of European tech companies not moving forward.
The reason Nokia died was because Nokia was selling horrible phones that people loved for some reason. I've never met a Nokia phone I've liked, but that's personal preference. But Nokia never moved forward. Nokia never supplied a phone that was easy to use and played a level game with the iPhone. The closest they came was when they had the Windows Phone OS on their phones, but they killed that off before Microsoft did.
And this is the problem Apple has with politicians. They are the governments' scapegoat when other companies fail to stay with technological advancements. All the data proves that Apple has done nothing wrong, and yet the politicians are coming after them with pitchforks because other corporations got greedy, rested on their laurels, and then disappeared.
The tech world is literally like the fall of the Roman Empire. They got too big, did nothing to advance their empire, then disappeared into obscurity. Why should Apple bear the brunt of that? All these companies needed to do was innovate, but they don’t, and they pay the price. Apple, of course, takes the blame.
So Apple has to put money into the politicians' coffers to protect itself because if it doesn’t, it's damned, and if it does, it's damned, so they have to go with the worst option that protects itself.
Wouldn't you do the same if you did nothing wrong, but everyone was making the claim that you did, and there was nothing else you could do?