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For everyone who is saying that the technical community “won”... Nobody’s been fired. Rather, Apple’s senior execs publicly doubled down and basically labeled those of us who thought this scheme to be insane, as a bunch of uninformed idiots...

You can change a product decision in a day, but it takes a LONG time to change a culture that thinks these sort of insane product decisions make any sense whatsoever. Making a long-term bet on Apple has become precarious at best.



Yeah. I think some celebration is warranted, but the "disaster averted, my iPhone is back to being a trustworthy user agent" take seems to be a bit myopic when the core problem is that Apple possesses enough control over the devices it sells to be able to implement something like this by fiat. Sure, Apple backed down today, but until users are able to exercise the four essential freedoms they're living under the sword of Damocles.


"Trust is gained drop by drop, but lost by the bucketful."


The technical community was labeled the "screeching voices of the minority".


Not by Apple, much as the media would love to have you think otherwise. The 'screeching' description comes from Marita Rodriguez, executive director of strategic partnerships at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in a memo to Apple employees.

[Edit, since I can't reply anymore because I'm "posting too fast"] I didn't say you thought that personally; in a sub-thread about Apple senior execs applying negative labels to people, and this being one of the most insulting labels applied, I think it's important to note that this label came from somewhere else. (and maybe important to note "the technical community" were not labelled "screeching voices"; the memo said "the air will be filled with the screeching voices of the minority". It didn't say "everyone who disagrees is a screeching voice").

[1] https://www.howtogeek.com/746588/apple-discusses-screeching-...


An Apple software VP forwarded the memo to engineers, saying:

> I wanted to share this note that we received today from NCMEC. I found it incredibly motivating, and hope that you will as well.

https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/06/apple-internal-memo-icloud-ph...


It is interesting how you thought that I thought the label came from Apple, even though I did not mention it.

The key point is that the label did come from the collaboration that Apple engaged in.


> [Edit, since I can't reply anymore because I'm "posting too fast"]

This means you've had your account sanctioned by Dang. You might want to send him an email and offer him your most profuse and sincere apology for whatever it is you did to anger him.


Yeah the thing that really got me was the double down. They are not on my side.


> but it takes a LONG time to change a culture that thinks these sort of insane product decisions make any sense whatsoever

Assume Good Faith. If there's one thing I learned about sensationalist stories or situations, it's that the position of "the other side" / reality is far more nuanced than the story tellers would like to make you believe. The result still may be poor, but the steps that brought people there are not nearly as insidious as it's normally presented.


Perhaps they need to be reminded of what happened when RSA/NSA backdoored Dual EC. Eventually a foreign power discovered it and used it for their own intentions.




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