[gregjor]

First off, resorting to ad hominen insults diminishes everything you write. "The likes of you?" You can F right off. You don't know anything about me. Yes, I buy Applecare, because that extends the life of my Apple devices -- Apple does do repairs, you know. My older devices go to my children, my parents, my family, my wife's large family. I don't throw old phones or laptops away. Try sticking to the actual topic rather than tossing out stupid insults.

I do say that pollution is due to obsession with cars and refusal to use public transportation, bicycles, walk. I haven't owned a car in years. I don't support the oil companies but they aren't forcing everyone to buy two pickup trucks, they're just enabling it. Supply and demand, pretty simple concept.

Dell Latitudes are sold as business computers. Businesses depreciate things like laptops over 3-5 years. They may or may not care about repairs and upgrades, but in my experience businesses pay for service contracts with Dell etc. The Inspiron line is Dell's consumer line, somewhat less amenable to upgrades and repairs, though I grant better than Apple hardware. Both Dell and Apple offer recycling and trade-in programs, though I don't know what ultimately happens to that stuff. I see used phones, tablets, laptops for sale all over Asia, along with lots of small repair shops, so it's not all just going into landfill like in the US.

Apple's desktop market share is around 15%, not 50%, but that includes desktop and all-in-one iMacs. Laptop market share is closer to 7% globally with the (hard to repair) Asus and Acer ahead by a fairly big margin.

LVMH does not have tiny market share. They are the leading luxury brand. Among all purses or luggage or shoes sold, yes, LVMH is tiny. In their niche they dominate.

You seem to miss my actual point. You don't need to imagine a conspiracy at Apple to force consumers to buy new phones and laptops all the time by making their products unrepairable. The economics of manufacturing, logistics of supply, and the nature of consumer craving and demand do that for Apple, with no need for a conspiracy. Once Apple secured its spot as the luxury electronics brand they don't have to conspire -- people willingly buy new iPhones every year (they stand in line overnight, in fact) for the status display.

[alpentmil]

What about the day a child is not as successful as you - and cant afford to buy Apple when it breaks. So you would like him/her to buy $700 replacement motherboard or would you have preferred to get the SSD replaced. (And assume it was not your child - all is OK but if it was your child?)

You can write "f off" with money. But Apple is indeed > 50% market share(iPhones, lockin). Of course, you need not care because you have money.

You dont own car. How does it matter here? People are only criticising Apple. Not you.

> though I don't know what ultimately happens to that stuff

A quick google would tell you. So much is crushed.

Every inspiron has replaceable parts.

[gregjor]

You need to understand the difference between someone trying to explain reality, as they understand it, and someone telling you or a hypothetical future child what to do. If I tell you that cars pollute the air and Apple makes their products hard to repair for manufacturing reasons, you can counter with different facts. But you can't blame me for the realities when I explain them to you.

I don't have a preference about motherboards or SSDs and how much they might cost an imaginary child "not as successful" as me. That has nothing to do with explaining why I think Apple makes their products the way they do. Nor does me explaining why I think Apple does that make me responsible for or complicit in the ethics as you or anyone else might perceive them.

I have paid for numerous computer and phone replacements and repairs for my own children, if that matters. I also volunteered for years at a non-profit that recycles used electronics and gives them to less fortunate people for free. Worthwhile but not something that scales to millions or billions of devices.

You brought up oil companies and cars. Not a great analogy as I pointed out but no one has to buy a car, like no one has to buy an unrepairable Macbook. Choices have consequences. Blaming the generations ahead of you won't do you any good.