A friend pointed out to me this blog posting http://parislemon.com/post/15604811641/why-i-hate-android - and it made me wonder: Why is it that Mac fanbois insist on giving Apple a pass on absolutely everything? I wrote him back more or less this: ---- I found that piece very odd. I agree that Google lost the battle against the carriers on Net Neutrality. I too would have been happier if they hadn't made those statements with Verizon when they did. Where I differ is that he is focused on one single event while missing the big picture of how Apple and Google operate. Apple was never even interested in fighting for Network Neutrality - except in as much as it stood in their way of making profits. He simply asserts that they have been fighting the carriers, but no evidence was supplied to back up that assertion. It's particularly odd that he focuses on the Verizon/Google deal, because at the time, it was widely speculated that Google came to this agreement to keep Verizon from doing the same deal with Apple. (See e.g. http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/08/wacky-googleverizon-net-neutra.html) Did Apple make any statements at the time opposing the Google/Verizon plan? After all, if Apple had said something different, the FTC might have adopted that, right? Actually, I have yet to see Apple do *anything* as a matter of that sort of principle. Here's a good example. I am sure you are aware of the disasterously bad piece of legislation called SOPA/PIPA (house and senate bills respectively). Virtually every internet company has come out against it - Google has been especially vocal. Have you heard anything from Apple? Actually, no. Here's the list of 40 internet companies that have come out publicly against SOPA/PIPA: http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/over-40-internet-companies-have-come-out-publicly-against-sopa/ Notice someone not on it? (Could it be because Steve Jobs was Disney's largest shareholder and was on their board of directors?) One thing I have always disliked about Apple fanbois is they give Apple a pass on everything. Apple makes its computers in China in sweatshops, they are as proprietary and monopolistic as Microsoft, they claim to have a design patent on a rectangle, they lock their phones tight (in contrast with most Android manufacturers) they partner with Murdoch to put the WSJ on the iPad, and now they are silent on SOPA. Yet the Apple fanbois never utter a peep. --- I should point out that the same day as MG Siegler (Mr. ParisLemon) posted that article linked above, it was revealed that Apple, Nokia, and RIM built a backdoor into their phones that allowed the Indian government to spy on users. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120109/01533717336/leaked-memo-confirms-apple-nokia-rim-gave-indian-govt-backdoors.shtml In fact, the Indian government then used the backdoor to spy on US government officials. It is of a piece with the time when Apple installed Carrier IQ on their iPhones (though the latest version was rather neutered), in contrast with Google. In the week or so since the India story broke, ParisLemon has had exactly nothing on the story. It would be nice to see people maintaining some degree of rationality when evaluating these things.