both of them? as far as i understand those two never had those old iPods, but only newer ones.

where i live it is a non-issue. there is no public opinion about it, much less "the court of public Opinion."

it might be huge news in Australia or the US though. that would actually fit some of the stereotypes i have about those countries and their media (not that our media would be better, just a different kind of bad).

well my sources might be better than your's.

remember that mysterious high-ranking Microsoft official from America that was doing first-level customer support in Australia (aka the little birdie) who was telling you that support for Windows 7 would end in November 2014?

seriously, doom prophecies about the only profitable smartphone company are not exactly smart. there are plenty of others in line to go out of business first. as did Nokia (i predicted that) and Motorola in recent time.

maybe Nokia can make a comeback though. they can sell phones under their name again in 2016. right now they can only produce tablets ( http://n1.nokia.com/ ). a high-end Nokia phone running Android would be something i would buy.

3.  Regardless of your country, numbers do not change.  3 is not both.

And Apple did win - again through attrition.  You are welcome to buy and love them all you want - that is called free trade.  But they are losing market share because of the iTunes restrictions.  And that is the court of Public Opinion.

Exactly, the consumer stranglehold we all refer to as the walled garden is slowly but surely strangling Apple.  I know quite a few people who once raved about their iPods and iTunes, who now just carry a regular MP3 player and upload music from their PCs at no extra cost.  And others ditched their iPads because they had no USB ports and had no inputs/outputs. 

Then there were those who ditched their iPhones because IOS became stagnant and was getting left behind by Android.  Several switched to Windows Phone because they liked the interface better and found it easier to use.  And yes, Apple fanbois were coming out of the woodwork to boast how the AppleStore has more apps, but so what, that is so irrelevant when users find the WindowsPhone Store has the more frequently used and most important ones.

Simply put, Apple's days are numbered and its reign at the top will end as the tide turns on that war of attrition.  Much like the Roman Empire [and others] Apple will collapse under its own greed and love of power... and without Steve jobs at the helm, Apple's race to the bottom is somewhat accelerated.  True, the iPhone 6 is currently selling well, but Apple has little else to fall back on when sales go into decline and stock starts piling up.  And the fanbois can say "what about the iPad?", but it too is suffering declining sales, and maybe Microsoft's Surface hasn't made that big a dent as yet, when you combine the sales of Surface with those of Samsung, HP, Acer, ASUS and others, it is a significant chunk of the market not going Apple's way... and with sales of these alternatives to iPad consistently increasing, it appears that Apple is on a hiding to nothing and will capitulate.

Hehe, I won't even send Apple a sympathy card saying "it wasn't nice knowing you."

Yes, greed has worked... for some.  In the process, however, it has helped cause/create unnecssary poverty, where the haves have it all and there's eff all else to go around.

Then there's two types of greed: one is where a person/company wants more than the others; and then there's insatiable greed, where a person/company wants it ALL.... and gets it  Apple falls into the latter group, and essentially having the absolute most [of any company/individual] isn't enough.  No, Apple wants to have it all; wipe out its competition; become the largest monopoly of all time, and become a law unto itself.

In fact, Apple has already become a law unto itself, in that it decides whose intellectual property it wishes to acquire [read steal] and manipulates the legal system and buys the judiciary to enable it to do it. Then there's the walled garden, which legally binds users to do as Apple says, when it says, and how it says... all in the name of insatiable greed.

As for an alternative to greed?  Pay workers a fairer wage to enable them to purchase more freely... profits will rise in due course.  Lower prices to make goods and services more afforable to low income earners and pensioners, etc.  In doing so the customer base grows and profit still grows.  In other words, it's easier to get a dollar from a million people than it is to get from one person.  However, this is a concept Apple chooses to ignore... at its own peril.  Catering to and ripping off its base of fanbois, while essentially excluding the rest, just won't cut it anymore.  While there's still some wankers around, consumers these days are becoming more savvy and selective, meaning that companies like Apple need to reconsider their business models/strategies or go under.

We have a retailer here in Australia called Harvey Norman - probably the greediest in the country - and recently its owner/director Gerry Harvey, tried lobbying/forcing government into taxing all online purchases from overseas as well as from within Australia.  His hope was to push internet sales prices up and to drive more and more customers into his stores.  Well it backfired in a real big way, as people, who hated his whiny ass on TV advocating that they pay more, stayed away from his stores in droves. 

I have always refused to shop in Harvey Norman stores and always will, and during 1000s of conversations with 1000s of people over the last couple of years or so, I have discovered there are 1000s of like-minded people.  Hehe, many ordinary Aussies have a name for Harvey Norman and/or Gerry Harvey... it's Hardly Normal, and that's because the majority have such a strong dislike for both the man and his business.  And no, I haven't gotten off the case of Apple.  It too has created for itself a very poor image and has garnered alot of dislike, even hate towards it through very public bombshells... like suicide prevention nets rather than improve Chinese workers wages and conditions, etc.

So yeah, while greed may have its upside - the amassing of great wealth and power - it also has its down side, and sooner or later people will give Apple and similar companies the flick.  Hopefully in the case of Apple, it's much, much sooner, not later.

stock piles up? in a market that is growing by literally billions of people in the next decade? 

we'll see when the "benevolent empire" (Robert Kagan) falls. depending on your age this will be in your lifetime.

A dislike of Android and IOS does not make me a fanboi of anything.  I simply happen to like Windows Phone because it syncs with my tablet, laptop and PC better than the others.  So WP is not a good enough or an equivelant for me... it IS better  And not because I'm a fanboi... it's just more functional to my needs.

Oh, and Androis ISN'T an operating system, really!  No, it is just a glorified widget engine that manages half assed apps.  They're not even [fully fledged] programs for fech sake.  And IOS isn't much better.  It too just behaves like a glorified widget engine and is a much watered down version of Unix. 

At least OS-X is a proper OS, not that I'd ever use it... which I guess will now make me a Windows fanboi.  The fact is, Windows is universal, fully functional and works with more programs and games, etc, so naturally it's my 1st choice.  And yes, I do like Windows 8.1 better than previous incarnations, and Win 10 will be even better when released.  However, a fanboi I am not.

Oh, and Moshi, you may enjoy being provacative and antagonistic, "you Windows Phone fanbois"... etc, etc, but it doesn't upset me and I really don't give a fech. I'm in too good a mood.  So you have yourself a pleasant day and great holiday season.

Apple 'borrowed' that, too...

Screw Apple and any company or corporation like them.  My daughter currently works for a subcontractor for Apple providing technical assistance for customers.  She is paid so little that she lives in subsidized housing and gets subsidized health care.  This is government subsidized corporate welfare for greedy whores, welfare that taxpayers shell out for so these bastards can increase profits and pay workers as little as possible. 

Then there is the 1.7 trillion dollars spent on warfare by the U.S. since 911.  Where do you think most of this money has gone?

Get starkers wound up, he keeps going, and going, and going, and...

to quote Warren Buffet: "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."

the man is correct.

with your two parties, you'll only have a choice whether those subsidies are a little higher or lower. as long as the economy doesn't crash those subsidies will always be just high enough to keep you from revolting.