May 20, 2011 2:59 PM
What Apple scandals? This company is bulletproof
Apple was recently rated as the most valuable brand in the universe in a year it has made billions for its shareholders. Odd then that this record year has also been the one where the company has had to endure scandals that would plough most rivals.
The latest allegation is that Apple’s tech support were told to turn a blind eye to a growing fake antivirus scam hitting Mac users called Mac Defender.
"AppleCare does not provide support for removal of the malware. You should not confirm or deny whether the customer's Mac is infected or not," a document circulated to them but since leaked to journalists was reported to have instructed.
Earlier this year, we had claims that Apple’s Chinese workers endure poor conditions making shiny computers for middle-class Westerners, around the same time Greenpeace rated it as the least green company in tech, which is saying something for an industry built on mucky semiconductors and heavy metals.
Apple's attitude to security in particular will remind some of the sort of denial that afflicted Microsoft in the early days of Windows malware turning into a serious problem a decade ago. Security isn't out problem, it's "theirs" - the users.
And that’s before factoring in publicity over users suing it for its iPhone GPS data collection and the whole PR struggle over whether the latter’s antenna had a problem affecting signal strength or not.
How is Apple getting away with all this apparently unscathed? One conclusion is that a lot of people, journalists sometimes included, love their Apple tech so much they daren’t take a pop at the company that makes the stuff. It’s like a kind of Stockholm syndrome where the imprisoned fall in love with the jailer.
More likely people express their unhappiness but nobody notices or cares.
If Microsoft had been connected to any of the above scandals, Redmond would have a permanent sit-in by its gates by now.
The greatest triumph of the Apple image is not just to have made the company a massive success but to have made it almost immune to failure.
The latest allegation is that Apple’s tech support were told to turn a blind eye to a growing fake antivirus scam hitting Mac users called Mac Defender.
"AppleCare does not provide support for removal of the malware. You should not confirm or deny whether the customer's Mac is infected or not," a document circulated to them but since leaked to journalists was reported to have instructed.
Earlier this year, we had claims that Apple’s Chinese workers endure poor conditions making shiny computers for middle-class Westerners, around the same time Greenpeace rated it as the least green company in tech, which is saying something for an industry built on mucky semiconductors and heavy metals.
Apple's attitude to security in particular will remind some of the sort of denial that afflicted Microsoft in the early days of Windows malware turning into a serious problem a decade ago. Security isn't out problem, it's "theirs" - the users.
And that’s before factoring in publicity over users suing it for its iPhone GPS data collection and the whole PR struggle over whether the latter’s antenna had a problem affecting signal strength or not.
How is Apple getting away with all this apparently unscathed? One conclusion is that a lot of people, journalists sometimes included, love their Apple tech so much they daren’t take a pop at the company that makes the stuff. It’s like a kind of Stockholm syndrome where the imprisoned fall in love with the jailer.
More likely people express their unhappiness but nobody notices or cares.
If Microsoft had been connected to any of the above scandals, Redmond would have a permanent sit-in by its gates by now.
The greatest triumph of the Apple image is not just to have made the company a massive success but to have made it almost immune to failure.
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