[rudra]

Here I would try to present an argument somewhat in favour of this approach by Apple. Just as an experiment in debating. It will be messy and long winding. Cause I am horrible at it. let us do it.

Let us assume Apple guys suddenly have a change of heart and decide to help people repair their devices sincerely. To that end they pass a standing order to keep doing market surveys and manufacturing parts for older devices. They also decide to train or help train people who want to do the repair jobs and also prepare the manuals or instructions and diagrams to find faults, both minor and major and compile an referancial rate chart for such situations.

To do all that they will have to engage a good part of their marketing, market research, feedback and customer support, technical etc departments and the return wont be much compared to what this resource and manpower is earning now. They will also lose a big chunk of people who buy new devices, due to failing device or the urge to keep up. I agree that it might be good for the customers for the short run. They will be able to keep a costly device for much longer. But in the long run, advent of new devices and technologies will suffer.

And believe me when I say that even after all that they will have many complaints all over the internet complaining how shitty their service is somewhere or how someone things they could do better by doing something or the other. That is a statistical inevitability.

Now I am not going to get into the argument of whether you need the newer techs and devices in the first place.

The result will be much higher market fragmentation, much less volume of sell and hence profit. So less will go into upgrade and R&D and new tech introductions. In short the company growth will be considerably hindered too.

I agree that most of the companies probably could do with paying much less money and perks to the higher echelon and investing that money in development and paying some more to its lower class workers. There is a big opportunity to improve things there, may be. But overall this will not result in much good.

Cause other companies with much better offers and options will launch and they will push ruthlessly against this so called Good Company Apple and the world not being in a homogenious state, politically, culturally, socially etc, our Apple will have little to do to outcompete them. Cause it lacks the financial might that it could have amassed if it continued down the path of making more profits. They might employ all sorts of tricks to generate mass appeal. We all know how disorienting and biasing adevertisements can get. But I do not see a way out that can be implemented in the near future. May be unless we change or evolve as a species or you want your country to change into another China. But even China is moving away fast from that total control state.

The world is not suddenly going to turn into a big we-are-all-brothers-and-sisters socialist state with people at head who have nothing but good intentions for everybody else. Even a village can't be made to be that way. Heck not even a family.

I guess it is a much safer bet to amass the wealth and try to ensure that it falls in some good hands than distribute it equally among all and let it flow the way it will.

In case of Apple, I guess it is better to do anything short of doing things that is harmful and violating to human rights to maximize profits and be at the forefront of new developments than to become a frinze company, but a good one that would do anything to help every single customer keep their phones as long as they want to. There won't be many customers left after a decade or so.