Tim Cook sold Apple's soul
https://www.loopwerk.io/articles/2026/tim-cook-sold-apples-soul/
Apple used to stand for something. Now Tim Cook gifts golden statues to Trump, removes apps at the administration's request, and cozies up to accused rapists at White House screenings. The company I once admired has become morally bankrupt, but leaving the ecosystem feels almost impossible.
@stuartm From a capitalist point of view - sure. But that’s not what I care about.
So you switched to Android too?
@kevinrenskers at least Google doesn't pretend to care about you! lol
I don't rely on any Google services though. I don't use Gmail, or any of the other Google apps. I use Firefox on Android and desktop, Fastmail for mail/calendars/etc. WhatsApp for messaging. It's pretty difficult to avoid all shitty companies, so I try not to rely on any one of them for too much.
@kevinrenskers @stuartm I have been exploring /e/OS on a phone and so far it works fine? My primary annoyance is that in-app purchases do not work (less money to Google, yay!).
In some ways it's a bit of a downgrade. But enough people have to accept a bit of a downgrade so that the alternatives get enough funding to improve.
Best of all, it does not have liquid glass.
@kevinrenskers > Apple won’t earn another cent from me for hardware.
If one of your existing products bit the dust, would you consider replacing it second-hand through eBay? Technically, Apple wouldn’t get any money. How would you weigh that, morally?
@dgriffinjones yea, second hand is fair game I think. No money goes to Apple. But luckily everything still works perfectly fine and fast enough.
Need to reduce my spending on services.
@kevinrenskers Thank you for writing this. I would like to add another note on “Apple has me trapped”. Banking apps.
As far as I understand, they don’t exist outside of Google and Apple ecosystems and are crucial infrastructure for everyday life.
I’m sure more people have similar issues with whatever needs they have in their life.
(Weirdly, in Canada, certain banking limits are different between web and mobile apps)
@kevinrenskers hah, my car is too old for that luckily. I can play CDs! But I feel your pain for sure.
My career has been largely shaped by Apple, and trying to shift it is quite difficult when that’s where customers are and what clients want.
I'll be honest, I haven't missed banking apps since I moved to GrapheneOS. I carry a credit card and a pass for transit now. One client in the last year has sent me a paper check that required a trip to a particular ATM. Everything else I can do through a browser.
oof, that's terrible. It reminds me of poor Werner Herzog needing a phone to park.
https://www.theverge.com/tech/787625/werner-herzogs-smartphone-is-for-parking-lot-emergencies
@kevinrenskers - I just switched my daily driver from mac to linux.
I switched from Windows to Mac when the Mac mini first came out. Mine was the first one sold in Germany (out of a first-day shipment of six :-)
For Messages, consider Signal. Similar integration on mobile and desktop: text, call, and video.
My big hurdle was Photos. Digikam works for me now.
Still, some things don't work, yet. Bit once I figure it out, they will.
I've felt for years that macs have been deteriorating ever faster, with no solution in sight.
Feels good now.
@franksting as I said in the article:
My family all use it too, and we love to make collaborative playlists for road trips.
I’m not going to force them to switch to Tidal (I wouldn’t even be able to do so).
@devolute cynical today, are we?
But the answer is no.
@devolute I could’ve titled it “Tim Cook sold his own soul to save Apple’s profits”. Maybe that would’ve been more precise.
But he damaged Apple’s reputation alongside his own. And I think calling Apple’s reputation its “soul” isn’t unfair.
@devolute @kevinrenskers Well I hadn’t given it much thought at all but I had assumed good things about him. Guess I did this about a lot of people (but increasingly less so, given all the fascism). Anyway, I was wrong. That’s all I meant. I was wrong.
With things so bad now, getting back to the low level of US leaders pretending to care would go a long way. I hope our evil moment propels us far beyond that low level when we do recover.
Also, sure wish there wasn’t a duopoly on smartphones.
@virkon42 I think you’re right. I’m sure that in his own mind he’s doing all this to protect Apple’s shareholders. He’s the knight sacrificing himself. And yes, it’s working! No tariffs for Apple.
But at what cost…
@kevinrenskers hey GrapheneOS has Android Auto and there is a list of banking apps around the world that work with it!
I have been feeling the same around Apple and other products as well. I feel like if I cut any more out of my life I’ll have nothing at all.
This blog posts hits home, man. I was aware of some stuff, but there is more perspective in there.
I switched my desktop OS to Linux already, @nextcloud & @homeassistant are my next projects on the list. Not using any Meta or X or Google stuff.
My iPad lays dormant in some box, not using it at all.
For the iPhone, I am not sure. It’s my absolute daily driver. I have hardened it in terms of privacy & data collection.
Kevin Renskers 🇺🇦🇪🇺
Emma needs ☕️ and paying work
Stuart Maxwell
Two-Track-Mind
Daniël de Kok
D. Griffin Jones
Leroy
🍀March Mastodoness🍀
Stone Cairns
Daniel Saidi
Farticle Accelerator🇨🇦
Axel Hartmann
Gustavo
Frank’s Ting
Kevin Ashworth
devolute
Alexander Fischer
virkon
Mike McCaffrey
Beno
Daniel Demmel
Miha
Uneerie 🏳️⚧️🦦
LaOroBob
holtisan