In previous articles, I’ve written about Google’s greedy tricks to clamp down on adblockers used on YouTube despite the company’s revenue for the third quarter of 2023 is nearly $60 billion, so the question remains – how much more do behemoths like this really want?
I think you know the answer.
Mobile Phone Chargers And Accessories
Apple and Samsung, and no doubt many other companies, no longer ship chargers with phones, telling us that they are trying to protect the environment.
Yeah, right.
During my mobile phone career, I’ve bought four new Samsung Galaxy phones, the last being a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra about three years ago. All of these phones came boxed not only with a charger and USB cable but also with wired earbuds, USB adaptors (various), and little tools for SIM and SD cards. Those halcyon days are now long gone, with chargers, cables, and audio kits being sold as accessories. It’s worth mentioning that my Note 20 Ultra came with a fast charger that can charge my phone from 50% to full in less than fifteen minutes. On the other hand, charging a phone through a USB port will take a lot longer. Clearly, these moves have nothing to do with the environment and are simply a way to generate more income. An Apple fast charger for example will set you back between $15- $20 and from Samsung a fast charger will set you back between $10 and $45, depending on the wattage.
CPU Coolers/Heatsinks
This is a tricky one because overclocking can affect the heat produced by a CPU, so unlocked Intel CPUs do not ship with a cooler because many people use aftermarket cooling. The same goes for AMD processors, with the company stating that some high-end Ryzen 5000 CPUs and above not shipping with heatsink/coolers because ‘they are optimised for enthusiasts’. Still, that’s a heck of a saving for both Intel and AMD.
Inflation/Deflation?
When inflation is rampant, as it is here in Argentina at 140% (and projected to rise to over 400% next year) manufacturers deflate the sizes of certain products, yet sell them at the same price. Take Doritos for example, which by the way I have a keen fondness for. Up until a few months ago, you could buy Doritos in 75g, 140g, and 220g packs, but these sizes have now been reduced by at least 10-15% yet the prices have remained the same. So we receive less for the same price in some twisted game of economics. The same goes for a brand of rolling tobacco that I buy. When it first started entering the country it came in 40g packs, but when serious inflation began to hit, those packs mysteriously went down to 30g, yet I was paying the same price again. In fact, I challenged the tobacconist about this, which is not recommended in Argentina since prices fluctuate every week, and his reply was that I’m lucky I’m not paying more and should be grateful for that fact. In other words, stop complaining because we’re all in the same boat, yada, yada…
The same twisted logic goes for household products and I’m pretty sure this isn’t confined to Argentina. In fact, my wife, who handles the technical aspects of household products such as washing powder, etc, tells me the same story. So who is this product deflation benefiting? And have you come across a similar example of corporate greed?
Not long ago I came across a story where a top-of-the-range luxury car was missing some software features because they were considered upgrades that had to be paid for separately. So, using the same logic, twisted as it may be, a steering wheel will soon be an accessory or even a DLC?
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What’s the old saying, “There is plenty to go around but not enough to satisfy one man’s greed”? They are raking in record-breaking profits and still laying off thousands of workers. It’s Unbelievable.
Hi Marc. The fast chargers, do they not depend on the batteries ability to safely accept rapid charging? That was my impression.
As for what is being shipped, I am always surprised when ordering through Amazon. Their suppliers always package more cables/connectors than expected. Am building a supply of extra parts. Lucky to live in a city where I can also purchase tablets and phones at shopping centers. Not sure if all companies follow the same example, but to get your business carrier wise, they supply chargers, sims, and a host of extras, Mindblower!
You know why they get away with it ? Becuase they can, we let them, especially here is in the U.S. , Amercians have become the quintessential fat kid at the end of the donut line just stuffing his face. We don’t care how we get it , what the cost, upgrade or not as long as we get it and get it next day.
If people would just band together and just say NO like they have been doing with Anheuser Busch , hit their bottom line hard , you would see how fast they would all fall into step. But Americans for some reason just love to burn money.
Another example is Windows 11, there are billions of pc’s out there that can run it but according to Microsoft has “unsupported hardware” . Microsoft is essentially strong arming all of these users to either upgrade their hardware or buy a new pc when they don’t really have to …. it’s a bunch of BS.
Some products also go down in size but up in price so your paying more for less. I’ve seen kitchen roll for nearly £10
As for chargers, apple isn’t happy about the law coming into effect the end of next year which will force all new mobile devices to use the same charger. Consumers are obviously pleased as it means any charger will work and will avoid a new company changing their port forcing them to have to upgrade any accessories utilising the old one