Apple upgrade

Apple upgrade APPLE JUST ANNOUNCED THEY WILL NO LONGER SELL YOU IPHONES. THEY WILL LEASE IT TO YOU INSTEAD. AND THE REASON WHY YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO THIS IS BECAUSE THIS IS ACTUALLY BIGGER THAN APPLE ALONE. NOW ON JULY 28TH, APPLE LAUNCHED A NEW PROGRAM CALLED APPLE UPGRADE, A LEASING PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH KLARNA, YOU KNOW, THAT LETS CUSTOMERS PAY FOR IPHONES, APPLE WATCHES, MACS, IPADS THROUGH MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS INSTEAD OF BUYING THEM OUTRIGHTLY. NOW HERE ARE THE EXACT NUMBERS IPHONE STARTS AT 17.99 DOLLARS PER MONTH, APPLE WATCH AT 11.99 PER MONTH, IPADS AT 1199 PER MONTH AND MAC, YOU KNOW, STARTING AT 2499 PER MONTH. IPHONES AND APPLE WATCHES COME IN 12 OR 24 MONTHS LEASE OPTIONS. MAC AND IPADS IN 24 AND 36 MONTHS OPTIONS. NOW WHEN THE LEASE ENDS, YOU CAN SWAP FOR A NEWER MODEL, KEEP THE DEVICE, OR SIMPLY RETURN IT. BUT HERE IS THE CRITICAL DETAIL THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE GLOSSING OVER. A LEASE DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY END WITH YOU OWNING THE DEVICE. YOU ARE RENTING UNTIL YOU DECIDE OTHERWISE. AND WITH THIS LAUNCH, APPLE IS DISCONTINUING ITS EXISTING IN HOUSE FINANCING AND INSTALLMENT PROGRAMMES IN THE U.S. THE IPHONE UPGRADE PROGRAMME AND THE IPHONE PAYMENTS ARE GONE. THIS IS THE NEW MODEL NOW. BUT WHY IS APPLE DOING THIS? THE ROLL OUT COMES AS APPLE HAS BEEN STRUGGLING WITH INDUSTRY WIDE MEMORY CHIP SHORTAGES DRIVEN UP HARDWARE PRICES. YOU KNOW, WITH RECENT PRICE HIKEs ANNOUNCED FOR MAC AND IPAD LINEUPS. THIS IS THEIR ANSWER TO MAKING INCREASINGLY EXPENSIVE DEVICES FEEL AFFORDABLE. LOWER THE NUMBER YOU SEE EVERY MONTH. HIDE THE TOTAL COST IN THE FINE PRINT. NOW, LET ME TELL YOU WHAT THIS ACTUALLY IS AND WHY IT SHOULD MAKE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US STOP AND THINK. THIS IS NOT JUST AN APPLE STORY. THIS IS A PATTERN. AND IT HAS BEEN PLAYING OUT IN SLOW MOTION FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS, AND WE'VE BEEN TOO COMFORTABLE TO NOTICE. THINK ABOUT MUSIC. THERE WAS A TIME YOU WALKED INTO A SHOP, BOUGHT A CD, AND THAT WAS YOURS. YOU OWNED IT. YOU COULD PLAY IT FOREVER, GIVE IT TO YOUR CHILD. NO MONTHLY FEE, NO SUBSCRIPTION. NO. YOUR ACCESS HAS BEEN REVOKED. IT IS YOURS. THEN STREAMING CAME, AND NOW YOU PAY EVERY MONTH. STOP PAYING. THE MUSIC DISAPPEARS. YOU OWN NOTHING. YOU JUST RENT ACCESS. AND IN MOVIES, TOO. YOU USED TO BUY DVDS, OWN THEM, WATCH THEM WHENEVER. NOW NETFLIX, PRIME, DISNEY PLUS, APPLE TV. EVERY MONTH, MONEY LEAVES YOUR ACCOUNT. JUST FOR ACCESS. THE MOMENT YOU CANCEL, EVERYTHING YOU WATCHED IS GONE BECAUSE YOU NEVER OWNED ANY OF IT TO START WITH. AND NOW PHONES, TABLETS, COMPUTERS, THE PHYSICAL DEVICES IN YOUR HANDS, THE THINGS YOU CARRY TOUCH SLEEP NEXT TO. APPLE IS NOW SAYING YOU DON'T HAVE TO OWN THOSE EITHER. JUST PAY MONTHLY. UPGRADE WHEN WE TELL YOU THERE IS A NEWER VERSION. RETURN IT. WHEN THE LEASE ENDS AND START THE CYCLE ALL OVER AGAIN. DO YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING? WE USED TO OWN THINGS, THEN RENTING EXPERIENCES. NOW WE ARE BEING ASKED TO RENT THE TOOLS THEMSELVES, THE ACTUAL DEVICES WE USED TO EXIST IN THE MODERN WORLD. AND THE QUESTION I WANT ALL OF US TO SIT WITH IS THIS. IN 10 YEARS, WHAT WILL WE ACTUALLY OWN? IF MUSIC IS RENTED, MOVIES ARE RENTED, SOFTWARE IS SUBSCRIBED, AND NOW THE HARDWARE IS LEASED, WHAT IS LEFT? WHAT DOES OWNERSHIP EVEN MEAN FOR THE GENERATION GROWING UP RIGHT NOW? BECAUSE HERE'S WHAT WE MOSTLY SEEMS TO FORGET OR OVERLOOK. WHEN YOU OWN NOTHING, YOU ARE PERMANENTLY DEPENDENT. THE COMPANY CAN CHANGE THE TERMS, RAISE THE PRICES, SHUT DOWN THE SERVICE, AND YOU HAVE NO RECOURSE BECAUSE OWNED ANYTHING TO BEGIN WITH. YOU JUST HAD ACCESS. AND ACCESS CAN ALWAYS BE TAKEN AWAY. THIS IS THE DIRECTION THE WORLD IS MOVING. SUBSCRIPTION EVERYTHING. RENT EVERYTHING, OWN NOTHING. AND IT IS BEING SOLD TO US AS CONVENIENCE, AS FLEXIBILITY, AS A SMARTER WAY TO LIVE. BUT ASK YOURSELF HONESTLY, CONVENIENT FOR WHO? FLEXIBLE FOR WHO? BECAUSE APPLE'S RECURRING MONTHLY REVENUE FROM MILLIONS OF LEASE PAYMENTS IS A LOT MORE PREDICTABLE AND MORE PROFITABLE THAN MILLIONS OF ONE TIME PURCHASES. THIS IS NOT ABOUT MAKING YOUR LIFE EASIER. THIS IS ABOUT MAKING THEIR REVENUE MORE STABLE AND YOUR DEPENDENCE MORE PERMANENT. NOW, I'M NOT SAYING DON'T USE THE PROGRAM IF IT WORKS FOR YOU AND YOUR BUDGET. I'M SAYING UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE AGREEING TO. UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAYING FOR SOMETHING AND PAYING TO ACCESS SOMETHING. UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORLD BEING BUILT AROUND US IS THE ONE WHERE OWNERSHIP BECOMES A LUXURY, SOMETHING ONLY THE WEALTHY CAN AFFORD TO DO, YOU KNOW, THE OLD AND MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, BEFORE WE SLEEPWALK INTO A FUTURE WHERE WE OWN NOTHING AND CALL IT PROGRESS, WE SHOULD ASK OURSELVES WHETHER THAT'S ACTUALLY THE WORLD WE WANT TO LIVE IN. BECAUSE ONCE OWNERSHIP IS GONE, GETTING IT BACK WILL COST MORE THAN ANY MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION EVER DID. THINK ABOUT THAT. THIS IS MR. ABDULREACTS.