So this week Apple announce yet more massive profits to add to their already huge cash pile. Last quarter they sold 34,000 iPhones an hour, every hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Well done, it’s obviously a great product that people want. They charge a premium price, make a nice margin, in excess of 30% so we are told. So imagine how much I wanted to share the love with the great people at Apple when today I need to purchase a few sample Apple Authentication Chips for a project, a project where a product will be made that works with Apple devices. The chips are a quite reasonable $1 each, but when you go to the check out -[  bear in mind there is one single Apple approved supplier for these thing in the whole world – and you have to jump through hoops to be able to purchase from them ] – you suddenly get hit with a $50 SERVICE CHARGE – for what??? Then the final icing on the cake is when you select the delivery option – for 20 “chips” each only a couple of mm square – you get hit with a carriage charge of $70 – so $20 for some sample chips weighing a couple of grams and a grand total of $120 (one hundred and twenty dollars US) for postage and packing!  That really takes the biscuit – especially as their evil twin Amazon will only yet your average punter charge £2.80 for carriage on any books you try to sell on Amazon – even if it costs more because its a big, heavy book!

People have a go at Microsoft saying they are evil but at least Microsoft now have the decency to give all Windows 7, 8 & 8.1 users the chance to upgrade (if that’s the right term!) to Windows 10 when it is released. Also don’t forget that Bill and Melinda Gates are actually giving away the $Billions that Bill made from Microsoft doing some real good in the world.

It’s about time our wonderful E.U. and the U.S. got together and started taking Apple down a peg or two from their pedestal instead of creating endless red tape for little companies.