Apple Has Not Unlocked 70 iPhones For Law Enforcement

"...the government never says Apple unlocks devices, but rather that it bypasses the lock to extract the information."

Oh. Much different.

This smells like an obvious case of Tech Crunch trading positive coverage for future access. Otherwise, why go all that way to pick such a flimsy semantic bone? Why spend 700 words to say, "Apple never picked the lock, they just smashed in the window so the state could get in!"

For some perspective, Shane Harris reported today that Apple has unlocked phones for the authorities on 70 occasions since 2008. Which is to say, it's possible that TIm Cook's statement is a public relations maneuver in a high-profile case.

But, hey - if this motivates Apple to draw the line and take a stand against building tunnels into people's private lives, that's great.

the next 25 movies that Hollywood vomits out will be pale carbon-copies

Deadpool is the vomit. There's never going to be a comic book movie that's considered "bad" again, for two reasons:

1. The film-making process has been hollowed out and sabermetricized to the point where every comic book film will be considered competent, at the very least.

2. The so-called "nerd" culture has captured the popular writing scene and large swaths of critical writing. Those wonderfully grumpy film critics of old have been largely pushed out of the conversation. Anyone who dares to write about these films with anything short of glowing praise faces a deluge of web harassment.

I started typing, then saw two of my favorite writers already summed up my feelings on this piece:

"To my shock, publishing a giant essay in which I indict my own privilege actually resulted in me being praised! Kooky!" -Freddie DeBoer

"thank you god, for not making me as bad as all the other white men, for making me The Good White Man" -Elizabeth Bruenig

Now that we on the left have abandoned every other political project in favor of Privilege Awareness, is it rude to ask when it actually starts benefiting the unprivileged?