The breakout star of Apple’s MacBook Pro event is a $19 cleaning cloth
Nothing compares 2 U, Apple cleaning cloth
Apple does the right thing, not the easy thing
On one hand, you could call charging almost $20 for a piece of fabric you can buy elsewhere for a fraction of the price plain old profiteering. On the other, what are you? Some sorta dirty commie or something? What you’re seeing is capitalism in beautiful motion.
In fact, I think Apple could do more to keep the wheels of the marketing economy crushing the bones of the poor.
Know those stickers that come with Apple products? Let’s stop that practice immediately. You can sell those things for at least $10. While we’re at it, how about we dispose of those “health and safety” booklets? If you wanna be danger free, you’ve gotta pay.
If the company really wants to up the ante though, I know how to complement the Apple Polishing Cloth properly: screen cleaner. But not justanyscreen cleaner.
How about Apple gets some of those brainy engineers and scientists to create a display that can only be cleaned with a very specific liquid. Anything else, be that water or alcohol, destroys it entirely.
It’d produce what non-economists like myself would call “double trouble.” With it, the company not only makes money from selling the cleaning fluid, but also rakes it in with screen repairs.
Yes, I think we can all agree that the problem with the Apple cleaning cloth is it just doesn’t go far enough. Thankfully, there’s still time.
Story byCallum Booth
Callum Booth is a freelance journalist with over a decade of experience. Previously, he was the Managing Editor of TNW, where his reporting(show all)Callum Booth is a freelance journalist with over a decade of experience. Previously, he was the Managing Editor of TNW, where his reporting was cited widely, including in VICE, the FT, and the BBC.
Callum’s writing has appeared in The Verge, The Daily Telegraph, Time Out, and many more. He covers the full spectrum of technology, with a particular focus on how it shapes our daily lives. And a lot of regulation stuff too.
Outside of work, Callum’s an avid bookworm, a Fisherman’s Friends addict, and resolutely unshaven. Follow him on Twitter @CallumBooth or visit www.callumbooth.net.
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