My initial comment was made with an implied *wink, which apparently should not have been so thoughtlessly omitted, given the unfair amount of insight it then required of readers to detect my humorous intentions. After all, if both pizza vendors would simply raise the price to a reasonable $1.00 or $1.25 or w/e, they could both "afford the rent" and thus coexist happily instead of shooting themselves in the foot. Not realizing this of course, is why I called them idiots, not in a cynical, but a face-palming type of way. Comprendes? It may also be worthy to note that this reply was compelled by the presumptuousness with which my intelligence was addressed.
"Amid weak and accommodating institutions, there is little to discourage a leader from looting. Such environments channel society’s output towards a parasitic elite, discouraging investment and innovation"
It's unfortunate that Apple, while being so innovative and prominent of a tech company, never the less so feverishly attempts to hold on to the outdated, dying principles of old, "traditional" business models. Of course I realize the good intentions that patents claim to stem from, but looking at the real world, the principles of this loosely defined and ambigious copyright model are much easier to exploit than use for good. What social value is there? Anyway, the point of course is that seeing a company cling to patenting general ideas and then inforcing those patents is a cowardly and unintegrous. It's an cheap way out made available by a loophole-clad system and should impact negatively on Apple's, or any company's image more so than it does now. However, I think fortunatelly, although slowly, these old school "business" mentalities are being bred out as new, more superior organizational structures, ideologies and principles, are ushered in by much more creative and insightful intelects than those currently in power. Those who bring about change are resisted because they threaten to overtake those in power. Instead of welcoming and aiding that forward movement, the mentality is to oppose it with great force and incredible tunnel vision. Someday the world will make sense but until then companies like Apple will continue to restrict change. It's at times like these that I find not being able to wish things into being most inconvenient lol.