‘No Taxes Paid… Just a Golden Color’

Vaclav Smil, in an interview with Clive Thompson for Wired:

Apple! Boy, what a story. No taxes paid, everything made abroad — yet everyone worships them. This new iPhone, there’s nothing new in it. Just a golden color. What the hell, right? When people start playing with color, you know they’re played out.

I don’t know what’s more ridiculous: the idea that Apple pays “no taxes”, or that the only thing new in the iPhone 5S is the gold color option. Combined, they put Smil on my “pay no mind” list.

Update: And why didn’t Clive Thompson challenge Smil on these points? They’re blatantly false, but stand unchallenged in the article text. What about the editors at Wired?

★ Tuesday, 26 November 2013