Google is intentionally shedding staff to reduce costs to increase their share price. I don't think they're actually having any kind of financial issues that would cause this. This is just a company chasing profit at the cost of their staff.
I wish the terms and conditions had reading times at the top of them, and I also wish there was a law saying something to the effect of "buying a movie shouldn't require you to read 35 minutes of ALL CAPS TERMS AND CONDITIONS while holding a dictionary and a thesaurus after gaining a legal degree"
If a car dealership put a sticker on the front window of a car saying "Buy this car for $250 a month for 4 years" and then took the car from you after 4 years because their terms had some fine print, the dealership would likely be sued.
If they weren't sued they'd at least lose business. Unfortunately for everyone, that's not going to happen with Amazon or Sony or any other big company doing this shit because we're just letting them get away with shady business practices.
I'm not saying the terms are wrong or that what the companies are doing is illegal right now, but I do think it should be looked at closely by someone who can dish out some massive fines, or ideally change the situation.
I understand the reason, and I understand the possible solutions, and I also understand that Apple benefits from picking the one that pressures kids into spending a few grand on their devices instead of supporting and mutually improving RCS.
This seems like a bad time to release what is pretty much an ultra luxury device. I don't think anybody needs one, and it's a tough sell to the typical early-adopter, software developer crowd in the Bay Area who have been getting laid off in their tens of thousands for the last 18 months or more.
Price hikes? I just renewed for $250 for a year. I don't remember the exact price I paid the year before, but $250 is still incredibly cheap compared to most, isn't it?
I have no horse in this race, but most beginner questions are covered on StackOverflow, the language docs, etc. Closing a question as a dupe (accurately) leads the asker to the answer, and centralizes the information to that one thread, making it more helpful for those who learn to search before asking.
Google is intentionally shedding staff to reduce costs to increase their share price. I don't think they're actually having any kind of financial issues that would cause this. This is just a company chasing profit at the cost of their staff.