I think a case could be made that the near-constant consumer demand around Apple products is contributing to the increase of consumer debt which, in turn, is one of the largest contributors to the "depression".
I'm not saying they're the only ones to blame here, all consumer electronic companies are doing the same thing, but they're certainly the largest player.
Forced obsolescence around devices that are largely unchanged from one version to the next is not new, but the pace is insane. People are bored days after purchase.
We're sitting on a mountain of tulips. Exploitive, environment damaging tulips.
> I think a case could be made that the near-constant consumer demand around Apple products is contributing to the increase of consumer debt which, in turn, is one of the largest contributors to the "depression".
There's a big difference between consumer debt (often held locally) and national debt (held overseas). I'm not sure consumer debt is as big an issue as you think.
It absolutely is. Increased borrowing to finance consumer spending is largely responsible for the 2007 crash. Sure, the banks made terrible loans and tried to double-down on them, but borrowers are just as responsible.
How many people are using straight-up cash to purchase these devices? They're likely putting them on credit and that credit burden is hardly isolated. In real terms it means that they cannot afford that one extra mortgage/student loan payment, or invest in retirement/savings or kids education.
Arbitrary low interest rates create false security. We are not out of the woods and unless we start to reverse these trends, we're set for another crash.
The worldwide downturn/depression hasn't affected people uniformly. The upper class in China/India/Brazil has kept going, and the upper quantile in the developed countries has largely recovered already.
