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Comment by jjallen | Hacker News Reader

Woofie11 expresses hope that everyone should be able to have a shield, not just health care workers first and people here down vote them?

What's so wrong with that? Do you not believe that yes, everyone should be able to have protective equipment not just health care workers? In what kind of a country do we live where we have to ration health care supplies (a basic one at that -- it's literally clear plastic) to only those working directly in health care? It's merely a hope woofie11 expressed, and I too have the same hope: that yes, our system is good enough to protect everyone and rationing shouldn't be needed.

Woofie11 said nothing about not giving supplies to those that most need it first and nor have I.

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From the post above “These pack flat, one hundred per box..." it's clear they are packaged for large organizations. They almost certainly have zero interest in developing individual packaging for consumers.

Didn't vote him down, but it is a bit silly. Apple isn't becoming a medical supply company, they are producing a product to fill an urgent medical need. They don't have the distribution network to supply these to retail, nor is it likely they ever will.

You don't think Apple has literally one of the best distribution networks in the world? What percent of the country is within a few miles of an Apple store that already receives shipments a few times a week?

Apple stores aren't getting any shipments right now. Even if they were, those stores are closed and Apple isn't going to open them to sell a few face masks to consumers. By the time Apple stores open, even fewer people will want face masks. (And Apple won't want them on their shelves regardless)

Apple's distribution network is built around selling consumer electronics, not medical supplies.

This isn't remotely the sort of product Apple would manufacture and sell. It's not worth the time and effort to design retail packaging for it.

A lot less than you think. Huge swathes of the country don't have Apple stores. Even living in the Puget Sound region, my nearest Apple store is 25 miles from me.

By and large Apple distribution is "UPS". Both to wholesale and retail.

Face shields aren’t protective in this context for the general public. No one is intubating coughing patients or working in messy medical situations unless they’re medical professionals. It isn’t sad that hypochondriacs might not have access to them. It’s reality that infinite instant supplies don’t exist. You aren’t entitled to have whatever you want. Especially when you’d be depriving medical professionals safety and life.

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