How much benefit?
I take it you live outside the US, and have a much better perspective on this than those who are resigned to living under NSA surveillance. Do you really think it would cause a material switch from Android to iPhone over this single issue?
If Apple stood on principle and challenged the government over this, I can see a segment of the US population castigating them as "aiding and abetting terrorism" by fighting the government. It would definitely cost Apple sales in the US. Would they be more than made up for in the RoW?
I guess what I'm asking is: Is this issue going to move the needle in a way that data privacy on a personal/corporate level obviously doesn't? At least based on the fact Android owners are currently willing to hand over all kinds of stuff to Google every time they use their phone, and allow Google to use it to sling targeted ads at them. Pay more for an iPhone, get privacy in exchange. Do people outside the US not care about targeted ads to the same degree they care about mass data collection by the NSA?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
