Apple Event 25/3/2019

Apple General
#21

A transition to services means Apple is now run by MBA weenies. It is trying to monetise its base with a revenue stream subscriptions rather than innovative marriages of hardware and software.

Trouble is it is entering a crowded market where people already have subscriptions to content providers already on Apple’s platform. Those providers are now competitors. It does not seem Apple the Disrupter has a barrier it can smash with news and streaming services. Just grind out competitors like Spotify. And that risk makes content providers more cautious about working with Apple.

The Apple Card though might be a game charger, and is an example of an Apple marriage of hardware and software. No other credit card is like it.

On subscriptions, I am surprised Apple hasn’t set up some kind of Mac lease arrangement for the masses.

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#22

Its the former which will drive me away from Apple, where it was the latter that brought me into the fold 15 years ago… I’m already seeking alternatives, phonewise. Computers will come later.

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#23

I don’t believe that Apple is transitioning to be a services company.

I believe it is adding a significant services business to supplement its up-market technology products core business. None of the services offerings are likely to provide the margins or total revenue of the core business.

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#24

I just don’t see Apple transitioning away from being a dongle company.

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#25

Oh goodness. I do wish we had a greater variety of emoticons to choose from when we hit the like button. I want to :rofl:

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#26

I don’t see this new direction as an either/or situation. One of Apple’s greatest competitive advantages, and one of the most difficult for others to copy is the über tight hardware/software integration.

I still get blown out by the incredible disruption the iPhone brought to multiple industries. They’re remarkable devices. I have an old SE and even it, far behind the pace though it may be, produces amazing pictures. And most of that awesome sauce is in software, with hardware integration coming close behind. I wish they changed and improved a bit more often like everyone else, but mature products get really hard to enhance in dramatic ways. Something every industry and every company within it has to deal with at some point.

There is no rational reason for Apple to abandon hardware and I’m pretty sure they can walk and chew gum at the same time.

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#27

Agreed. There is NO rationale for abandoning hardware, and sure they can walk and chew gum at the same time… but will they choose to do so…

#28

Fair question, but why wouldn’t they? It’s not like they’ve got a Steve Ballmer in charge. The management team is pretty stable and they’re largely the people who’ve been driving Apple over the past 8 years or so. A lot of them were hired by Jobs and he was, in his latter years at especially, very good at hiring people.

I just think they’re moving forward relentlessly like they always do. The fact that we don’t see more of the exciting stuff that a lot of us thirst for is a function of product maturity (and other factors like Intel dropping the ball) rather than a lack of appetite for innovation.

I wish there was more happening with the Mac and iOS like a lot of people, but I think they’re working through some very difficult problems - such as how to make iOS a really useful OS for work - and they never put something out until they’ve worked it through pretty thoroughly, recent MacBook keyboards notwithstanding. I appreciate that characteristic more than I want some new shiny.

I keep going back to one of Apple’s core principles - only enter markets that are ripe for disruption. And something tells me the full import of what the recent announcements actually mean is something that hardly anyone understands yet. I hope Apple does, but if they stumble I don’t doubt they’ll learn from it.

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#29

I didn’t moan about the hardware updates, I thought they were timely, useful and sensible updates.

But another streaming service? All that’s going to do is fragment the market even further!

What I want to be able to do is watch the shows I want to watch, legally… and I don’t want to have to subscribe to Fox (for 3 shows) and Netflix (for 5 shows) and Apple (for however many they end up hosting) because that’s 3 separate subscriptions!

I would much rather pay a ‘per series’ fee (like Apple do now) and I’m really hoping they don’t stop that once they start their streaming service…

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#30

As John Gruber (Daring Fireball) likes to say… I think this is one of those occasions where the best thing to do is listen to what Apple are actually saying and believe them.

Unknown

Services are the natural 3rd leg of the stool of Hardware, Software & Services. It’s the change that the internet brought to the world of technology.

They aren’t more important than Sofware or Hardware, but they are very important these days. Hardware & Software on (personal) computers (iPhones, iPads, Macs) these days are more and more frequently complemented by server (“cloud” if you’re in marketing) provided services.

Personally, I love that Apple are pursuing services, as they seem to be the only company in the big 4 or 5 that take privacy seriously. I want to be able to use the Apple version of each service I need (Photos, online storage, messaging, music, etc.).

This is the new “digital hub” strategy for the internet era. I think it’s bang on. :clap:

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#31

I think it’s a step further in the wrong direction, companies are moving away from a purchase model towards a rent/subscribe model and personally I hate that trend.

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#32

This is why I keep hanging in there, in spite of my many reservations about other aspects of their business.

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#33

I get where you’re coming from, but an iPhone without cell service or wifi service is a brick. Likewise, without a mail server, so is a mail program. If you want a method of transferring photos to other people that doesn’t involve sneaker-net, some sort of cloud service is a necessity.

Likewise, we expect security holes found to be patched. We expect developers to add support for new OS features like dark mode (regardless of whether dark mode is your thing). Services & Software development isn’t free. These services cost money to run. If we don’t want to be the product (i.e. you don’t want to give away all your privacy and content to advertisers), we need to pay to support that service. I’d much prefer to pay, personally.

Of course Apple could just add $200 to the retail cost of an iPhone and make all the services free for a year… I wonder if people would prefer that? :thinking:

On the other end of the spectrum, if you want to use a copy of Word that isn’t updated (and thus also not update your OS or it may break), that’s up to you, but if you want to pay once and expect free updates forever, that isn’t viable. We can’t have it both ways. Services & development cost money.

I don’t get the general negativity around subscriptions & services. I see no reason why Apple can’t do nicer services for a premium price, just the same way as they provide nicer hardware and nicer software for a premium price. :man_shrugging:

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#34

Yeah, I only have room for one streaming video service and that’s Netflix at the moment. My partner has Spotify, which I make a bit of use of, but I’m at a time in my life where I really don’t feel like increasing my day to day living costs too much.

I hope it’s more than just another streaming service.

#35

They should be able to but they’re doing a pretty poor job for a large chunk of their hardware (I’m looking at you Mac lineup).

The problem is that Apple is dropping the ball on hardware. They waited 4 years to get them to update the Mac Mini, 3 years to update the MacBook Air and just now they waited a year and a half to update iMacs. What about the 4 years for a new iPad Mini?

Intel chips for the Macs were available well in advance. I’m not asking for new shiny, just specs bumps on a reasonable time scale, given what Apple charges these days for Macs.

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#36

I would take the $200 extra cost iPhone and I was happy to update my version of Word every 2 or 3 years since Word 95 (and I’ve used EVERY version since, currently on Word 2016).

But Office 365… majorly sucks if you’re using it in a 3rd world country with poor to non-existent internet and so do most cloud services.

A cloud service that allows keeping files offline in advance (like Dropbox) sure… but one that assumes ‘internet’ doesn’t work for me (or millions of others around the world).

And don’t get me started on Adobe’s new marketing model… that’s even worse.

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#37

Wow, it’s like Apple did that thing that everyone’s been saying Apple was gonna do for ages, and then the internet broke! :yum:

Personally I try not to think about what non-Netflix streamers are offering. That way, it’s only occasionally when I hear about some particular show or other that I wonder what I’m missing… but I certainly take what @Geoff3DMN is saying. With Apple’s cash reserves, I can’t help but wonder if they will see a few major competitors to the bottom of the ocean in short time - but that’s assuming Apple know what they are doing - I don’t know if that’s a yes or a no at this point, especially on a global scale.

With regard to subscriptions for software - I can understand the developer’s viewpoint… but - you may be able to save up and buy X, Y, and Z packages… then not have to worry for many years about paying for replacements. On the other hand, you could easily end up spending a lot more for ongoing software subscriptions - especially once you start adding more and more packages to your wallet. Whilst the idea of paying something over time may appear easier to manage, long term I don’t think that’s exactly true.

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#38

Maybe, but there are some giants in the streaming game: Netflix are now gigantic, Disney will soon be a gigantic streaming service, Amazon is a small service, backed by a giant company.

None of those will fear Apple.

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