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The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

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Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#51

Post by jrs95 »

wadeboggs wrote: post #45
Singletoned wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that was pretty tenuous. And assertion that women buy Apple products to deter "romantic rivals from poaching [their] relationship partner" seems almost ridiculous. I would say that iPhones and MacBooks are almost mass-market these days. Sure, they are more expensive than the alternatives, but they are so ubiquitous that can't really be considered status symbols anymore, can they?

Go to a public university or high school and count the MacBooks you see.

Well relative to $40k+ for tuition, a $1000+ laptop is pretty cheap!

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#52

Post by jrs95 »

visarga wrote: post #2

In case you want to shorten the title in similar situations ("The GAFA War"): FAMGA - Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon GAFA - Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple FANG - Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google

Personally I'd keep Microsoft included, they're killing it with services now. Especially amongst enterprise consumers.

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#53

Post by jrs95 »

amelius wrote: post #4

> Your iPhone signals you’re wealthier, better-educated, and more attractive than an Android user. The "status" argument is a bit silly. An iPhone costs about the same as a dog annually, [1]. [1] https://xkcd.com/980/huge/#x=-980&y=-2276&z=5

>more attractive than an Android user

Well, that's stupid. I have an iPhone, but attractive is definitely not a word that ought to be associated with me

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#54

Post by fasquoika »

johnsmith21006 wrote: post #29
idlewords wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon's role in the oligopoly is running much of cloud computing. It comes down to this: - Google and Facebook capture all the value in online ads - Amazon, Google and Microsoft control the cloud - Apple and Google have a duopoly mobile OS - Apple and Microsoft dominate desktop OSs (sorry linux bro) - Facebook essentially controls online political advertising, and its founder is gearing up for a run at office Even i…

Actually Chromebooks have already passed the Mac in the US and growing at 38% YoY versus the Mac is flat. https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/19/11711714/chromebooks-outs... Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US - The Verge Heck we have. http://9to5google.com/2016/06/20/chromebooks-taking-over-mac... At Apple CEO Tim Cook's old high school, they are selling their ...

Aren't a large number of those owned by schools?

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#55

Post by fhood »

jrs95 wrote: post #51
wadeboggs wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go to a public university or high school and count the MacBooks you see.

Well relative to $40k+ for tuition, a $1000+ laptop is pretty cheap!

Hell, probably less than your cell bill per year.

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#56

Post by staltz »

Fun experiment to try out on your computer and experience the gradual death of the internet: block all domains and subdomains from Google and Facebook in your `/etc/hosts` file, and see how many other websites fail to function.

I've had this enabled for 6 months and I've seen websites stopped working as they should, e.g.:

- I couldn't reset my password in Twitch, it required (for some reason) access to both Facebook and Google servers. I had to temporarily disable the `/etc/hosts` restrictions

- National Geographic site fetches jQuery from Google and the website is unusable

- No more embedded Google Maps on many small websites (like local restaurants etc)

- Say bye to embedded YouTube videos

- Many small websites just display in blank

- Other websites have default ugly fonts but are still usable

So Google and Facebook's reach is not just related to direct visits to their sites. Essentially, without them, it's a very crippled internet. The one site that works great is Wikipedia, even its videos are self hosted.

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#57

Post by falcolas »

wadeboggs wrote: post #45
Singletoned wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that was pretty tenuous. And assertion that women buy Apple products to deter "romantic rivals from poaching [their] relationship partner" seems almost ridiculous. I would say that iPhones and MacBooks are almost mass-market these days. Sure, they are more expensive than the alternatives, but they are so ubiquitous that can't really be considered status symbols anymore, can they?

Go to a public university or high school and count the MacBooks you see.

Or the number of apple earbuds and airpods. Those white buds are ubiquitous. And where they are lacking, Apple's other property - Beats - steps in.

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#58

Post by hockley »

Nerdfest wrote: post #34
idlewords wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is the most valuable company in the world.

... and you don't think all the free marketing is a large part of that? It's a little quieter lately, but they have a huge fan-base in the media world due to them using Apple kit for both audio and video editing for years. How many other phone manufacturers get multiple articles in the news when a new model is released?

Marketing is a fool me once scenario. Quality products earn repeat purchases. You don't become the world's most valuable company with one-and-done sales.

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#59

Post by mattferderer »

Nerdfest wrote: post #26
nickrio wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, let's face it, we're surrounded by garden walls now days. Take phone as example: You almost only have two main options for a smart phone OS here: iOS (+ Apple) and Android (+ Google).

Android can be used without any connection to Google at all. You have a more limited choice of software (using F-Droid, etc), but it's quite easy to do.

I'm stuck on an iPhone because someone else pays for it. I haven't ever cared to look at the background data being used but I would say on the app side I rarely use a stock Apple app.

Re: The war between Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple

#60

Post by logfromblammo »

fhood wrote: post #33
johnsmith21006 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually Chromebooks have already passed the Mac in the US and growing at 38% YoY versus the Mac is flat. https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/19/11711714/chromebooks-outs... Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US - The Verge Heck we have. http://9to5google.com/2016/06/20/chromebooks-taking-over-mac... At Apple CEO Tim Cook's old high school, they are selling their ...

This is sort of a silly argument though. Mac and Chromebook don't really exist in the same space. One is ultra high-end and one is decidedly budget conscious.

MacBook Pro (14) is the ultra high-end model.

MacBook Air (A1466) seems to be the closest competitor to Chromebook Pixel (Google), which is at the top end for Chromebooks. These both seem prohibitively expensive for the type of computing that the mass-market seems to prefer.

MacBook (A1534)... I have no idea why anyone would buy it in lieu of a cheaper, faster MacBook Air.

Other models of Chromebook, like ASUS C202 or Samsung Chromebook 3, have lower price points, that Apple has never realistically tried to compete with. What Mac would you ever be able to buy with $160 (2017 dollars)?

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