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Apple acquires Dark Sky

blog.darksky.net

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Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#141

Post by m-watson »

ryandvm wrote: post #98
joncp wrote: post #63

Let's not forget that, at least in the US, weather data is publicly funded and excellent forecasts are available at a very granular level. For example, here's the weather at Apple Park: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-122.009263237... ... And here's the graph for up-to-the-minute detail: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.3367&lon=-1... It ain't pretty, but it works and you've already pai…

> It ain't pretty, but it works and you've already paid for it. I've been following the public weather data scene for a long time and I'm pretty sure that UX for all the NOAA/NWS web sites is horrible by design, so to speak. After all, there are plenty of well designed .gov sites (e.g. https://recreation.gov/ ), but just try browsing around weather.gov for a few minutes. It's horrible. I mean, the data is top-notch a…

There may be a level of lobbying involved but I would also say websites like recreation are consumer facing, the weather data is used by actual researchers and practitioners. Layouts become a lot more sticky and efficient when people like that are your target.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#142

Post by sorokod »

_Android and Wear OS App

The app will no longer be available for download_

Good on them for the aqusition but please, easy on the "Our goal has always been to provide the world ..." bullshit

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#143

Post by eli »

RosanaAnaDana wrote: post #111
eli wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But presumably will instead be pre-installed on the second most popular mobile platform.

>Pre-installed and probably impossible to remove. Thanks for nothing creators of Dark Sky.

So the same as the existing Weather app?

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#144

Post by farnsworth »

ryandvm wrote: post #98
joncp wrote: post #63

Let's not forget that, at least in the US, weather data is publicly funded and excellent forecasts are available at a very granular level. For example, here's the weather at Apple Park: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-122.009263237... ... And here's the graph for up-to-the-minute detail: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.3367&lon=-1... It ain't pretty, but it works and you've already pai…

> It ain't pretty, but it works and you've already paid for it. I've been following the public weather data scene for a long time and I'm pretty sure that UX for all the NOAA/NWS web sites is horrible by design, so to speak. After all, there are plenty of well designed .gov sites (e.g. https://recreation.gov/ ), but just try browsing around weather.gov for a few minutes. It's horrible. I mean, the data is top-notch a…

An interesting story is when Trump nominated the CEO of Accuweather to be the head of NOAA. This is someone who would have benefited from keeping NOAA and the National Weather Service from doing their jobs. Typically the head of NOAA is a scientist, not a businessman with obvious conflicts of interest. Fortunately, it didn't stick. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/12/trump-noaa-chief-a...

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#145

Post by nxc18 »

Aneurysm9_ wrote: post #24
jdminhbg wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't understand how being acquired by Apple helps further that goal. Removing support for non-Apple devices seems to drastically lower the number of people who you are helping. I would imagine that DarkSky will become the basis for the default weather apps in iOS and macOS, and the number of people who use those defaults is drastically higher than the number of people who use DarkSky iOS/Android as a third-party…

That thoroughly misses the point. They could do both. There is zero reason to shrink the addressable market other than Apple not wanting to play with others.

Its very hard to maintain an Android app to the same quality that people expect from Apple. I can see why they'd want to shrink that headcount or redirect to a more productive endeavor. As a bonus, Apple devices get a better weather app than the competition. The API part doesn't make as much sense, since they could make a pretty penny reselling that data without as much support burden.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#146

Post by clairity »

notthemessiah wrote: post #52
untog wrote: post #4

Sigh. I mean, congratulations to the founders of Dark Sky. It’s a wonderful app and they deserve all the money they’ll get from this and they deserve a lot of credit for not selling user data when almost every other weather app does. But shutting down the API and Android apps feels like an egregious move by Apple. And I hope we actually see a good improvement to the Apple weather app as a result of this. I remember a…

> I remember a few years ago Apple bought a fantastic public transit app (Embark?), shut it down and I still don’t think their Maps app comes close to the original transit app. When Edwin Howard Armstrong invented FM radio, he was working for RCA, which had everything invested in AM radio, an incompatible technology. RCA chose not to invest, and used their political clout to lobby the FCC to cripple FM radio, and the…

> "...suicide by defenestration..."

as an aside, my first thought at this phrase was that "he died by removing all the windows?" it took a second to process that properly.

but to the point, that's the kind of anti-competition we need to root out quickly. compete on merits, not on demerits.

i'm sad about the embark app, but i'm hoping that the dark sky integration means no more sending data (however "anonymized") to the shady data broker that is the weather channel.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#147

Post by nxc18 »

eli wrote: post #143
RosanaAnaDana wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Pre-installed and probably impossible to remove. Thanks for nothing creators of Dark Sky.

So the same as the existing Weather app?

Weather app is not impossible to remove and hasn't been for a long time.

source: I just deleted mine

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#149

Post by Urgo »

This BETTER be an April Fools' Day joke. I've been using the android app with a subscription for years. If its not a joke, anyone have a recommendation for a replacement? The exact location rain data was my favorite feature.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#150

Post by jpjpmn »

ngngngng wrote: post #51

What a shame. Dark Sky was the best option for me. I live in a small town that shares a zip code with a larger neighboring town. Most weather apps report the weather of the neighboring town, the big problem with that is that I live 2000 feet higher than the neighboring town, causing drastic weather differences. Dark sky was the best I had found, but not perfect, nearly once a week I would report the weather since Dar…

I'd highly recommend the AerisWeather contributor plan if AerisWeather doesn't have your town as it is. Very cool democratized platform
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