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Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

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Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#191

Post by jamie_ca »

gumby wrote: post #151
gnicholas wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their new weather forecasting service is also intriguing. They will soon have millions of thermometer-equipped Apple Watches in the world (IIRC the Series 8 and AWU will have these), allowing them to create an incredibly detailed mapping of temperatures around the world (or at least places where people can afford expensive watches...).

Those watches measure the temperature at the underside of the device, i.e. the temperature of the wearer not the air . And that data they claim stays on your phone, not in their cloud.

They called out in the presentation that it's also got an ambient temperature sensor just underneath the display, to help calibrate body-temp vs room-temp for the overnight "difference from baseline" temperature measurements.

Agreed on the local-storage-for-health-data bit, but I'm sure they could argue that the ambient sensor isn't privacy-relevant.

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#192

Post by candiddevmike »

CharlesW wrote: post #128
candiddevmike wrote: post #9

Ads are the next big thing for Apple. You can see it in their job postings and their attempts at increasing ad real estate across their products.

Note that a (the?) primary use case for this is supporting developers who want to create free, ad-supported products using a privacy-first ad network. Is there even another solution for this?

Ad supported apps advertising ad supported apps advertising ad supported apps...

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#193

Post by aaomidi »

jamie_ca wrote: post #191
gumby wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those watches measure the temperature at the underside of the device, i.e. the temperature of the wearer not the air . And that data they claim stays on your phone, not in their cloud.

They called out in the presentation that it's also got an ambient temperature sensor just underneath the display, to help calibrate body-temp vs room-temp for the overnight "difference from baseline" temperature measurements. Agreed on the local-storage-for-health-data bit, but I'm sure they could argue that the ambient sensor isn't privacy-relevant.

It’s also very easily anonymizable

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#194

Post by go_prodev »

joshmanders wrote: post #123
stinkytaco wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because everyone knows this about Google already. With Apple there seems to be some associated belief that it's better, when there's nothing really special about Apple. It's a publicly traded company and just because no one let the cow out of the barn yet, doesn't mean it couldn't in the future. Props to Apple for not doing a Google yet, but like someone said, I would never trust a corporation to put me above shareho…

> I would never trust a corporation to put me above shareholder value. Normally I'd agree with you, but I think Steve Jobs has a long history of not giving a shit about what shareholders say because he was more concerned with delivering the perfect product to customers, so I'd like to think that Tim Cook has also carried this torch too. Yes they are a for-profit company, I still get that... But everyone has been shou…

They are nothing like Google and have proven that over time. But they don't need to be because people trust them.

Many moons ago I worked for a large online gambling provider. They worked tirelessly to make their company trustworthy, make their games entertaining, and build relationships with their high rollers. Internally, they had strategies to squeeze as much money from every user as possible without causing distress. It was quite eye opening and I can't help but draw parallels between them and Apple.

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#195

Post by gigel82 »

ccouzens wrote: post #167
pwinnski wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get that ads can exist without invasive personal targeting, right? Ads used to be based on the location in which they were shown, rather than the person to whom they were shown. That's still an option for Facebook and Google, and there's no evidence Apple plans to do anything else.

> Refine your audience. > Reach new customers or reengage the customers who know you. You can also refine your audience by gender, age, and location. https://searchads.apple.com/advanced

No, no, don't say the thing out loud. Apple can do no evil!

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#196

Post by egman_ekki »

anamexis wrote: post #72
traceroute66 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wouldn't they only be able to make a detailed mapping of the temperatures of people's wrists? Unless you're sick, most people's body temperature is within a fairly tight range. So they could compensate for that ...

Is there any correlation between your body temperature and the outdoor temperature?

Depends on if you're a lizard or a bird :)

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#197

Post by CharlesW »

ibn_khaldun wrote: post #145
CharlesW wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The AirPods that dig into my ear canals and make me mistake audiobooks and podcasts for my own thoughts… Neat, is that an iOS 16 feature? But seriously, there are things you can do to reclaim your attention span. Here are a few: https://medium.com/make-time/six-years-with-a-distraction-fr... https://hulry.com/ios-15-focus-mode/ https://www.wired.com/story/grayscale-ios-android-smartphone...

I’ve actually been in the process of doing something similar to what’s described in the Medium article. I’ve tried to grayscale thing out before too but I switch back after some time. I think what I’m getting out for myself is more so a UX issue? I’m not sure. It’s not a matter of attention span with me specifically . But the look and feel of certain Apple devices as a whole makes me feel like someone who I’d hate to…

> Apple devices as a whole makes me feel like someone who I’d hate to become.

Definitely reason enough to avoid them. I sometimes feel nostalgic for the look/sound/vibe of early personal computing. Yesterday I watched this and briefly contemplated how it would be if computing today looked more like AppleWorks and chonky keyboards instead of black mirrors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xtBspMixHk

> But I would love for my phone to just be a concrete brick that can spit out thermal printed slips of paper with messages on it as text messaging and emails. And if only voice calls were a distributed mesh of Solo cups and strings.

Not quite what you're describing, but this brings Brazil to mind for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xNnRBksvOU

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#198

Post by AnonHP »

oezi wrote: post #126
superdug wrote: post #91

Am I a realist on Apple Apologist? My primary credit card is an apple card, primary dev machine is a mbp, primary work machine iPad, phone iPhone, watch Apple, and I have air tags attached to my dogs and wallet. In this ecosystem, I can reference _ANY_ of my screens for necessary and current relevant information whether it be curated or automated without breaking a glance to whatever primary device the content came f…

As a Android user who is lured by the appeal of the Apple Watch and the long update availability, I have recently found that the wall of the garden has gotten so high that it is harder to get in than thought: - there is no way to migrate messages from Signal messenger from Android to iOS - there is no way to synchronize Opera bookmarks from Android to iOS - SwiftKey keyboard can't sync my Android settings to iOS I mi…

> there is no way to migrate messages from Signal messenger from Android to iOS

Talking only about iOS and Signal here. What you describe is entirely Signal’s decision not to allow backups and restores (on iOS Signal made an explicit decision not to allow any sort of backup and restore). Signal only allows transfer of chats from one iOS device to another when both devices are in close proximity. If Signal wanted to, it could’ve asked the user to enter a strong password, use that to encrypt backups and store them anywhere (iCloud or Dropbox or on a Mac/PC).

Many apps provide backup and restore. Heck, WhatsApp, which uses the Signal protocol, recently implemented cross platform backup and restore for chats. So it’s not technology that’s stopping anyone. Signal is just adamant on not doing it because security.

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#199

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

anotherOneSound wrote: post #184
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who cares about gross margin? EBITDA, Free Cash-flow, and Net Margin are what people care about - especially for a utility... What are good businesses? Apple... Saudi Aramco... Google... AWS...

nobody actually cares about margin. you can be entirely unprofitable so long as you show growth quarter after quarter. amazons margins are razor thin if not negative. tesla wasn’t profitable at all until EV legislation, and still struggles to be so

Apple's cell service network is pretty much tapped out at the total active iPhone MAUs...

Sure, Apple's theoretical cell subscribers could grow a lot - but no one is going to care...

It would be such a small part of the profits compared to hardware sales and other services - with a MASSIVE capital cost - probably much higher than phone R&D.

It would be less capital intensive and possibly more profitable for Apple to manufacture their own phones than start their own carrier business... And that's a horrible idea, too...

The idea of starting your own carrier business that isn't an MVNe is almost absurd.

Why doesn't Tesla build their own roads while we're at it?

Re: Apple’s next big thing: A business model change

#200

Post by nerdponx »

justapassenger wrote: post #159
traceroute66 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They don't actually care about user privacy, but rather want exclusive rights to all of your data so that they can sell it for a markup. Anyone who seriously thinks Apple are going to turn into another Google or Facebook needs to give their head a wobble. Look at, for example, their recent pro-privacy improvements to the App Store where developers are now forced to state in black and white what data their Apps coll…

> If Apple didn't give a shit about user privacy and wanted to sell all your data, they would have done so a long time ago. They already do "sell", in a very similar way as Google and Facebook does - look at their app store ads for example. Only real difference between Google/FB and Apple is that they process data on device, not on their servers. Sure, it's a huge technical difference, but not that much in terms of b…

To be clear, it's totally possible for Apple's closed ecosystem to be objectively better for consumer privacy and also a kind of "ad reach" silo for which access is sold at a premium.

And honestly, I'll take it. I have always been OK looking at ads if it funds the tools I use and the media I consume. I have always been OK with some amount of demographic and history-based ad targeting. I have no moral objection to some company gatekeeping advertiser access to my eyeballs and selling that access at a premium, especially if I'm already going to see ads everywhere anyway unless I go off-grid. I have no moral objection to using my demographics and general interests to show me ads for hiking boots instead of kung fu lessons.

I am not OK with companies storing, collecting, selling, etc. my data without my knowledge, consent, or legitimate ability to opt out. If the data doesn't leave my phone and all of the "targeting" happens on my own device, I can think of much worse compromise outcomes.

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