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Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

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111–120 of 174 posts

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#111

Well, after selling 2 billion iPhones, it makes sense that Apple needs to start making money in other ways, such as user services in Apple+ (which I think is a good deal, especially for the family plan). Just my opinion but I don't much mind some advertisements if I feel like they are not impacting my devices' security or my privacy. I am a huge fan of Apple's new Lockdown Mode - I have it enabled 99% of the time.

After the first sentence I thought this was parody, but after reading the rest I guess you're being genuine. Why is selling billions of thousand-dollar devices not enough? Can't they be satisfied with a successful business selling hardware at high markups to repeat customers? Why do they also need to expand into ads and destroy their hard-won reputation of being a premium brand, to milk those few extra cents per user…

>Can't they be satisfied with...

No, capitalism & capitalists are never satisfied. The whole system requires constant growth.

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#112
post #74
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no competitor to their super expensive product.

Of course there is. Apple advantage is it's closed system not the iPhone. If you only need to maintain compatibility to your own products it's easy. If it wear MS not Apple they would already be fined for anti competitive behavior. Where is the difference between MS bundling IE with Windows and Apple forcing Webkit in all iOS browsers?

There isn’t much lock in with phones or tablets as people go back and forth between iOS and Android. Apple’s advantage is simply selling a compelling product with great advertising which is why they are so profitable.

I find it odd that people get so invested in Apple as a company, but while beating them head to head is difficult it’s also potentially extremely profitable.

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#113
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course there is. Apple advantage is it's closed system not the iPhone. If you only need to maintain compatibility to your own products it's easy. If it wear MS not Apple they would already be fined for anti competitive behavior. Where is the difference between MS bundling IE with Windows and Apple forcing Webkit in all iOS browsers?

iOS doesn’t have 95% market share. Edit to clarify: Windows had a monopoly on the desktop market in a way that is different to regulators (I guess) from the Google-Apple duopoly of today’s mobile market.

But back then you could install another web browser. On iOS it's more like another skin for Safari

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#114
post #89
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course there is. Apple advantage is it's closed system not the iPhone. If you only need to maintain compatibility to your own products it's easy. If it wear MS not Apple they would already be fined for anti competitive behavior. Where is the difference between MS bundling IE with Windows and Apple forcing Webkit in all iOS browsers?

You mean Facebook which is today's scapegoat. They can't buy Beat Saber or Giphy. Microsoft is buying the largest game developer for $70B without skipping a beat.

As of today FB owns Giphy and Beat Saber

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#115
post #112
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course there is. Apple advantage is it's closed system not the iPhone. If you only need to maintain compatibility to your own products it's easy. If it wear MS not Apple they would already be fined for anti competitive behavior. Where is the difference between MS bundling IE with Windows and Apple forcing Webkit in all iOS browsers?

There isn’t much lock in with phones or tablets as people go back and forth between iOS and Android. Apple’s advantage is simply selling a compelling product with great advertising which is why they are so profitable. I find it odd that people get so invested in Apple as a company, but while beating them head to head is difficult it’s also potentially extremely profitable.

Buying all the apps is an additional factor to be considered.

>There is’t much lock in with phones or tablets as people go back and forth between iOS and Android.

It still complicated to transfer all data and settings from one Android phone to another Android phone. I highly doubt it's simpler to transfer all data from iOS to Android or vice versa

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#116
post #30

Sounds like they're copying google with their desire to get rid of cookies / FLOC etc. Strong privacy stance on privacy for others (and in media)...but very quiet on 1st party inhouse ability to connect the dots. I have a hard time seeing how this doesn't end in anti-trust tears for both of them

> I have a hard time seeing how this doesn't end in anti-trust tears for both of them In Apple’s case, I hope antitrust action comes before they stray too far and whilst their interests are still aligned with mine. I don’t want them to make any money from advertising, because then they have a conflict of interest and their pro-privacy arguments fall flat. (Google is too far down that path for me to trust them in the…

> I don’t want them to make any money from advertising, because then they have a conflict of interest and their pro-privacy arguments fall flat.

Absolutely. Advertising and professional services (read: consulting) are both inherently user-hostile channels of revenue, and dangerous enough they should be capped for a company's own strategic good.

Some paths are too seductive and dangerous to naively wander.

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least Android can't stop you from installing ad blockers.

I am able to use Firefox Focus to block ads in Safari on iOS. I’ve not had an Android for a while. What additional ad blocking features would I have on Android these days?

If you are not using a custom Android OS such as Graphene, Calyx, Lineage that don't have Google Play Services,.. you can still remove Google Play Services and other bloat used for ad tracking by using the universal android debloater found on Github. Then you can use browser Mull with ublock origin found on f-droid.org.

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#118
post #115
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn’t much lock in with phones or tablets as people go back and forth between iOS and Android. Apple’s advantage is simply selling a compelling product with great advertising which is why they are so profitable. I find it odd that people get so invested in Apple as a company, but while beating them head to head is difficult it’s also potentially extremely profitable.

Buying all the apps is an additional factor to be considered. >There is’t much lock in with phones or tablets as people go back and forth between iOS and Android. It still complicated to transfer all data and settings from one Android phone to another Android phone. I highly doubt it's simpler to transfer all data from iOS to Android or vice versa

> It still complicated to transfer all data and settings from one Android phone to another Android phone.

Odd, it’s almost trivial to go from iPhone to iPhone, but I never had 2 Android phones in a row.

Anyway, despite it being a major revenue stream most people purchase minimal if any apps and of those many can make the swap. Money sinks like Clash of Clans generally let you transfer accounts between platforms to keep people hooked. And of course subscription like Disny+ are independent.

Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s been explicitly stated many times. It’s why Ive left. They are a “services” company now.

this is what you get when you elevate an operator (an operations/finance focused exective) in place of a product visionary. that's no knock on tim, who's done what he's been incentivized to do by the board and shareholders, and a good job at that (and rewarded disproportionately so). but steve wanted to win with a superior product, not just numerically as tim does. that's why steve, many years after his death, still…

Services usually mean recurring revenue which is valued at a higher multiple. It’s very hard to build a high value multiple product focused company.
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