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Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

nytimes.com

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Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#291

Post by 7814317 »

sleepyhead wrote: post #285
asimpletune wrote: post #161

I just want to go on record with an entirely different idea as to why Apple is buying beats. They're going to make a label. Why Apple doesn't do streaming: Apple hates committing to something unless it's absolutely perfect. There are numerous examples, but NFC technology is a good one that comes to mind. Granted, they've made mistakes, like Mobile Me, but that was due to poor implementation, rather than immature tech…

"Apple hates committing to something unless it's absolutely perfect" Like Newsstand, Game Center and Passbook? This is the biggest misconception about Apple. While this is very much the case for their hardware products like iPhone, iPad, Mac pro and Macbook, it is not the case with software or services.

What is wrong with any of the three you mention? Beyond the lack of support for them, they have all performed well. Most of the issue is getting third-parties interested.

I use Newsstand to subscribe to a car magazine from the UK (Top Gear) that would otherwise cost me >$100US/year to have delivered here. The BBC has done a great job with their magazine. There are plenty of other magazines and newspapers that fit in just fine here. But again, I think part of the problem is that magazines and newspapers overall are a dying industry - why would you want to read a magazine when you can just visit a website daily/weekly and be caught up?

Game Center is another that has had limited opportunities to shine. Partly Apple's fault because they don't integrate with Android, but a beautiful example of how to use Game Center was the Letterpress game awhile back. I believe Letterpress was an iOS-only game. If it had been a cross-platform game, where many developers go now, then GC would have been useless to them. But the features are there, if a developer decides to use them. The scoreboards and friend matches and achievements are used in many iOS games as well.

Passbook is the one that has hurt the most due to a lack of third-party interest. I personally use the Starbucks card whenever I happen to be want one of their drinks. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that the MLB and airline tickets are also well done. I wish more stores with loyalty cards would release Passbook apps, but again, where is the desire for your favorite grocery store chain to create a Passbook enabled app? Hell, most grocery stores you are lucky to even see an online inventory and this week's sales on their website.

I don't confuse "perfection" with "third-party participation".

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#292

Post by aethr »

batiudrami wrote: post #283
callmeed wrote: post #198

Honest question: is there a statute of limitations on what the tech world will tolerate with regards to misogynistic behavior (or bad behavior in general)? Or do people just pick and choose what they want to fight? I ask because everyone rallied behind RadiumOne's CEO being canned after he beat up his girlfriend [0]. Similar with the Mozilla CEO (granted, the offense was different ... but it's interesting to point ou…

The assault charges notwithstanding (I don't really have an answer for that, other than "it was a long time ago", as per other comments), NWA is an interesting case. If you listen to 'Straight out of Compton', one of the defining albums in "gangster rap" as a genre, it paints a picture of LA which is like a dystopian future - where the world is blacks vs whites, people who live on the street vs cops, and where the op…

Definitely an interesting observation!

A few points that come to mind:

* actors move on to new roles frequently, while a musician's persona often sticks with them for most of their career

* films and novels have an explicit designation of "autobiographical" when the artist is telling their own story

* in music the line isn't always so clear, but I think most people expect that to some extent the songwriter is telling a personal story

* not all musicians even write their own music / lyrics but people still associate the message of the story with the performer

You raised a really interesting aspect of the discussion, thanks for your thought provoking comment!

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#293

Post by eurleif »

smtddr wrote: post #288
rpgmaker wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree with Eich views on marriage at all but it was refreshing to see that he DID NOT do what you suggest (which would've been a very hypocritical thing to do) and stuck to his believes.

His beliefs could have actually changed. But I do agree, I don't want Eich, or anyone, to _lie_ about who they are or what they believe. If he really, truly feels the way he does he should stand by it and accept whatever happens... but if he truly regrets it, the way Donald Sterling does[1] (I hope) , then he could have stated that regret and all would probably be "forgiven" (scared to use this word implying someone…

>but if he truly regrets it, the way Donald Sterling does[1](I hope)

Is this a joke, or did you not read the article you linked past the first clause of the headline?

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#294

Post by sciguy77 »

I have to say my Beats completely suck. I've had to get them replaced twice and I still get these annoying buzzing sounds. Forum-reading has led me to believe that this is a really common problem. I'm disappointed that Apple would buy such a crappy product, and pay so much for it.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#295

Post by KVFinn »

There's a lot of comments in here about the business case. Beats is undeniably moving a lot of product. Speaking purely for my personal feelings though this purchase makes me value Apple less.

While people say Apple is merely overpriced hardware bought because marketing makes it cool, I think this is wrong, it's also really good hardware. But Beats is that criticism of Apple come true -- overpriced crap made popular with marketing. Ironically I don't even mind the sound profile of Beats -- high fidelity cans are too flat for me personally. But even for someone like me I can get that same sonic effect for a fraction of the price with other brands.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#296

Post by batiudrami »

aethr wrote: post #292
batiudrami wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The assault charges notwithstanding (I don't really have an answer for that, other than "it was a long time ago", as per other comments), NWA is an interesting case. If you listen to 'Straight out of Compton', one of the defining albums in "gangster rap" as a genre, it paints a picture of LA which is like a dystopian future - where the world is blacks vs whites, people who live on the street vs cops, and where the op…

Definitely an interesting observation! A few points that come to mind: * actors move on to new roles frequently, while a musician's persona often sticks with them for most of their career * films and novels have an explicit designation of "autobiographical" when the artist is telling their own story * in music the line isn't always so clear, but I think most people expect that to some extent the songwriter is telling…

Yeah, those are all true. It's also not an open and shut case for films either - if a director consistently made films with antisemitic attitudes, questions would probably be asked about that director. Similarly, people have in the past questioned Quentin Tarantino's very frequent use of the word 'nigger' - though I personally think it's a stylistic choice than a racist one.

At the same time, no one is suggesting Matthew Weiner is a mysoginist because of his portrayal of men and women in Mad Men.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#297

Post by analog31 »

rossjudson wrote: post #222
gareim wrote: post #25

Apple redefined the mp3 player market, the ultraportable laptop market, the smartphone market, the tablet market, and now they're buying a company that reinvented the higher-end headphone market. Is it smart of a brand that has traditionally created their own iconic images to buy another cultural icon for $3 billion? I don't think so. Maybe this gets used a lot, but would Steve Jobs have done this? Or would he have c…

One possibility: Apple intends to bring its quality and engineering expertise to bear on the Beats product line. They might be thinking that they can take the #1 seller and preserve that position indefinitely by decreasing the price and improving the quality. Apple's supply chain can probably result in better build quality (or a reduction in price for the current builds), and its engineering can probably bring better…

They could design a new headphone connector that makes all other headphones incompatible.

And then patent the idea:

Claim 1: Headphone connector means comprising a plurality of means that are incompatible with all other brands of means

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#298

Post by sirdogealot »

callmeed wrote: post #198

Honest question: is there a statute of limitations on what the tech world will tolerate with regards to misogynistic behavior (or bad behavior in general)? Or do people just pick and choose what they want to fight? I ask because everyone rallied behind RadiumOne's CEO being canned after he beat up his girlfriend [0]. Similar with the Mozilla CEO (granted, the offense was different ... but it's interesting to point ou…

One thing I feel the need to address, as does N.W.A. in many of their songs...

Bitches != All Women (when it comes to oldeschool rap lyrics at least)

A "bitch" in ebonics/early-hardcore-rap is a scandalous/hated woman for well known reasons. Like the local gold digger or crack whore which was very prevalent in their societies which they strongly felt the need to address. They're not referring to all women as being bitches.

This is explained quite eloquently in N.W.A.'s "A Bitch Iz a Bitch" which was produced by Dr. Dre. and DJ Yella [0][1]

[0] http://rapgenius.com/1472495

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5TsjmaycsQ (explicit, but best source by far)

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#299

Post by gdilla »

smtddr wrote: post #288
rpgmaker wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree with Eich views on marriage at all but it was refreshing to see that he DID NOT do what you suggest (which would've been a very hypocritical thing to do) and stuck to his believes.

His beliefs could have actually changed. But I do agree, I don't want Eich, or anyone, to _lie_ about who they are or what they believe. If he really, truly feels the way he does he should stand by it and accept whatever happens... but if he truly regrets it, the way Donald Sterling does[1] (I hope) , then he could have stated that regret and all would probably be "forgiven" (scared to use this word implying someone…

they shouldn't have to lie about what they believe in, and they deserve all the public scorn they get for having bigoted views. It's that simple. If they somehow come around on their views and admit it was mistaken and wrong, then the media and public would likely not hold their previous views against them anymore. The taint will have been washed off sufficiently.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#300

Post by KVFinn »

7814317 wrote: post #291
sleepyhead wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Apple hates committing to something unless it's absolutely perfect" Like Newsstand, Game Center and Passbook? This is the biggest misconception about Apple. While this is very much the case for their hardware products like iPhone, iPad, Mac pro and Macbook, it is not the case with software or services.

What is wrong with any of the three you mention? Beyond the lack of support for them, they have all performed well. Most of the issue is getting third-parties interested. I use Newsstand to subscribe to a car magazine from the UK (Top Gear) that would otherwise cost me >$100US/year to have delivered here. The BBC has done a great job with their magazine. There are plenty of other magazines and newspapers that fit in…

Oh Gamecenter.

The green-felt casino aesthetic wasn't just ugly it was insulting. The new toddler bubbles theme is marginally better.

It's unreliable (it fell down repeatedly when Letterpress launched) and to this day every time I start any game I have to wait at the menu because I know if I start playing before Gamecenter loads it will lag out during gameplay. The turn notifications are all over the place, I get one then start game and where's my turn? Close app, retry, repeat. Maybe one of these times it will be there? The multiplayer model doesn't handle many different kinds of games and methods of combinging players so if you don't use similar mechanics like Letterpress you are often out of luck. Good luck relying on it for anything with more than 2 players -- half the the time it just bombs out. Or disconnects players and then freezes the game for minutes before informing the the other clients. Even basic stuff like Leaderboards went for years without the ability for developers to manage in any respect whatsover -- so every single game had a top 100 of entirely hacked scores and was stuck that way.

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