Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#41

Post by madeofpalk » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:31 PM UTC

dplgk wrote: post #29

bsharitt wrote: post #19

Of all the the big tech companies that have a stake in content delivery platforms, Apple has been the most quiet in terms of actually creating/commissioning its own content. This would certainly be a big swing in that direction and put them far on the opposite side even ahead of Amazon.

Do Google, Microsoft and Facebook have their own content?

Facebook and YouTube has all their original user-generated-content, and Microsoft has their failed 'Xbox Originals', like the Halo television series.

'YouTube celebrities' are very successful, and Facebook has actively been been trying to court these YouTube celebrities to post exclusively on Facebook.

Apple is seemingly the odd out not creating their own original video content, but Beats One is interesting as original _audio_ content, which no one else is doing.

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#42

Post by madeofpalk » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:34 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #35

pc86 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think his point was that a news site should have anything remotely NSFW.

Which is usually based on your browsing habits. You're not just shown random NSFW ads for nothing; which is what deanCommie's point was.

That's not how ad tech works. Just because I visit porn sites doesn't mean I get porn ads served to me on NYT.

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#43

Post by wrice314 » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:36 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #38

Not sure this would be the smartest move. Aligning yourself with a company that has a notorious history of screwing its customers and providing less than decent customer service I think would instantly take that bulletproof Apple reputation and tarnish it immediately. This alone makes me think this is another Apple head fake into the area of content creation.

Time Warner Cable (cable service) and Time Warner Media (HBO, CNN, Warner Bros Studio, etc) are distinct companies. The media business spun out the cable division years ago. Apple would be buying the media assets.

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#44

Post by mpclark » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:37 PM UTC

gotchange wrote: post #22

ssharp wrote: post #10

Lovely that this site's "sponsored content" ads on the right are completely inappropriate for work and take up a pretty decent chunk on the page. The images are: 1) Woman wearing shirt that exposes most of her breasts. 2) Man kissing a woman's neck while both are in bed. Man appears to be shirtless, woman is in bra. 3) Woman in bikini with her hands holding her breasts up. 4) Woman in cutoff white shirt having breast…

BTW, these ads might have been served in interest based fashion. It is not always safe to blame publishers for those racy inappropriate ads.

Yes, blame the publisher. Nobody sensible would allow other web properties to inject rubbish like this -- and it could literally be anything -- into their site. If they're going to do it, they should be held to account for it.

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#45

Post by madeofpalk » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:37 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #38

Not sure this would be the smartest move. Aligning yourself with a company that has a notorious history of screwing its customers and providing less than decent customer service I think would instantly take that bulletproof Apple reputation and tarnish it immediately. This alone makes me think this is another Apple head fake into the area of content creation.

Time Warner is also looking at spinning off parts of it's business. I could see Apple acquiring the content-creating businesses (such as HBO) and leaving the, for example, cable delivery business with TW.

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#46

Post by nikanj » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:38 PM UTC

sheraz wrote: post #21

ssharp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know my work browsing habits are clean! It's less of what my employer considers NSFW and more of what I don't want on my screen at work.

C'mon -- is it really that big of a deal? Since when did a little skin or innuendo become "unprofessional?"

When the US was populated by puritans from Europe ;)

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#47

Post by dangoor » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:39 PM UTC

I don't buy it. Apple's business is fundamentally selling hardware that is differentiated with software and services and this acquisition would be too large and crazy to pay off for Apple's fundamental business.

The Apple Car rumors make a lot more sense.

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#48

Post by AnAfrican » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:50 PM UTC

protomyth wrote: post #8

samfisher83 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve jobs used to own Pixar.

He became a billionaire again during the Pixar IPO with 80% of the stock.

If i'm not mistaken, he also became Disney's biggest individual shareholder.

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#49

Post by sheraz » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 2:51 PM UTC

nikanj wrote: post #46

sheraz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

C'mon -- is it really that big of a deal? Since when did a little skin or innuendo become "unprofessional?"

When the US was populated by puritans from Europe ;)

No, I don't think that is it. This hyper-sensitivity happens in Europe as well.

It is a generational problem, mostly for the mellenials.

They have been brought up in a toxic and rigid culture multiculturalism and political correctness.

But I'll stop here before it really spirals down into non-HN territory. :-)

Re: Apple Eyeing Time Warner Acquisition

#50

Post by gotchange » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 3:00 PM UTC

mpclark wrote: post #44

gotchange wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BTW, these ads might have been served in interest based fashion. It is not always safe to blame publishers for those racy inappropriate ads.

Yes, blame the publisher. Nobody sensible would allow other web properties to inject rubbish like this -- and it could literally be anything -- into their site. If they're going to do it, they should be held to account for it.

Since this all of a sudden has become a hot topic eclipsing the subject of the article, here's the list of ads served to me from top bottom:

1) Some shirtless dude on the beach probably on an island in Thailand. (PASS)

2) Before/After pics for a weight management program for a woman wearing a sport push up bra and yoga pants. Not seductive at all especially with fat bulging like this (PASS)

3) A racing model wearing a sexy Halloween style police outfit leaning on a fancy sport car. The model looks seductive but I am more interested in the car (FAIL)

4) A portrait pic of fair skinned woman with hazelnut eye color and dark brown hair color that looks like a young Megan Fox. Definitely attractive but absolutely not racy (PASS)

5) Some rich dude along with his butler in a speed boat leaving or entering a yacht through some kind of marine garage. Looks interesting but not risque material (PASS)

PS: I use Tor and this session is all about GitHub and HN so that might explain the nature of the ads served to me.