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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

#71

Post by Spooky23 »

traceroute66 wrote: post #63
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And frankly, given how shit most cell carriers are, I can't wait for Apple to come along and give the incumbents a run for their money. Why would the most profitable company in the world want to get into one of the worst businesses in the world? It's absurdly capital intensive. Sure, Apple has an abundance of capital, but their shareholders are unlikely to approve this over ever more share buybacks...

> one of the worst businesses in the world But is mobile telecoms really one of the worst businesses in the world ? I would argue that its one of the worst executed businesses in the world, but not the worst business. Travel and hospitality would likely be fairer examples of "worst businesses", perhaps especially the airline business.

People say this because accountants don’t like capital spending.

Carriers have 50-60% gross margins. They are critical enough to get special tax treatments to deal with the capital expenses. If the goal is to make money, what would be the “best” business? Drug cartel?

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

#72

Post by anamexis »

traceroute66 wrote: post #45
anamexis wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't they only be able to make a detailed mapping of the temperatures of people's wrists?

> 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?

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

#73

Post by alexb_ »

jen20 wrote: post #65
alexb_ wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If they start selling your data, they'll quickly eliminate the very market share that gives them such power. No they absolutely will not. 99% of Apple users do not care about privacy. And when Apple does this, those users will find excuses to why it's okay.

Absolutely false. Some may not care, but some care immensely - far more than 1%. If iPhone started reneging on privacy guarantees, I for one would switch to a dumb feature phone the same day. The fact that Facebook got decimated by the controls added indicate the level of concern people have when offered a choice.

>I for one would switch to a dumb feature phone

The fact that you would even consider this means you are a part of that 1%.

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

#74

Post by ayewo »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #58
alexb_ wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If they start selling your data, they'll quickly eliminate the very market share that gives them such power. No they absolutely will not. 99% of Apple users do not care about privacy. And when Apple does this, those users will find excuses to why it's okay.

I share your cynicism in general but not your degree of cynicism. Apparently, when prompted by the new iOS, 96% have opted out of tracking, not 1% as your comment would suggest. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-o...

Interesting. From your link 4% opted out of tracking in iOS 14.5 in the US, while globally that number is higher at 12%.

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

#75

Post by traceroute66 »

Cipater wrote: post #70
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…

I would never have this kind of confidence in a corporation.

> I would never have this kind of confidence in a corporation.

Meanwhile back on Planet Earth .....

Going by your argument you should not own any electronic device.

Because you should not be trusting Intel/AMD to make your CPU because they might have put spyware in it ....

Because you should not trust your keyboard manufacturer because they might have embedded a keylogger in it....

Because you should not trust your choice of OS because you haven't personally reviewed 100% of the source code and all subsequent patches for spyware ...

In the end, its about balancing risk vs reward. And frankly, especially in terms of privacy, Apple are far more trustworthy than the vast majority of other options out there.

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

#76

Post by jdlshore »

alexb_ wrote: post #15

The moment that apple announced "privacy" as their focus I knew this was going to happen. 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. If you want to sell targeted ads to anyone using an Apple device, you'll have to let Apple do the targeting (and take their cut). Get customers locked into the apple ecosystem, "protect" them f…

> 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.

I don’t believe this is what’s happening now. Do you have any evidence that it will happen in the future, or is this just anticipatory anxiety?

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

#78

Post by jshier »

lioeters wrote: post #40
nojito wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolute nonsense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPogdNafgic Apple has the led the conversation on privacy far before anyone else was. I remember them get vilified from sharing their stance 10 years ago.

> Apple spies on its users, and helps others spy on them. https://stallman.org/apple.html#spying

Assertions without evidence can be rejected out of hand.

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

#79

Post by nottorp »

sem000 wrote: post #7
theplumber wrote: post #2

Long story short: the next big thing is milking/squeezing the existing customers through services. I guess the next next big thing would be charging customers for existing/free features(i.e pay more for privacy, no more on-device storage etc)

Gotta love HN... always acting like Apple is holding a gun to consumers heads.

> Gotta love HN... always acting like Apple is holding a gun to consumers heads.

Well they are. Because the only alternative is Android. We're into a duopoly situation on mobile and it's almost as bad as a proper monopoly.

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

#80

Post by b3morales »

gnicholas wrote: post #31
traceroute66 wrote: post #5

Honestly, for anyone who watches Apple close enough, this isn't news. Its clear Apple are heading down the disruptive disintermediation route. Look at the Air Tag. Effectively killing off competitors by making use of the global network of Apple devices. Look at their recent BNPL (buy now, pay later) announcement for example. Managing the whole caboodle, including the finance itself, entirely internally. Or look at th…

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...).

Not so sure about this. There's going to be a ton of noise in this data from an outsider POV. At an absolute minimum, for this to be usable as weather data they will have to determine when it's measuring the actual outside weather, as opposed to the indoor, or in-car/-bus/-train temperature.
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