Apple new product rumours and general news
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Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Not for a while yet. Their design, manufacturing, advertising and retail machine is very well entrenched and powerful.
Long-term, Apple will need new products if it wants to continue this rate of growth. Not revisions of existing ones, but new, like the pod phone and pad were. That will be the real test of their "post-jobs" era.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Yep, if he's left them enough worked up ideas for the next few years it'll be a decade before they seriously founder. By which time a new CEO might be ready (Scott Forester) to take over?
2hats
Dust.
When their shoddy approach to security comes back to bite them on the iArse?
When people realise they only have sufficient money to just about afford food and the nutritional value of their shiny-shiny is really quite low?
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
Yup. My Mrs just upgraded to a 4S. Felt a little trapped by having to go for an iPhone to take advantage of everything she's bought through iTunes. It's very effective. They don't need to make the best hardware. They just need to keep it simple and keep iTunes locked down.
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
I don't think Apple's recent ideas were ever planned that far in advance. He made several bold proclamations about never doing something, then going and doing it two years later when he realised he was wrong. Suggests it was always reasonably reactive.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Games console and big smart telly I imagine...
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Games console doesn't make sense.
The "core" gamer wants the most powerful system. MS and Sony therefore sell high-power hardware at a loss, and make the money back by selling expensive software. This is the complete opposite of Apple's iDevice business model - cheap, high quality software makes their very high margin hardware desirable. An apple games "console" that tried to compete with MS and Sony would cost $900 and fail, hard.
The "casual" gamer barely knows that they are a gamer at all. They love Angry Birds and Singstar. For them, the hardware is not important. In fact, traditional "core" gaming hardware is downright intimidating. Apple are already very strong in this market, and they don't need to do anything drastic to maintain and grow their position. Adding Wii-like controls to the aTV and opening the platform up to developers would be all they need to do to move their mobile gaming dominance into the living room.
The smart TV is a conundrum.
People already own TVs and are much more reluctant to swap them for new ones than they are with other devices. An aTV with built-in screen is only fractionally more user-friendly than one with an external screen. Besides, the real "revolution" that's there to be made in TV is the "watch anything, anytime" experience. The content companies will let Apple provide that experience over their dead bodies, which means Apple can only really improve on the hardware design and the user interface. If Apple wanted to get people to dump their existing TVs and buy a new one, they'd need to make their TV substantially better. Hardware and interface is too small a part of the whole TV experience for it to be a selling point strong enough.
The "core" gamer wants the most powerful system. MS and Sony therefore sell high-power hardware at a loss, and make the money back by selling expensive software. This is the complete opposite of Apple's iDevice business model - cheap, high quality software makes their very high margin hardware desirable. An apple games "console" that tried to compete with MS and Sony would cost $900 and fail, hard.
The "casual" gamer barely knows that they are a gamer at all. They love Angry Birds and Singstar. For them, the hardware is not important. In fact, traditional "core" gaming hardware is downright intimidating. Apple are already very strong in this market, and they don't need to do anything drastic to maintain and grow their position. Adding Wii-like controls to the aTV and opening the platform up to developers would be all they need to do to move their mobile gaming dominance into the living room.
The smart TV is a conundrum.
People already own TVs and are much more reluctant to swap them for new ones than they are with other devices. An aTV with built-in screen is only fractionally more user-friendly than one with an external screen. Besides, the real "revolution" that's there to be made in TV is the "watch anything, anytime" experience. The content companies will let Apple provide that experience over their dead bodies, which means Apple can only really improve on the hardware design and the user interface. If Apple wanted to get people to dump their existing TVs and buy a new one, they'd need to make their TV substantially better. Hardware and interface is too small a part of the whole TV experience for it to be a selling point strong enough.
2hats
Dust.
Or (seemingly) give it away to lure victims into the walled garden.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
The walled garden exists to make the profitable hardware desirable. Selling subsidised hardware in order to increase sales of software is counter to their entire strategy so far.
2hats
Dust.
I'm overusing the walled garden metaphor. You can usually get similar software elsewhere.
Not so much giveaway, but perhaps you can 'afford' not to profiteer from the hardware if you have the lure of 'exclusive', 'must have' tv/film/music deals for which you've negotiated a handsome cut.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Saying you're not going to do something then doing it in business doesn't mean automatically you're reactive. Confusing your competitors is a core business strategy when it comes to your intentions. It's not like any corporation is going to come out and say "Hey guys this is what we're planning for the next five years, feel free to work out how to compete against it or rip it off.'"...
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Well, they've been negotiating as hard as they can, and that "exclusive" content still refuses to flow. The TV business is not in crisis like the music business was, and they saw what Apple did to those guys. Look at Apple's earnings report. The profit they make from hardware is enormous. Their content business, whilst broad, popular and market-leading, makes up just 5% of their profit.
Apple is a hardware company and their entire organisation is built around that fact. If they gave away ipads, but doubled the price of the content for them, they'd make much less money.
2hats
Dust.
I don't dispute it. My point is that I can't see some sort of Apple television having anything other than limited appeal, unless it offers [perhaps unintended] rich modification opportunities.
Zabo
Well-Known Member
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Exactly why I doubt that they'll actually launch such a thing.
I have no doubt that it exists in their R&D department, but they won't launch it until it does "watch anything, anytime". Unfortunately for them, that is not a problem that can be solved with technology, design or advertising.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
I still don't think they will release an actual television either.
2hats
Dust.
Compare and contrast with 'Apple 1 year guarantee'...
Yes, I was just idly speculating about a hypothesised Apple product.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Rumour has it this was Samsungs doing. Strange form of PR, a slogan with no message...
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Apparently there's a connection to a countdown website which is for the new S3...seems a bit odd that a well resourced 'flash' mob wouldn't have some company behind it tbh and all things being equal if any competitor is going to target Apple like this it'll be Samsung.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Yeah he said he hates law suites, reckon there's probably real back channel comms ongoing trying to find a settlement. But you're right this type of thing doesn't exactly lower the temperature...
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
More on this and the Greenpeace protests:
http://9to5mac.com/2012/04/26/samsung-employs-protesters-to-wake-up-apple-users/
http://9to5mac.com/2012/04/26/samsung-employs-protesters-to-wake-up-apple-users/
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Neither can I that's why it's pretty stupid if it is them.
Kanda
Diving wanker
Apple TV was around before iPads and mirroring, I know a few people that have the old V1 box.
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