Apple's Eddy Cue among speakers at private CES event for Rupert Murdoch
Eddy Cue, Apple's head of Internet Software and Services, is reportedly among a select group of people attending a private CES event being hosted by News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch.
The event -- scheduled for Jan. 6 and 7 -- is being hosted in Murdoch's Las Vegas hotel suite, sources told Quartz. Its existence was confirmed by a News Corp. spokesperson. Other speakers in attendance are said to include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, actress/entrepreneur Jessica Alba, and analysts/venture capitalists Benedict Evans and Mary Meeker.
Murdoch is allegedly being joined by top brass from both News Corp. and 21st Century Fox, which was split off from News Corp. in 2012.
No word on topics has emerged, but Murdoch and his executives are presumably interested in keeping up with tech trends, and exploiting the fact that so many in the industry are gathered in the same city.
Apple sells a great deal of Fox/News Corp. content on iTunes and the App Store, and the latter companies have shown a deep interest in developing for iOS devices. News Corp. for instance developed The Daily, the first iPad publication with in-app subscriptions, though that effort ultimately collapsed due to lack of interest.
Cue might also want to push the new Apple TV, which Apple has marketed as "the future of television" in its support for apps. The set-top needs support from as many providers as possible in order to succeed.
Comments
Apple should have refused to attend IMO, just for the optics alone, although no one really cares about doing the "right thing" much anymore (case in point: you).
News Corp is a major supplier of content, so the fact that Apple is fondling them is no surprise, just sad capitalism - pay the $5, turn the trick.
Trouble is: all tech companies needing news and other content, are not in the business of providing it for themselves - they have to rely on bottom-feeder corporations like "the dirty digger's" News Corp.
What should we do? Not buy Apple products because the company goes along with the ethically-questionable rules of the capitalist system?
Similarly, one can argue that Apple shouldn't do business in or with China or other oppressive countries or with any number of billionaires people don't like.... ....and willing to bet that lots of the soap-boxing commenters above assuming the mantle of righteousness "do business with" the Fox groups of industries.... ....via consuming their TV shows, movies, etc.
So if most of you all truck with them (and I've certainly consumed plenty of Simpsons and many other entertainments produced and marketed under their umbrella), why shouldn't Apple?
This is business. Dollars to donuts, Al Gore isn't going to quit Apple's Board over this (if he's still on it) or even throw a hissy fit....
Once I say this post:
"What dose the fox say?!"
Reply:
"Whatever Rupert Murdock tells it to say."
L O L!!!!!
http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-VCDB-15328
"Aging billionaire hosts leaders of industry when all are in same town scandal!!!"