peter pinto

An interesting article. The most important part in my opinion is this underlying narrative of how a lot of businesses and writers are trying to chip away from Apple's business model. 

I agree totally on that part: A lot, probably most, of the doom-and-gloom of the App Store Implosion is complete BS. Apps are doing really well, both conceptually and in practice. And from a user perspective, it's a lot faster to use an app than it is to interact in a potentially time-consuming fashion with fx a chatbot. 

But it's still interesting to exploit that huge number of users who don't download apps. Not by trying to have some convuluted explanation to how the whole app concept is failing - instead we should look at the development in the user base. And I think the explanation is pretty straightforward: The user base of smartphones have grown significantly over the last few years and there are now more "casual" users than ever before, to the point where they are now the majority of users. 

So, which functions of the smartphone do they use? Mostly, the message apps. So a lot of the software tech industry see a chance of a growing market here, and they're right - but the whole narrative of the failing app concept is flawed. The App Store needs modernisation, very true, but that's basically it. 

Which brings us us to these more casual users, who enjoy the messaging apps because they are easy to operate and navigate, they are built to interact with other people in an informal manner, they have an extremely low fail rate and they use very little bandwidth. They also have a lot of downsides, but seen from a more casual perspective, those downsides are acceptable. That's how it looks from fx USA, UK and China. 

But when you look at it from a country like Denmark, the perspective changes somewhat. The chatbots and voice assistants rely heavily on language recognition and understanding. And while the software solutions are build or being build for the larger languages, the smaller ones get left out. Here in Denmark, we got Siri in Danish several years after the release in English. Google's voice search also works in Danish, but stuff like the Amazon Echo, Siri for Apple TV, chatbots in message apps etc. simply do not work in Danish. My guess is that you can say the same for most other minor languages - in fact, the further away you get from major languages and sufficient 1st world countries, the less support there is for these new bots. 

So the ideas for voice assistants and chatbots are great for rich economies with large languages - but for the rest of the world, having app stores allow local developers to code apps aimed for a more limited audience, with the functionality needed and without the coupling to more advanced bots, designed primarily for English or Chinese speaking audiences. 

appex said:

Best Apple opportunity for 2017: make a true Mac tablet with Intel x86 inside for full compatibility with the rest of the world (read, 95% Windows).

Intel just lowered its updating frequency and improvements on chipsets for laptops, with a rather negative effect on how the new MacBook Pros were received.

Are you now saying that Apple should leave the very successful in-house designed A-chips used in iPhiones/iPads/Apple TVs (and the watch, in a more simple version) and let the iPad business drift along at whatever pace Intel think is great? 

That would be rather foolish. 

So Apple releases an absolute monster of an iPad in 2018, decides to do a slight upgrade with the same chip in 2020 - and people break out the pitchforks?

iPad Pro 2020 release is closely connected to the new Apple Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro. How would it have been received if Apple released that keyboard and NOT an updated iPad Pro? Not that well, I imagine.

”But they should have delivered a new iPad Pro with the newest A13 chip!” Maybe so, but they chose not to. Did Apple lie about that? No. Is there a real problem here? No. 

jorgie said:

I work for a fairly large university (5K staff, 30K students) and the Surface Pro 3/4 has been our default choice for mobile users for 3 years now. We have tried everything from Dell multiple other vendors, and nothing really competes yet.

Which functionality is the "killer feature" for you?

Do these employees need a better employer? Or do they need parents? At least 3 of these 5 stories seem to suggest that they need a mom or dad to sort stuff out at their work place.

It’s not that I haven’t seen stuff like this before. But to have had bad experiences at work and then turn to Apple with the blame is extremely childish in my opinion. It’s probably the first time these people are outside an artificial “safe space”, where teachers and parents make sure that every child is seen and heard - but that’s how life is. The parental preferential treatment stops when you become an adult. 

As I wrote: I’ve seen this before, but mostly with parents calling me, demanding preferential treatment for their now adult children. I tell them all that their children are now adults, and that as adults, they have agency and a responsibility to them selves and their own life. I suggest Apple react in the same way.

It goes without saying that all allegations concerning abuse, sexual harassment or racism should be investigated. 

cali said:

Did some research and y'all should be pleased.

Samsung stocks saw the biggest drop in company history as concerns for #bombgate increased.

Polls by C Net and another company(sorry I forgot who) showed nearly half of potential Note 7 buyers are considering iPhone 7 instead.

Polls also showed Matte Black and Jet Black both make up over %90 of desired iPhone 7 colors.

Microsoft may be discontinuing Lumia Windows Phones in several stores and online according to customer reports and employees.

Why should I, as a consumer, be happy when a lot of Apple competitors are failing? Right now, I use an iPad with a Samsung screen - and a Samsung manufactured chip. That chip is running iOS 9, which has been influenced by Android in a lot of ways. 

I mean, you could even argue that the iPhone wouldn't be the powerhouse it is today, if there hadn't been tough competition! 

I especially hope that Windows mobile devices (or whatever they are called now) will do well - Windows do seem to embrace security more directly than Android. 

That being said, I do hope that all the tech reviewers who were star-struck by the semi-curved screens on the latest Samsung devices take a step back and recognise a simple fact of their profession: Stay critical!