altivec88

FileMakerFeller said:

altivec88 said:

dasanman69 said:

JMaille said:

When are people going to realize this isn’t about reducing the cost to consumers, this is about getting as much money out of consumers as they possibly can.  Epic and the other companies that are protesting the “Apple Tax” aren’t trying to eliminate or even reduce the cost of being in the App Store for themselves.  What they are trying to do is force Apple, either through their own decision, through the courts, or through legislation, to change the way they charge developers for being in the App Store.  They want to do away with the competition from free apps.  They want Apple to change to an approach where any developer that wants to put an app in the App Store has to pay for it, which in turn will eliminate almost all free apps and almost all developers they may have to compete with.  Or better yet, they want to force Apple to allow, or be force to allow, alternate App Stores on every single IOS device so they can stop having to live with the privacy restrictions Apple forces on them.  Then they can get to what they really want, harvesting user data so they can make the user what they think all users should be – the product rather than the customer.

Sorry but you are wrong. Epic did lower the price by 20% if purchased through the online payment system. For instance, 1,000 V-bucks, which is roughly equivalent to $10 in-game Fortnite currency, now costs just $7.99. 

You are very naive if you think that's the case.   This is a stunt to get consumers on their side and nothing more.  If Apple was out of the picture, there is no way they would discount the price.  Why would any company lose out on extra money.   If the market was willing to pay $10 before, why would they lower it for you.  You really think they are nice guys and don't care about making as much money as they can.   Maybe if they make another stand and get rid of other costs such as employee coffee breaks, they will pass that on to us customers too.  Looking forward to it being $6.99

John Gruber pointed out that from the App Store $9.99 price Epic gets ~$7. From the direct to Epic price of $7.99 they get something like $7.75 after payment processing fees.

So as @Altivec88 says, when they make it $6.99 (to eliminate the "Apple Tax") and eat the cost of payment processing then they'll be sacrificing some of what they're already getting and can be judged accordingly.

Let's also think about Fortnite being a knock-off of "Player Unknown's Battlegrounds" while we're examining Epic's motives and character. While we're at it, think about the business reasons for having "in-game currency" that does not mimic any fiat currency users might be familiar with - research has shown that (much like with credit cards) customers will pay more when they are distracted from calculations involving cash.

Further to this, I can't believe how many general users are being fooled by this thinking that prices will drop.   Companies such as Epic have people hired specifically to figure out what the market is willing to pay for their products.    Since they chose the disgusting loot box method with in game currency,  they even get to control and manipulate the value of the currency.   An exaggerated example would be, they offer a 50% discount to look good but magically newer items that are for sale cost twice as much.  So although people are tricked into thinking they are getting a deal, in reality they are paying the same.  As mentioned, that was an exaggerated example, they do this staggered, slowly and over time so it doesn't look so obvious.  The point being, they control the value of the virtual currency so what they charge in real currency is irrelevant.

The bottom line is every company wants to maximize their profits.  So if they know little Timmy is willing to pay 10 real dollars for that costume, it will eventually creep up to be the virtual equivalent of $10 regardless if Apple is takes a cut or not.   Apple's expense is no different than any other expense they have.  It would be no different if they pulled the same stunt to get rid of employee coffee breaks.  Get the customers on their side by saying we will cut the price by a dollar.  Little Timmy will be happy that day, but big CEO knows Timmy will pay $10,  so over time and a little manipulation, it will end up back at $10.  This is a publicity stunt to make Timmy think he is going to save big if he helps them go against Apple.  For the short term he will, but once Apple is gone, prices will go back in line with the Moto every company has "maximize profit based on what the market is willing to pay"

I can understand developers wanting this to happen but I don't understand the general public siding with these companies because they think prices will go down.  Prices will end up being the same in the long term regardless.  So you are gaining nothing but you are losing a lot.   Security of the OS, Security of your information and CC being stored only at one company,  Convenience of not having to shop at 300 different stores to find what you're looking for, etc...

fastasleep said:

altivec88 said:

I wouldn't read too much into it.   There was a reference to a machine with 10 USB3 ports in El-Capitain over a year ago and nothing developed from it.   Since USB3 is considered obsolete to Apple, you will never see this so called 10 USB3 Mac.    

You realize the USB-C ports being used are USB3 as well, technically USB3.1 (which encompasses gen 1 and gen 2) but don't conflate USB-A connectors with the USB3 protocol. 

Yes... USB-3 devices can be used on USB-C but it doesn't work the other way around.  USB-C devices will not work on USB-3.  To further complicate things USB-C devices will work on TB3 but TB3 devices will not work on USB-C even though the connector is exactly the same.

Anyways...  If you are claiming that Apple will be putting in 10 TB3 - USB C ports I think that would be over kill but I'll be more than happy.   I'm thinking 6- TB3/USBC and 4 USB3 would be the more likely scenario.   That is, if they decide to release a MacPro soon.  Maybe we will be talking TB4 and USB D by the time they think the MacPro is a little outdated and in need of a refresh.

But this isn't baseball, its business.   The stock markets react on future potential growth.  If you are having continued negative growth, investors move from your company to one that has positive growth.  You can't just compare Apple to other phone companies, you have to compare them to all companies.  If the new big thing is making plastic marbles and Apple isn't making them, investors move to a company that does make them.  You are naive if you think negative growth is okay to investors just because other companies are having negative growth too

Nobody is saying Apple is doomed and will be shutting down tomorrow.  Right now we are seeing the affects of Tim deciding to put all his eggs in the iPhone basket the past few years.  Its a slow process.  Just now, people are catching on that their other products have been completely neglected.  A lot of damage to their reputation has already occured because of this.  Its still fixable right now if they act quickly but if this neglect continues you can put a fork in their computer division.

I wish you were right but I'm not be disingenuous at all. The MacPros they released in 2013 are the exact same ones they are selling today. No update, no speed bumps, nothing. and to top it all off, they are selling them at the same price as they were in 2013. Meanwhile, Dell, and HP have updated their competing workstations twice in that time. In other words, Intel has updated the processor that goes into the MacPro twice (E5v4 vs E5v2) but Apple chose to ignore to speed bump them.

Don't forget the mini's.   Maybe Apple is trying to take advantage of the Retro trend.   What's old is new again.  Gotta love these vintage new computers.  

Apple should be completely embarrassed of their computer line up.  Next time Tim says that the Mac is very important and that they have an amazing pipeline, he should be booeed off the stage.

Sorry Tim,  I'm out.  Heavy lifting stuff needs Mac Pro's.  The lack of even a mention of their completely outdated machine signifies Apple is out of the Pro Market.  I'm not authorizing another dollar into Apple as I lost trust and feel we will be abandoned in the future.  Starting today we begin our switch over to PC.  Too bad, we like FCPX but not worth the risk of investing time and money on expensive outdated Pro machines.  The lack of Pro desktops means FCPX is aperture in the making.  In other words, just a matter of time before its dead.

Bye Apple.  Best of luck.

That's great for him that he may be able to switch to a laptop.  For a lot of us, that is just not an option.   Why Apple why...?   RIP MacPro as us old pro users scramble to learn the ins and out of windows.   

Here apple. Let me save you some money on R&D. Get the latest processor and graphics card and put it into the Mac Pro case. There...  It took one person 10 seconds and $0 to come up with that brilliant idea.   Maybe they can spare one of their hundred thousand plus employees a few hours to do that instead of pissing off and losing more of your pro buyers every day you wait.