michael scrip

22july2013 said:

I think AppleInsider should write an article listing all the services that Apple provides developers for its 30% fee.

Here's a good list:

- we developers get up to 1 petabyte of user storage via CloudKit 100% free. Bear notes app does this and they manage 0 servers for their subscription-paid users.
- we could submit 1000 app and app updates in a year which translates to Apple paying about 1000 man-hours worth of paychecks at about $30/hr or ~$30k for app review
- we have free access to using Apple Maps instead of paying Google tons of money to use their mapping API keys (for those high volume users). this saves Yelp and Facebook a ton of money as well as small developers.
- we get many more new features every single year via the SDK compared to Android (like ARKit, Core ML, SwiftUI, Vision, etc... just to name a few).
- we get global distribution for free (including China, you know, where Google Play doesn't exist. also developers generally have to setup their own servers in China because of the great firewall, but if you used CloudKit, it just works without any extra setup).
- we get app store curated editorial with a chance to reach front page in front of 500 million customers a week.
- we have no credit card fees or international taxes to worry about
- Apple provides support to customers asking for refund for an app and app store support in general
- Testflight service is free (for public and private testing)
- app store automatically creates many different binaries of our app and distributes device-optimized versions to each customer. a 1 gigabyte app with many different permutations of versions across hundreds of servers around the world means Apple is hosting about several terabytes in the cloud for us from one single app
- push notifications/push notification sandbox servers
- Web SDK version of cloudkit/mapkit so that you can use it for a web version of your app
- Apple sign in
- Mac notarization service which improves trust by the user for downloading an app from the web
- yearly major releases of Xcode with new features
- analytics dashboard and crash reporting
- and the list goes on and on.

From here:  https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/epic-games-unlikely-to-win-injunction-in-ongoing-fortnite-battle-with-apple-jury-trial-possible.2257511/page-10?post=28966869#post-28966869

AppleInsider said:

Virtually all of the established PC makers seemed to be evaluating how to get out of the business, even as Apple's premium-class Mac sales gained significant new ground. 

That's something I was thinking about the other day.

Apple has been selling Macs for over 30 years. But how many PC manufacturers have come and gone during that time?

Either they go out of business... or they are in bad enough shape that they get acquired by another (possibly failing) PC maker.  Hell... I remember when HP was talking about getting out of the PC business because they couldn't make money. And they were one of the big ones!  Times are tough when you sell a commodity item.  There are dozens of companies making very similar PCs with little differentiation. And they are all competing (price dropping) with each other.  No one wins.

Then there's Apple... who is the only maker of the Macintosh.  Sure they don't sell the volume of all Windows PC makers combined... but Apple sells more than enough.

And the same thing is happening in smartphones... except there are hundreds of Android phone makers.  They're all fighting with each other to sell you an "Android phone" while slashing prices to unsustainable levels. No one wins.

Then there's Apple... who is the only maker of the iPhone.  Sure they don't sell the volume of all Android OEMs combined... but Apple sells more than enough.

And if you think about it... no one is really competing with Apple since they cannot sell the same things Apple is selling.  They'll sell you an Android phone or Windows laptop.... but that doesn't mean a lot if you're looking for an iPhone or Mac laptop.

soundsinamotion said:

My question unfortunately would be, wasting paper is much cheaper than buying iPads for the whole production crew and cast members. While I am 100% for saving paper this just seems like an overly expensive way to waste money rather than paper. 

I think this has more to do with convenience rather than just paper-reduction.

As the article said... the production "Pretty Woman" was updating 30 pages per day... for 12 weeks (84 days)... among 50 people.

You're right... paper is cheap.  But distributing 126,000 pieces of paper over 3 months is a pain in the ass.  And there could be errors/delays if some people see the new pages and others don't.

But with this method... all 50 people would see the updates instantly on their iPads.  And they can incorporate music and video in addition to hand-written notes.

Yes... 50 iPads aren't cheap.  $329 minimum buy-in.  Plus Apple Pencil.  Plus AppleCare.  Plus a case.  You could be spending $550 per person.

That's $28,000.  But at least the production company can keep using the iPads for future productions.

It might sound expensive... but so is time lost if everyone isn't on the same page due to errors and/or miscommunications.

Again... I don't think this is necessarily about saving paper... it's about having a smooth production.

The $28,000 cost of iPads isn't even that high on the list.  To put it into perspective... the production "Kinky Boots" spent $150,000 on just hair and makeup. (1.1% of their $13.5 million budget)

And they spent $350,000 on just the costumes (2.5% of their $13.5 million budget)

Suddenly those iPads don't sound too bad...

aaronj said:

And I'm not sure that I would call 7.1% global market share a "niche" market.  Granted, I'm far from being a business man.  But I would think that most companies in most industries would be happy to have that sort of global share.  Or am I wrong?

It's always been difficult to compare Apple to any other company (or an entire industry).  Apple simply does things differently than everyone else.

Case in point... Apple's laptops start at $900.

But everyone else has laptops that start at $250.  

It doesn't take a genius to understand why the other guys sell more units and therefore captures more quarterly market share than Apple.

To your point... I don't think it bothers Apple that they have "only" 7.1% of the computer market. They're selling exactly what THEY want to sell.  Apple is the only company selling Macintosh computers... while everyone else is selling Windows computers.  That goes back to Apple doing things differently.

If you think about it... Apple has 100% of the Macintosh market...  a market that no one else is allowed in     

But there's more than just the market share percentage.  

Would you rather be Dell with 14% quarterly market share selling low-margin $300 laptops?

Or would you rather be Apple with 7% quarterly market share selling high-margin $1,000 laptops?

The average selling price for a Windows laptop is $450... the average selling price for an Apple laptop is $1,200.  I think Apple is playing the game they want to play.

Beats said:

Hard to tell when someone is joking or serious online but this argument springs up often. 

To be fair... you introduced word "overpriced" into this thread... and I further derailed the conversation by talking about the millionaire who is the subject of the article. My bad...

But anyway... you're right.  It's amazing all the things we can do with the device in our pockets.

It reminds me of this Radio Shack ad from the 90's.  Almost every device on this page can be replaced in some form with the iPhone today!



https://www.huffpost.com/entry/radio-shack-ad_b_4612973

Beats said:

michael scrip said:

Beats said:

And people still claim iPhones are overpriced.......

It's funny because we're talking about a guy who gets paid $10,000,000 a year as a TV host... and he has two iPhones and an iPad.

Yes so iPhones are overpriced.....

/s

$10,000,000 a year and still can't afford a television camera?

The point wasn't that he had 2 of them but how versatile these things are. Never in the history of man has a product been this versatile. A computer and a camera of that caliber alone top the price of an iPhone 11 Pro.

Oh I agree with you... I was just being silly...

iPhones are not overpriced.  If they were... there wouldn't be a billion of them out in circulation.

wood1208 said:

Since IOS 10 will let you remove native/stock Apps and replace with the 3rd party Apps than iphone SE 16GB storage for the normal usage will not be as problematic as we think now. Those with lots of Apps,photos,videos will go with 64GB iphone SE so no debate their.

Even if you have a 16GB iPhone... the stock apps aren't anywhere close to taking up a lot of space.

I've seen people with 5,000 photos on their phone.  THAT'S the problem.

It's not the Calculator app or Tips app taking up all that space.  

Beats said:

And people still claim iPhones are overpriced.......

It's funny because we're talking about a guy who gets paid $10,000,000 a year as a TV host... and he has two iPhones and an iPad.

mike1 said:

mknelson said:

Slower speeds of chip card transactions? Do you guys process them "weird" in the US?

Insert card, hit OK, enter PIN, done. Doesn't really take any more time than signing.

The process is more like...

Take wallet out of pocket/purse.
Remove card from wallet and insert in POS device.
Stand there for 10 seconds with open wallet in hand.
Enter PIN if required. (Stores have minimums that require a PIN, so it's not always ncessary)
Stand there are another 5-10 seconds with wallet in hand and wait for annoying sound telling you you can remove the card.
Insert card in wallet and replace in pocket/purse.

Exactly.

Using Apple Pay on my phone is a one-handed operation. That's my favorite part of it.

Sure... it's not exactly difficult to remove your debit card with one hand and hold your wallet with the other... but it's using 100% more hands!

And I love efficiency!

bestkeptsecret said:

9secondkox2 said:

They named it “worldwide video?”

seriously?

must have been trying to fly under the radar. 

Thats such a microsoft name. Like “windows media player.”

Nothing really wrong with "Windows Media Player". It pretty much lets you know right off the bat what the app does.

If you tell someone who hasn't been exposed to the apps before, "QuickTime" and "Windows Media Player", chances are that he'd probably know what WMP does but may struggle a bit with QT.

That said, I agree with you on your first statement. "Worldwide Video" doesn't sound very good. Heck, even "Apple Video Worldwide" sounds better!

Let's not forget Apple's most creative name: App Store

BTW... when I hear "Apple Video Worldwide"... I think of Step Brothers... "Prestige Worldwide"