leavingthebigg

Hey Mike Wuerthele, here is the Twitter link to Marco Arment's tweets about why Google apps are no longer supported by Workflow: 

If I had not read Marco's tweets nearly two weeks ago I would have thought Apple dropped Google app support because it was Google as you had written. Others will just take your writing as truth and blame Apple due to not having a clearer understanding of why app support was dropped. Maybe an update to this article could be provided to clear up what occurred.

"Filed last year, the charges relate to Google's requirement for Android device producers and carriers to preload Google Search and Chrome onto hardware, if they want to use other essential Google products on the device, such as Maps or the Google Play Store. Manufacturers are also pressured to set Google as the default search, and is even offering financial incentives to participate in the program."

This is the part the BT letter does not address since BT is not a device producer. I hope the EU Commission does not miss this very important fact.

Samsung, HTC, LG, etc. are hostages to Google's Android whims. If the producers want access to the Play Store, the producers must adhere to installing the growing list of Google software. This requirement does stifle competition between Android device producers.

Bringing Apple into this fight is solely to distract from the true reason the EU Commission is suing Google. Google claims Android OS is open for device producers to design and develop it as they want, but disallows the producers from having apps on the Play Store unless the producers preload Google's software on their devices.

The fight is about Google's stranglehold on Android device producers not about Apple.

Is the Apple Watch still being called a failed a product in the midst of so many competitors actually having failed or failing products? Also, wasn't market share size considered more important than profit size?

One VERY nice thing about Fitbit's falter admission this close to Apple's earnings announcement is IDC and others will not be able to publish Pro-Fitbit reports hat disparage Apple Watch later today or tomorrow! 😘

anantksundaram said:

I realize that this is a very tough decision.

While part of the obligation of being a global company is to obey local laws (or not compete there at all), it is truly unfortunate that Apple had to do this. The Chinese government restricts US tech firms from operating there in all sorts of insidious ways, restricts free flow of information and knowledge (which also takes a toll on US companies more than most others, given their huge roles in global media and tech), and is pretty draconian -- i.e., no appeals to, say, a fair judiciary -- about its decisions. (Think, e.g., of how Samsung was able to take Apple all the way to SCOTUS and win -- can you imagine that happening in China?).

I am not at all a fan of Trump, but there's one area in which I am truly rooting for him to succeed (and am distressed at the passivity, even supineness, of the US in the past): call out China on its trade, investment, and freedom-of-doing-business policies. Tough luck in the short run if you're a shareholder. I say that as an Apple shareholder (and whose portfolio includes Apple as a sizable part). China will come to the table, and negotiate.

Add: Much as we like to razz Google in these boards, they did have the guts to walk away from Mainland China when something similar happened some years ago where they were asked to turn over information on dissidents and such to the Chinese government. Kudos to them.

Google didn't walk away, Google got kicked out. Google is still out and is now begging to be allowed back in. If Google is allowed back in, it is 100% guaranteed the company will obey Chinese law. 

The NYT wrote about a company in China. That is okay for the NYT to do. The Chinese government responded. Apple had nothing to do with the NYT article. Apple got caught in the middle of a fight that is not its fight. The NYT needs to fight this fight not Apple. The NYT will not own the repercussions of its actions, it will blame Apple. Just watch how insidious the NYT will be towards Apple in the coming days. I have no doubt whatsoever the NYT will whip up freedom of the press to degenerate Apple instead of China. Why? There is more money to be made tarnishing Apple in the USA instead of the Chinese government. and instead of owning its own actions. Keep,in mind the NYT contacted Apple and China. 

As for Trump actually following through with his trade war threat, don't bet on it! Trump products will be prevented from shipping from China. Trump tweeting threats, insults at selected companies will not include his companies. The NYT will not write extensively of this exclusion because it does not want to be on the receiving end of another Trump tweet. So much for freedom of the press.

Apple is fighting its own fight in China. It should not be obligated to fight the fights of other companies. The NYT would not support Apple if China shutdown Apple's ability to hardware manufactured. The NYT would ridicule Apple for not following Chinese law. 

rotateleftbyte said:

This seems to indicate that Apple is doing something right yet an earlier article bemoans the fact that Siri lost out heavily to Alexa.

Perhaps the real fact is that for most Apple users something like Siri/Cortana/Alexa/Hey Google is just not that important in the grand scheme of things.

I and my Twitter followers have decided to call out fake news about Apple. There is a lot of fake news!

When an analyst published a story about Amazon possibly become the first trillion dollar company last week, I showed that to reach $1 trillion Amazon would have an additional Apple's evaluation to close to the $1 trillion mark.

This week Fortune published an article about an analyst claiming Microsoft could become the first $1 trillion company. I immediately contacted the Fortune author and informed her of last week's article. Now waiting for a Fortune update that questions what analysts are reporting.

Another analyst (IDC) claimed Alexa, Echo were the leaders. The author was immediately called out as being wrong.

A lot of people are producing fake news and need to be called out for doing so.