1STnTENDERBITS

Notsofast said:

wizard69 said:

entropys said:

Reminds of the eighties when those Japanese executives decided they wanted to get into Hollywood. 

Put it me in the half who hates Apple making content. Competing with their customers.

It isn’t so much Apple making content but rather Apple not knowing how to work with content creators! Apple could easily derive movie scripts from some of the writers that have created E-Books over the years.  The problem is one needs $$$$, lots of $$$$ really, to produce a movie from start to finish vs writing a book that is often done by a single person with no budget.  I kinda see this as Apple financing production not creating content.  

Now given all of that I'm not sure if Apple even has the right people in place to pick a project to throw money at.  In the end they need to select more winners than losers.   They literally have two dragons to slay, one is finding the right content and the other is finding the right team to put that to film.  We have all seen rehashed content where one version of a myth comes out far better on the big screen than another.  

LOL--Apple's video team doesn't know how to work with content creators?  Time to read up on what's been going on so you can relax.  Apple is going all in and has hired the top people in the industry to work for Apple Video, from Paramount, Sony Pictures, Disney, Amazon Video, Hulu, and Netflix, etc., including the folks who have made lots of the most highly acclaimed movies and television series, such as Breaking Bad, The Shield, etc. 

I don't think the problem is Apple having the right people.  They seem to have no problem hiring industry talent.  The problem, if rumors are true, is letting the talent do their jobs.   If any of this is true:
""Tim Cook is giving notes and getting involved," one producer told the Post. "They are making big changes, firing and hiring new writers. There's a lack of clarity on what they want."

Reportedly one of Tim Cook's repeated notes given to producers is "Don't be so mean!" and Apple seemingly wants only positive views of technology."
That's not good at all.  Everything about that behavior spells failure.  Hire good people and let them do their job.  I don't think micromanaging ever lead to success in entertainment.

StrangeDays said:

1STnTENDERBITS said:

Huawei...
/looks at iPhone 11 renders
/looks at Pixel 4 leaks
{shakes head slowly} 

You're honestly touting that knockoff's ability for design? "Are you sure about that?" Some of their greatest hits:

I didn't tout anything about their design. I jokingly implied both Apple and Google were inspired by copied Huawei's square camera module design.  Looking at the images you provided... is it your opinion that Huawei copied elements of that phone from Apple?  If so, I'd agree somewhat on the rear.  The front though?  Nah, bud.  Apple has never had a phone with that much screen-to-body ratio.  That's a budget Huawei phone btw.  Should have chosen the Huawei Mate 20 Pro because the front of that flagship actually does copy the notch.  Ah, but then we would have seen the inspiration for my joke wouldn't we?  The headphones are obvious knockoffs, but we're discussing phones.  

It's obvious all of the OEM's  - including Apple - borrow from each other.  That square camera module is a Huawei inspiration that Apple and Google are going to use apparently.  You trying to throw shade at Huawei doesn't change that.  

Huawei...
/looks at iPhone 11 renders
/looks at Pixel 4 leaks
{shakes head slowly}

...[thinks] this is why they want to ban us.

Article: "The follow-up to the Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL, the Pixel 4..."
The Pixel 4 is the follow up to the Pixel 3.  The 3a and 3aXL was the launch of Google's mid range phones, not a follow up to the Pixel 3.
 

muthuk_vanalingam said:

1STnTENDERBITS said:

lkrupp said:

Now Apple’s app store policies are under attack both here and elsewhere. Supporters of Apple’s app store like to claim that third party app stores will open the floodgates to spyware, malware, and all manner of nastiness. They also claim Android is already there but we never see objective reports of just how many Android users have had their bank accounts emptied out, their private photos stolen, or their devices locked down by ransomware. Where are those statistics? If this comes to past will there really be a thriving third party app market? How many developers will actually choose to distribute their apps in third party app stores rather than Apple’s official one? Are there thriving third party app stores for Android because I’ve never heard of one other the Google’s own store. The fake techies are always pounding their chest over SIDE LOADING!!!

Popular app stores for Android: Play Store, Amazon App Store. OEM app stores from Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and others.  Major Chinese App stores like Tencent's MyApp, Baidu's Mobile Assistant, 360 Mobile Assistant. Xiaomi also has a dedicated Game Center App Store.  There are many more large players in the Android app universe, and a ton more medium and small players.  That revenue pie gets split 6 ways from Sunday.  That's one of the reasons US and EU regulators are looking at Apple.  iOS revenue gets split one way and one way only.   

Take out China, the MAJORITY of Android App downloads are done through Google Play store only. Amazon's App store - should be dormant by now, given that they have stopped making phones for last 3-4 years. Samsung's is not a comprehensive one as far as I know. There are few select apps, developed specifically for Samsung phones out there. But even then, Google play store is present in ALL of Samsung's phones (except China, where they have miniscule presence) and majority of Apps are installed in Samsung's phones through Google play store only. Bottom line is - Other App stores exist for namesake only outside of China.

My own personal experience with side loading of Apps/Games - I remember installing (side loading) .apks of few Apps/Games back in 2014 in my first Android phone. But I have NOT side loaded ANY apps/games in the last 4.5 years in any of the Android phones. Only recently, I tried to install Google Camera app's apk in my phone unsuccessfully for about an hour and gave up. Only in that 1 hour window, I had enabled the sideload option in my phone. Otherwise, it is disabled always. So I am leaning towards lkrupp's view on this - There is NO need for another App store as far as iOS is concerned, and sideloading is a thing of past even in Android world. It is definitely NOT needed in 2019 let alone future, considering the practical advantages (Trust, Security) of installing only through the official app store.

For the sake of conversation, sure take out China.  Realistically, you can't... and shouldn't.  Take out China and there's really no sense in discussing the topic. Trying to exclude a huge part of Android to make a point makes no sense.  Amazon's app store has plenty of apps for their Fire tablets.  Samsung's app store is still well known and thriving on it's platform.  Being comprehensive wasn't a component of lkrupp's question.  He asked if there were any other thriving app stores besides the Play Store.  The answer is undoubtedly yes. 

You're entitled to your opinion regarding alternative app stores.  I think it's wrong but, hey, opinions amirite?  Having a choice is not a bad thing.  The market should decide if an alternative app store is worth exploring.   

gatorguy said:

1STnTENDERBITS said:

gatorguy said:

foregoneconclusion said:

SpamSandwich said: Where’s the conflict of interest if the prior association was divulged and it no longer exists?

Conflict of interest = potential for bias. He doesn't need to be currently lobbying for Google/Apple or hiding his lobbying career with Google/Apple in order to be viewed as potentially biased in an antitrust case involving those specific companies. 

It's been about 12 years since he had any connection to those two but you are correct it's about appearances more so than an ability to be non-biased.

It's been 12 years since he's worked with those companies in an official capacity.  We have no idea his connection to the people he worked with at each company.  I still have relationships with former co-workers from more than 20 years ago.  Some good, some not so much.  Nothing good can come of his participation.  The specter of bias, for or against, would always be a part of any proceeding he'd be heading.

Heck we don't know if the people heading this up might be Google haters and long-time Apple fans or vice-versa. One or some with influence could be one of the irrational/uninformed Apple or Android trolls we run into once in awhile. We don't know if this is politically influenced, meant to pressure the techs into "voluntary" cooperation, or driven by real antitrust concerns for consumers. Who knows?

We're trusting everyone involved in the decision-making process to be non-biased but there's no assurances they are since we wouldn't have any way to know. Personally I think Delrahim might be the least of anyone's concerns. Everyone is watching him for signs of bias. What do we know about anyone else, who they've worked for in the past, who their friends are now, what their personal opinions are of Google and Apple, etc.? Nothing.

True we don't know anything about anyone connected to this... 'cept one person: Delrahim.  We know he was employed by Google and Apple.  We know his employment dealt specifically with anti-trust issues.  Would those relationships affect his judgement? IDK. Is it worth the risk to find out?  Nope. Especially when we have a way to avoid it.  It's why recusal is a thing.  Speculating about unknown motivations of unknown entities is folly and ultimately useless.  Speculation about someone with a known relationship to affected parties, who can materially affect events is relevant...  There is no upside to Delrahim presiding over anything related to Apple and Google.  It introduces unnecessary complication where none has to be.