Notsofast

22july2013 said:

One thing I'm always puzzled about is how Apple knows the correct amount to compensate its game publishers if they aren't tracking what users do. (Same for News, Music, etc.)

It's because you assume that anyone needs to know what INDIVIDUALS are doing, versus the aggregate use. Apple clearly knows from it's servers how many people are clicking on a news article or magazine or game, etc., but they don't collect that Joe Blow read that article.

People don't seem to understand the massive scale of Apple's "cloud" needs. They are pushing 1.5 BILLION devices around the world. They have the second largest music streaming service in the world. They have the largest App store in the world.  They have the largest news app service in the world with 100 million monthly active users. They have a massive streaming service called iTunes where people download movies, shows, etc. They have the largest podcast service in the world, etc. etc.  Yes, they have and are continually expanding their data farms, but spending a pittance to lease more space from AWS is both understandable and a tiny portion of their needs.

smaffei said:

Are you kidding me?!?

Siri is dead last when it comes to usefulness (and accuracy) in voice assistants.

Thanks for a FUD piece of journalism.

While accuracy is just one aspect of a useful assistant,  you and Alexa are not as accurate as you should be.   Here's the latest on accuracy.

https://loupventures.com/annual-digital-assistant-iq-test-siri-google-assistant-alexa-cortana/

What many are missing is that Apple needs to be in services, not just for the revenue it brings, but to defend its ecosystem.  As other giant companies tie up rights to TV shows and movies, along with sports, if Apple didn't offer streaming video, they would risk losing huge numbers of people to other platforms. 

22july2013 said:

When you say there's no sharing of the card, I have a question. Does that mean it's against the rules or physically impossible to share a card? I imagine that an iPhone can be programmed with multiple people's fingers to the same touch-based login. How can Apple stop multiple people from using the same card?

Of course, anyone can share their card with anyone they want.  What's not allowed, at least for now, is a shared "account."  Which means you can't have multiple people each having a their own card for the same account as you can with other credit cards- it's one account, one person.