neoncat

Beats said:

Why don’t they go all out and make it bigger than the Grammy’s? Otherwise this is useless and a waste of time and resources.

Because Apple Music doesn't have that kind of influence, even with its obsequious major-label servitude. 

EDIT: Let me expand on my thought. I think Apple, as it often does, likes to position itself as a tastemaker, and does move the needle to an extent. However, the difficulty with music streaming is they're all offering the exact same product. Given that some surveys now show Apple Music in third place behind Amazon Music and, of course, Spotify, it becomes difficult for them to justify their marketing message. It's less "Apple Music: The most important option" and more "Apple Music: For people who find the Apple brand important."

It doesn't make Apple Music a bad service, or offering their own awards unnecessary. But context, in all things. The rising trend of self-released/represented artists and independent music represent an existential threat to companies like Apple (and the Grammy's, for that matter) that are so major-label narrow-focused. I mean, does anyone have a doubt that Taylor Swift is going to win an enormous pile of Grammy Awards? Good for her, it's a fine album, but it's hardly the most essential piece of music produced in 2021. And so it goes with the "Apple Music Awards."

It's now been nearly six months since I sneezed on my iPad® screen. Lacking a proper, Apple-branded cleaning option at the time, I considered simply throwing it away. Luckily, I was distracted by my growing collection of Apple Watch® bands long enough to simply shelve it in hope of a future solution. The announcement of Apple Cleaning Cloth® was a ray of hope, and I placed my order on day one (with the express shipping option for an additional $9). That I may soon be able to put iPad® back in service—fully cleaned—is the best news I've had all year. 

crowley said:

If you actually watched Rossman

Please. None of the needlessly angry regulars here have any interest in ideas that are off-narrative.

That being said, Rossman's presentation style harms a good message, in the same way iFixIt's recent four-alarm antics took attention off a genuinely important issue and instead put it on them, in the same way Apple's alarmist lobbying against RTR is specious and pandering.

This is one of those situations where there's literally no one to root for. Apple, iFixIt, the many YouTubers shaking a clenched fist... Every single one of them is wrapping themselves in the flag and calling their cause moral and just. I trust none of them to represent what's the right choice for me. It's all controlling the narrative first, customers second. 

Squid Games nothing. I snicker that Ted Lasso, moonshot savior of Apple's multi-billion-dollar investment in ATV+, is bested/nearly bested by reruns of old-school network police procedurals (Criminal Minds, NCIS) created by the usual suspects (Bellisario, Davis). Oh, and a 30-year-old sitcom (Seinfeld). 

Err, good job, Apple? I mean, there's nothing wrong with Ted Lasso. It's a fine show. It deserves its accolades. But that a quality show is so handily bested by network television garbage, tells you the problem isn't the content. It's the whole service that people don't find particularly essential, interesting, or worthwhile. Not for a single show, anyway.

Wait, glued together? It really *is* an Apple product!