tundraboy

DAalseth said:

EDIT: Yes I know laptops are essentially the same thing. Somehow users seem to treat laptops better than desktop keyboards. Not sure why, but over the years I replaced a lot of keyboards that got destroyed by users in various creative ways. Wasn't nearly as much of a problem with a laptop.

I think it's human nature to be more careful if you know that the damage you can cause through carelessness is going to be bigger and more expensive?

What this tells me is that Google's own market research is indicating that privacy (thanks partly to Apple putting it front and center) is turning into a big concern for smartphone buyers (especially the more affluent and hence profitable segment) and so they're is launching a major fig leaf operation to make it look like they care.  Of course they're also signaling their customers, i.e. advertisers, that it's all cosmetic.

danox said:

GeorgeBMac said:

What this guy misses is that, while Tesla is in the middle of and leading a new, bleeding edge industry, most of Apple's products are in mature industries -- so the spectacular great leaps forward are limited.

But, on the flip side of that:  What spectacular, great leaps has Tesla made recently?

What leaps? fit, finish, brakes, steering? the first adopters have Teslas, the next group of buyers will have more choice, that’s when the wheel comes off the cart.

The group won’t put up with this:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smGds4oz7cw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3daQ2HSg5pg

Sheesh. This kind of QC is straight out of 70s Detroit. Nobody at Tesla ever heard of this guy named Deming?  What's going on is Silicon Valley beta-testing mentality transplanted into a car company.  And they have dreams of scaling up to rival Toyota. They won't have enough people to handle the idiosyncratic post-delivery fixes for millions of customers.  What a contrast from Toyota, Honda, etc. where QC is built into their products and processes from the ground up, not an afterthought to be dealt with later.  Tesla customers really must be cult members if they are willing to put up with this kind of crap on a $100K car.

And let's not talk about the people Tesla killed by installing software that is not adequately tested for safety.  Well, actually the deaths are considered a part of their safety testing.  (Beta testing mentality, remember?)

Will lots of people suddenly start buying expensive Peloton bikes just because Apple buys Peloton?  Will lots of people suddenly sign up for those expensive subscriptions just because Apple buys Peloton?  (Especially considering that Peloton revenues spiked primarily and overwhelmingly because of the pandemic and is now coming back to earth?)

The obvious answer is No and No.

Peloton only makes sense for Apple at fire sale prices.  Certainly not at $12-15 billion.  No dead end business is worth that.

Imagine paying Proctor and Gamble for a jug of Tide, then you pick it up at Walmart.

Or imagine going to Walmart demanding that they accept payment through ApplePay.  Of course they will decline.  So do you now sue Walmart expecting to win?

This is the inanity of the ruling that Apple should allow alternative payment methods.

And also posters keep saying monopoly, monopoly, monopoly about Apple.  In exactly what product does Apple have a monopoly?  Certainly not the iPhone.  The Apple App Store is not a monopoly.  They are not the only app store in the smartphone market.  There's a whole segment where they're not even competing in, the segment called 'Android smart phones'.  If you say they are monopolizing the iPhone app market, then you have to first pass a law that says companies cannot have monopolies on their own-brand products.  Which is of course, absurd.