Apple Event tomorrow. Do people still care?
It is 8:17pm at the time of writing this sentence. I've scanned things in passing, but am only now actually certain that an Apple event is happening tomorrow. I follow a ton of tech writers, so it is a little amusing that I'm only just becoming aware of it. And that I'm not being made aware of it through those channels. I actually hit an article on it in my news app. That isn't to say that those I follow on Twitter aren't talking about the event at all. But it does indicate that they are talking about it far less than usual. I don't catch every tweet, but usually it is hard not to know when a big event is going on for any of Apple, Google or Microsoft in my Twitter feed.
So, back to the article. Firstly, the biggest problem is the first sentence of the first point which labels the iPhone 6 release as the biggest since the phones inception. All they did was buckle to pressure and release two, both larger, screen sized devices. Lets face it... THAT is the "big" important difference between that and the prior model. There are a ton of other features, but a year later, the only thing people seem to remember/care about is the screen size. If THAT is the biggest thing they can do and this event is LESS than THAT... it kind of explains the lack of hype.
Apple TV. God I wish people would just let these things die. Problem 1, any one who can justify splurging on an Apple TV unit has a Smart TV and doesn't need it. Problem 2, smart TVs are dumb. Problem 3 Apple TV is just another Smart TV.
Adding apps will change nothing. A number of Android boxes have done this for YEARS. Not only has the trend not caught on to the point that if you pooled all such Android boxes sold together it still wouldn't be considered a market success, but also, no individual such unit has claimed ANY success AT ALL on the merit of apps.
This feels like the Apple Watch all over again. There is absolutely no indication that there would be any sense to such a move. There is no reason in hell it should succeed. And it is a market that is only proven as a failure. Do we really think Apple coming to this market will change a damn thing? Oh WAIT!!! They're already in that market. And they aren't a raging success EITHER. And this change would also be meaningless.
Bigger iPad = Enterprise? I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS. It IS NOT screen size that has stopped iPads from making it in the enterprise. In fact, the devices are already in the enterprise, just not in any approved/widespread way. And at the present pace they NEVER will be. Apple has the WORST track record for addressing issues, despite having the most reliable vehicle. I won't forget one of the Java bugs where Apple's solution was to simply not allow anyone to use Java until Oracle fixed it. You try and justify THAT to an enterprise when their mission critical software is Java and they only connect to the internet to get the very updates that broke their systems. And that was on OS X.
In fact, we are a long way off adoption of ANY tablet as an enterprise device. Even the Surface Pro 3 doesn't have widespread adoption here and it is a 1st party product running the #1 used enterprise OS in the world. Why not? Go drop your Surface Pro on the floor and find out what the repair cost is. Try the same thing with an iPad. And then lastly with a business class laptop. The iPad and SP3 will probably mean a wholesale replacement of the device if the screen broke. The devices aren't designed to be dissembled which means most IT departments will also write off the drives any lost work, data or IP. The business grade laptop will have every individual part replaceable, hard drives are easily accessible and easily transferred between devices in more major accidents and the drives have free fall sensors and other safety measures in place to help protect data. No serious IT department would put ANY tablet, even a ruggedized one in an office environment.
I could probably type my fingers off indicating more deficiencies in iOS as an enterprise grade product. But really... you can just Google it and find a dozen articles in seconds that have done a more in depth look at this. Apple has come a long way from the days when they were the underdog... but that isn't saying much.
And lastly, blocking online ads. Gold. This will probably be the bit people focus on and praise the most. But this is terrible. To understand you need to realize that most of the sites and services you use for free on a daily basis... are funded by those online ads. Those things you ignore like homeless people in the street which rarely do anything to offend you or hurt you. They make all of those social networking sites, photo storage and sharing sites, Google services, etc... free. If this becomes a huge selling feature, you can expect to slowly see your free sites and services either disappear or switch to a non ad based form of revenue, like subscriptions. We all know how much people love those.
Continuing the homeless people reference... it would be like not paying taxes to cover education because the homeless people pay it for you. The hate ads get is AMAZING. I'm well trained, I can avoid looking at an ad in app or website I've never even seen before with something like a 95% accuracy. I can't remember the last time I actually absorbed the contents of one... let along intentionally clicked on one. I don't need you take away ads for me.
Of course, that is somewhat of a FUD creating argument. It WILL have an impact on the industry. But it likely won't take down the most common sites. Apple products aren't a majority in any segment, even in the US, and this is unlikely to change that. Some smaller sites or some which are currently struggling might take enough of a hit to disappear or be forced to change. But the sites most people care about will likely find supplemental funding through other channels.
It wasn't intended to be FUD though. I made that argument to point out that we vilify ads for no reason. They are, as stated, generally harmless and easily ignored. And as with some of the ways in which we give up our personal data, another way a lot of modern apps and services are funded to the ends of getting quality experiences to users for a non-monetary cost. Making ad blocking a standard feature on a popular device will drive funds away from those ventures.
Also, at the end of the day... what you may find happens is either new mechanisms for delivering ads, or web sites that will refuse to load if their ad content is blocked. So, it could feasibly back fire. And the back fire could make the whole ad situation worse for everyone. But, time will tell.
So, back to the article. Firstly, the biggest problem is the first sentence of the first point which labels the iPhone 6 release as the biggest since the phones inception. All they did was buckle to pressure and release two, both larger, screen sized devices. Lets face it... THAT is the "big" important difference between that and the prior model. There are a ton of other features, but a year later, the only thing people seem to remember/care about is the screen size. If THAT is the biggest thing they can do and this event is LESS than THAT... it kind of explains the lack of hype.
Apple TV. God I wish people would just let these things die. Problem 1, any one who can justify splurging on an Apple TV unit has a Smart TV and doesn't need it. Problem 2, smart TVs are dumb. Problem 3 Apple TV is just another Smart TV.
Adding apps will change nothing. A number of Android boxes have done this for YEARS. Not only has the trend not caught on to the point that if you pooled all such Android boxes sold together it still wouldn't be considered a market success, but also, no individual such unit has claimed ANY success AT ALL on the merit of apps.
This feels like the Apple Watch all over again. There is absolutely no indication that there would be any sense to such a move. There is no reason in hell it should succeed. And it is a market that is only proven as a failure. Do we really think Apple coming to this market will change a damn thing? Oh WAIT!!! They're already in that market. And they aren't a raging success EITHER. And this change would also be meaningless.
Bigger iPad = Enterprise? I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS. It IS NOT screen size that has stopped iPads from making it in the enterprise. In fact, the devices are already in the enterprise, just not in any approved/widespread way. And at the present pace they NEVER will be. Apple has the WORST track record for addressing issues, despite having the most reliable vehicle. I won't forget one of the Java bugs where Apple's solution was to simply not allow anyone to use Java until Oracle fixed it. You try and justify THAT to an enterprise when their mission critical software is Java and they only connect to the internet to get the very updates that broke their systems. And that was on OS X.
In fact, we are a long way off adoption of ANY tablet as an enterprise device. Even the Surface Pro 3 doesn't have widespread adoption here and it is a 1st party product running the #1 used enterprise OS in the world. Why not? Go drop your Surface Pro on the floor and find out what the repair cost is. Try the same thing with an iPad. And then lastly with a business class laptop. The iPad and SP3 will probably mean a wholesale replacement of the device if the screen broke. The devices aren't designed to be dissembled which means most IT departments will also write off the drives any lost work, data or IP. The business grade laptop will have every individual part replaceable, hard drives are easily accessible and easily transferred between devices in more major accidents and the drives have free fall sensors and other safety measures in place to help protect data. No serious IT department would put ANY tablet, even a ruggedized one in an office environment.
I could probably type my fingers off indicating more deficiencies in iOS as an enterprise grade product. But really... you can just Google it and find a dozen articles in seconds that have done a more in depth look at this. Apple has come a long way from the days when they were the underdog... but that isn't saying much.
And lastly, blocking online ads. Gold. This will probably be the bit people focus on and praise the most. But this is terrible. To understand you need to realize that most of the sites and services you use for free on a daily basis... are funded by those online ads. Those things you ignore like homeless people in the street which rarely do anything to offend you or hurt you. They make all of those social networking sites, photo storage and sharing sites, Google services, etc... free. If this becomes a huge selling feature, you can expect to slowly see your free sites and services either disappear or switch to a non ad based form of revenue, like subscriptions. We all know how much people love those.
Continuing the homeless people reference... it would be like not paying taxes to cover education because the homeless people pay it for you. The hate ads get is AMAZING. I'm well trained, I can avoid looking at an ad in app or website I've never even seen before with something like a 95% accuracy. I can't remember the last time I actually absorbed the contents of one... let along intentionally clicked on one. I don't need you take away ads for me.
Of course, that is somewhat of a FUD creating argument. It WILL have an impact on the industry. But it likely won't take down the most common sites. Apple products aren't a majority in any segment, even in the US, and this is unlikely to change that. Some smaller sites or some which are currently struggling might take enough of a hit to disappear or be forced to change. But the sites most people care about will likely find supplemental funding through other channels.
It wasn't intended to be FUD though. I made that argument to point out that we vilify ads for no reason. They are, as stated, generally harmless and easily ignored. And as with some of the ways in which we give up our personal data, another way a lot of modern apps and services are funded to the ends of getting quality experiences to users for a non-monetary cost. Making ad blocking a standard feature on a popular device will drive funds away from those ventures.
Also, at the end of the day... what you may find happens is either new mechanisms for delivering ads, or web sites that will refuse to load if their ad content is blocked. So, it could feasibly back fire. And the back fire could make the whole ad situation worse for everyone. But, time will tell.
Comments
Post a Comment