New Apple Lust Objects for 2010 and onward

who else actually does any apple-related analysis worth a shit? none of the sub-grubers do, i don't think. siracusa, i guess! but he doesn't write often, and i don't listen to atp that much

there isn't that much high quality apple writing consistently coming out of the same place, i guess. gruber, siracusa, thompson.

The Asymco guy is good. Ben Evans isn't.

caek do you think this has big ramifications for apple ~at large~ beyond being interesting to apple-watchers? I get that they have a very recognisably distinct way of dealing with press and pr but that's always struck me as more corporate culture than an autocratic head of pr. Does her leaving change much?

Both Bens are awful post-MBA types who seem to miss why anybody would actually care (or get excited) about tech.

Fine if you're an FT reader but even then they're just Rob Enderles who say things the Grubes of the world agree with.

http://time.com/91918/apple-hdtv/

i think this is worth paying attention (the pr thing) just because people, esp apple detractors, are always going on and on about how apple's success is alllll about how good they are at marketing and PR and nothing else. so if you believe that, it holds that the departure of their pr chief is notable.

totes

mainly i'm just reacting badly to gruber writing the "The times, they are a-changin’.", sitting back and thinking "nailed it", as though it had some explanatory power.

http://valleywag.gawker.com/goodbye-to-katie-cotton-the-queen-of-evil-tech-pr-1573505515

D:

She was the very best at her job, as proved by all the journohacks who gladly sucked on her tit of lies and spin, from their elite imperial guard—Goldman, Gruber, Moss, Pogue, Swisher, etc.—to the countless clone stormtroopers populating the web. An army of hacks commanded by a ruthless pair.

Anyone else get the impression that the "tech journalists to pay attention to" re: Apple are basically their second-party PR department? Like their official in-house policy was to deny everything and then give "tips" to friendly writers who say nothing but good things or temper negative things with nuance that still paints Apple well?

hell, for all I know, they spread rumors of different products they might be working on through those channels and check public sentiment on those stories to decide what to actually bring to market

I think any "public sentiment" you could glean from the people who read those same friendly writers would be way off base compared to the market as a whole. Imagine what Apple would really be doing if they catered to the daring fireball t-shirt brigade.

they don't need to! they have gruber.

in the c4news video embedded in that valleywag piece, the other apple pr is the most uncanny malcolm tucker clone

mainly i'm just reacting badly to gruber writing the "The times, they are a-changin’.", sitting back and thinking "nailed it", as though it had some explanatory power.

Apple's PR team does the least of any PR team in the world and could be replaced by a voicemail that says, "No comment" and "the suicides at the factory are down this month."

why the fuck would Apple buy *Beats*?

that actually makes sense, beats is wildly popular and successful for some reason

Yeah but there's no technology there so they'd basically just be buying the brand. Which you'd think was the one area Apple wasn't lacking, no?

Wow this is gonna be a shit acquisition

thanks for calling me and telling me this was happening

Yeah but there's no technology there so they'd basically just be buying the brand. Which you'd think was the one area Apple wasn't lacking, no?

― stet, Thursday, May 8, 2014 6:35 PM

they make headphones and streaming software. insert "apple" and "beats" for "they."

which means:

why the fuck would Apple buy *Beats*?

― stet, Thursday, May 8, 2014 6:24 PM

basically

like, do you need them in order to get streaming rights? i thought you already had streaming software working. and i thought you already sold a million headphones to people with iphones and ipods.

https://twitter.com/PedroPithan/status/464532092035301376

Wow this is gonna be a shit acquisition

― 龜, Thursday, May 8, 2014 7:01 PM

can you come on my podcast and say this?

i don't have a podcast

but if it did i'd invite dayo on just to say that

brb tweeting 2 do

that actually makes sense, beats is wildly popular and successful for some reason

the headphones are successful. I think the streaming has been a big flop, no?

it's a flop but it's not half bad and would be a good fit w/iTunes Store IMO. The curated stuff on their service is decent.

beats headphones just make me sad, though

Ah. Already forgot about the streaming service. But if Apple hasn't been working on their own streaming service, that's pretty alarming!

iTunes Radio already exists, it just is inconsequential

no, i think i've read that they have

i got the impression somewhere

not just itunes radio

anyway, this doesn't make sense to me

I mean, it can't be for the HEADPHONES!

You can stream purchased music to your Apple TV

i think this whole thing is just to troll markers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaxZ8XsN0xo

Their headphones must have a huge profit margin, because everything I've read on them says the audio is crap.

Maybe Apple just like crap headphones?

Somewhere I read that beats cost $14 to make. What a business!

I would wager most headphones around what Beats sell for cost $14 or less to make

Beats sound like shit not because they're made from cheap materials (in fact all that injection molded polycarbonate w/e probably costs more than their competitors), it's because they're tuned to sound like shit

Not the first time Apple has fallen in love with bad audio

You can still find a BOSE directly across from every Apple store in existence

their earbuds really should have been better.

Pro tip: The $70 Apple In-Ear Buds with Dual Drivers are actually really good

too much money for me to spend on that. although i did buy sennheiser's once and sold them on amazon a year or so later

i don't care about headphones. i'm wearing $30 sony things right now that are good enough.

No they're not