{"id":37040,"date":"2022-09-14T15:57:27","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T19:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=37040"},"modified":"2022-09-18T15:18:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T19:18:36","slug":"gass-on-apple-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/14\/gass-on-apple-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Gassée on Apple Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jean-Louis Gassée<\/a> (tweet<\/a>, Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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I suggested a simpler, sharper statement: Apple makes personal computers, small, medium, and large. Everything else Apple does has but one raison d’être: They push up the volumes and margins of the company’s main hardware products.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

My feeling is that Cook and his team are way ahead of us — or me, anyway. They’ve known for a while that Apple has entered a different era. With no Next Big Thing on the horizon — with Devices in a safe-but-slow incremental upward incline — the company has been compelled to move into conquest mode with its Services. This forced change in priorities has consequences, the compass needle points in a different direction. The reward system, people hired, career opportunities, “How We Do Things Here” culture…everything changes.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

It pains this aging geek to think such thoughts, but I can’t help but assume that Apple will evolve into a different sort of company.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Dave B<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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This has already been apparently for a while in software.<\/p>\n

Look at apps like Apple Music and the TV app. Those apps are not built for the user; they’re built like billboards to sell the music & tv services.<\/p>\n

This shift in Apple’s North Star has already begun and it’s worrisome.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Michael Love<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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I agree, the problem is that Apple isn’t actually that good at making services and most of their services profit comes from some combination a) rent-seeking lock-in, b) being installed by default, or c) system integration unavailable to third parties.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Ken Kocienda<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Company missions speak to potential employees as much as to prospective customers. If the CEO always talks about services, it will attract people who want to work on that as a mission. It also drive away people who want to work on a different mission, like making great products.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n