{"id":6859,"date":"2017-05-03T15:20:55","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T15:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/?p=6859"},"modified":"2017-05-03T15:20:55","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T15:20:55","slug":"technology-my-fundamental-misunderstanding-on-why-apple-has-any-competition-in-any-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2017\/05\/03\/technology-my-fundamental-misunderstanding-on-why-apple-has-any-competition-in-any-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Technology: My fundamental misunderstanding on why Apple has any competition in any sector"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:3041,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/stratechery.com\\\/2017\\\/apples-china-problem&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;new&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:3042,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.com\\\/Macintosh-Naked-Truth-Scott-Kelby\\\/dp\\\/0735712840&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;new&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:3043,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/archive.org\\\/stream\\\/mac_Macintosh..._The_Naked_Truth_2002\\\/Macintosh..._The_Naked_Truth_2002_djvu.txt&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>As I read Ben Thompson\u2019s note about <a href=\"https:\/\/stratechery.com\/2017\/apples-china-problem\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple\u2019s China Problem<\/a>, this line really stuck out:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Naturally, WeChat works the same on iOS as it does on Android. That, by extension, means that for the day-to-day lives of Chinese there is no penalty to switching away from an iPhone. Unsurprisingly, in stark contrast to the rest of the world, according to a report earlier this year only 50% of iPhone users bought another iPhone in 2016<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I grapple with a challenging mental dilemma which is to accept the fact that switching between Android and iOS YoY can be so easy or in the fact that Ben and others are wrong. The numbers don\u2019t lie though. I read iOS user\u2019s claims that a new Samsung phone is way better than the last iPhone and a lot of them switch only to return to Apple a year or two later. WTF?<\/p>\n<p>I grew up as a Mac User \/ Apple Fanboy. I still consider myself a fanboy. 20 years ago, Mac Users were the misfits who made an unpopular choice among friends and colleagues to buy Apple products. They were forced to use Microsoft Software instead of ClarisWorks because they needed office compatibility. Some even ran virtual Windows environments to get by and we resorted to never filing an IT support ticket knowing leadership would just tell us to switch to a PC. Mac Users would buy iPods, iPhones and Apple Wireless Access Points but at the core, it was the Mac. over the years, Apple had iPhone &amp; Mac Users as two different groups. I understand this clearly because some people don\u2019t need a desktop PC. An iPhone is all they need.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This strange thing to me is that there are people who are Apple customers this year and suddenly not a year later. This goes against my understanding of Apple\u2019s ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Are these users buying a MacBook Pro, iPhone, iPad, Apple Time Capsule (argument is more moot after 2016), Apple external display, a Brenthaven bag, Apple Leather Case, AirPods and an iCloud Subscription along with thousands of dollars in software just to switch to Windows \/ Samsung a year later?<\/p>\n<p>Well, no, that\u2019s fiscally irresponsible. Very few people can afford to do that. Those that can financially afford it likely don\u2019t have the time to shift their habits in such a huge way from one year to the next.<\/p>\n<p>A common theme on this blog is the mainstream nature of computing these days and the silo that is our modern web. Google and Facebook own 95% of the eye-balls and everyone else will fight over the rest or join those two behemoths. This is the case with advertisers, publishers, content creators and merchants. Amazon has held out strongly but it\u2019s probably because Facebook and Google have yet to make an effort in online retail. It would take a very long time to eat away at what Amazon has done.<\/p>\n<p>Back to Apple, I believe that the cross-platform nature of free applications that allow you to watch what other people are doing with their lives has made Apple more of a commodity for many people. Not all and there is brand-loyalty but it really seems that year after year, users can switch iOS to Android without many issues. Apple even has their Apple Music product on Android allowing a user to still remain in Apple\u2019s ecosystem with a Beats pair of headphones and Apple Music on a competitor device.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t have anything profound to add here other than it shows to me that the time of Apple Fanboys are over. Buying everything Apple makes and making annual pilgrimages to Macworld or Cupertino is not done anymore. I don\u2019t think the consumers care about design and ecosystem enough to have any sort of brand loyalty. Note, I really don\u2019t have any business knowledge or follow closely enough to look at things in a more informed way. This is more of an emotional \u201cwhy aren\u2019t things the way they were?\u201d sort of post. Truthfully, most people buy a computing device, install a web browser and 10 applications (all free and ad-supported) and use that device until the next one comes out and then they upgrade.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Facebook, Instagram, Google Docs, YouTube and SnapChat. That\u2019s the core of computing now and it\u2019s not OS dependent. It\u2019s challenging for me because Apple\u2019s Ecosystem is so amazing. I wish more people saw the light.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll leave an excerpt from Macintosh\u2026the naked truth, a book that I\u2019m so happy was written. It acts as a time capsule for fanboys on how things used to be: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Macintosh-Naked-Truth-Scott-Kelby\/dp\/0735712840\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Buy on Amazon<\/a>, Full-Text on <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/mac_Macintosh..._The_Naked_Truth_2002\/Macintosh..._The_Naked_Truth_2002_djvu.txt\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Archive.org<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Once you buy a Mac, your life will undergo a major change. It\u2019s\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>a good change, an amazing change, and once you\u2019ve used a Mac for\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>just a few months, I promise you, you\u2019ll wonder how in the world\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Microsoft has been able to dupe otherwise good people into not\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>only using Windows, but thinking it\u2019s as good as or (God help\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>them) better than a Mac. So part of the \u201cNaked Truth\u201d about\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Macintosh is that although using a Macintosh is fun, easy, and\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>incredibly fulfilling (well, as fulfilling as an inanimate object can\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>be), being a Mac user can be frustrating, irritating, and even\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>sometimes embarrassing and humiliating. That\u2019s why I feel it\u2019s\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>important that you get the straight scoop on what it\u2019s like to be a\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Mac user from the start, what you\u2019re going to run into, and how to\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>deal with it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What youll run into:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>As a Mac user, expect to become somewhat of a social outcast.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>For example, you\u2019ll be at a party, chatting with some people you\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>just met, and when the conversation turns to RAM and high-speed\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Internet access (it always does, by the way), it\u2019s going to come\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>out that you\u2019re a Mac user. Oh, you can try to hide it for a while,\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>but they\u2019ll break you \u2014 ^believe me, these people can smell fear.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>One of their classic tactics is to start asking questions about\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>video cards. As soon as someone brings up video cards and asks\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>which one you like the best \u2014 BAM \u2014 ^you\u2019re busted. Macs have a\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>great video card built-in, and unless you\u2019re doing some high-end\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Digital Video work, as a Mac user, you\u2019ll probably never buy a new\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>video card. On the other hand, PC users apparently hate their video\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>cards and they swap out video cards like we empty the trash \u2014 once\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>a week whether it needs it or not.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I read Ben Thompson\u2019s note about Apple\u2019s China Problem, this line really stuck out: Naturally, WeChat works&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-technology","7":"cs-entry","8":"cs-video-wrap"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-1MD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5872,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/05\/23\/linked-iphone-is-vulnerable-to-a-device-that-just-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":6859,"position":0},"title":"Linked: &#8220;iPhone is vulnerable to a device that Just Works&#8221;","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"May 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"via Scripting: So the iPhone is far more vulnerable than Marco says. Give me a device that's reasonably nice and Just Works, and I'm outta here. and PPS: Android really isn't any better than iPhone. True, there's no iTunes. To copy stuff on the phone you just drag and drop,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Linked&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3357,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/12\/15\/horseshit\/","url_meta":{"origin":6859,"position":1},"title":"\u2605 &#8220;Horseshit&#8221;","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"December 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 It gets under my skin because it is a pompous, privileged, insulting, and myopic viewpoint which reeks of class warfare \u2014 and it is indicative of a growing sentiment I see amongst people in the tech community. \u00a0 And... it's a shitty way to think about other people. Josh\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Linked&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1232,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/12\/01\/where-i-continue-to-rail-against-fanboys\/","url_meta":{"origin":6859,"position":2},"title":"\u2605 &#8230;where I continue to rail against fanboys.","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"December 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It would appear that I'm the only guy who agreed with almost everything Paul Thurott wrote yesterday. Aside from the entire post, which I think is a great read, I actually agree with Paul's opening statement the most: While the iPad has captivated Apple's audience in ways that only Apple\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Rants&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Rants","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/rants\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Apple iPad 32GB WiFi","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3399\/4645462726_c3f006f865_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7578,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2018\/09\/13\/technology-the-pure-ios-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":6859,"position":3},"title":"Technology: The Pure iOS Project","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"September 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"How many people are only running iOS in its purest form without any local applications created by companies that aren\u2019t Apple? I\u2019m down to 5 non-Apple applications. I think I\u2019m going to take the plunge to eliminate all 3rd party applications from my iPhone.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Big-data exists because of us.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5094,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2015\/10\/14\/technology-the-iphone-6s-and-watchos-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":6859,"position":4},"title":"Technology: The iPhone 6S (and WatchOS 2)","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"October 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I like to write these for my own sort of posterity in how Apple\u2019s mobile ecosystem changes year over year. The iPad Air 2 didn\u2019t receive a refresh and since the iPad Mini 4 and iPad Pro are not devices that I\u2019ll be buying, I\u2019ll limit my focus to iPhone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Apple iPhone 6S - 128GB Rose Gold Unboxing","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5748\/21522974590_660ec18af3_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5748\/21522974590_660ec18af3_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5748\/21522974590_660ec18af3_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7296,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2018\/01\/08\/my-ios-homescreen-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":6859,"position":5},"title":"My iOS Homescreen 2017","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"January 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven\u2019t done this in a few years although I am in the habit of taking SpringBoard screenshots every year which do act as time capsules for me. Both devices are very organized for optimal usability in the kind of things I do on them. There are obviously some changes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My iOS Homescreen 2017","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4687\/39546413032_2fe42bd3e6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}