First, some follow-up on yesterday’s piece on App Store policies: I actually forgot some product holes, plus a defense of “shareware.” Then, the iPad Pro’s strategic justification and a review of it and its accessories.
From Products to Platforms
Apple was at its best in its most recent keynote: unveiling the sorts of products the company is uniquely capable of creating. The question, though, is whether the company has the vision and capability of making those products into platforms.
Daily Update: FiftyThree and the App Store, Three Notes on China
Good morning, Surprise! Today’s update is not late. It’s also not my weekly article, as planned – that should be coming tomorrow. In addition, I’ll be off for Chinese New Year on Thursday and Friday. On to the update: FiftyThree and the App Store FiftyThree, a startup based in New York, is particularly important toSubscribe […]
Daily Update: App Store Anguish, Old Apple’s Last Stand, Time for a Change?
Good morning, Today’s update is, perhaps, a bit controversial, but my conclusion is not one I have come to recently, or lightly. On to the update: App Store Anguish The App Store is in the news again, and, unfortunately, it’s for all the wrong reasons. Again. The recent string of complaints are primarily about newSubscribe […]
The Diminished iPad
Something very strange is happening this week: there is an Apple event, and very few people – including myself – are particularly jazzed up about it. Oh sure, I’ll watch it, and I hope I’m surprised, but there is very little in the rumor mill – a retina iMac, OS X Yosemite, and the iPad […]
Daily Update: Sprint Abandons T-Mobile Bid, Microsoft Hires New Head of BD, Apple Touts App Store
Good morning, Yesterday I wrote about P&G’s recent decision to reduce its brands from nearly 200 to less than 100. While the easy takeaway is to talk about focus and bloat, I actually think that there is a tech story here as well. After all, lots of brands made a lot of sense in theSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Businesses Not Apps Follow-up, Mobile IE to Support Webkit Prefixes, LinkedIn Beats
Good morning, I wrote a different type of article yesterday – see below – that took a lot more time and effort than many of the other things I have written. The reason I mention that is not because it has anything to do with the article – it doesn’t – but rather to noteSubscribe […]
Pleco: Building a Business, not an App
This past week has not been the first outbreak of independent developer angst over the app store, but it feels like it has been one of the more intense. The pump was primed by the news that Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is on pace to make $200 million this year, news that was in stark contrast […]
Smartphone Truths and Samsung’s Inevitable Decline
For me, anyway, the most surprising thing about Samsung’s disappointing earnings was just how surprised many folks seemed to be. The smartphone market is a massive one, but also rather predictable if you keep just a few key things in mind: Everyone will own a smartphone – I don’t think this is controversial, but it’s […]
Promotion in the App Store
Two interesting articles last week, better together. First came TheInformation’s1 maiden piece about How Apple Gives Some Apps an Edge (subscription required): Being featured [in the App Store] can be a developer’s jackpot. Developers say that it could cost them between $100,000 and $300,000 in marketing to buy as many downloads as they receive from […]