They're probably underestimating how difficult it is. I predict both Amazon and Apple will fail at building content libraries.
What a refreshingly sober perspective (probably why I kept it in mind).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCn4hdTI2jc&feature=youtu.be...
It fails miserably for me, at least with their recommendations, but it seems to work for most people based on Netflix's stock price growth. Someone is out there watching those 5000 shows imported from China with no English dub, and in big enough numbers for Netflix to consider it a wise investment.
Apple undoubtedly has some significant hurdles to jump over in this space but a lack of cultural understanding is not one of them.
Maybe they have that skillset too. It doesn't follow intrinsically though.
(And also has an interesting parallel with Apple starting to obsess about odd things customers don't really care about)
They also have Jimmy Iovine and a bunch of former Hollywood execs running the business side of things. I was just trying to point out that of the major tech companies, Apple probably has the best “cultural” bona fides by a wide margin.
> also has an interesting parallel with Apple starting to obsess about odd things customers don't really care about
Can you give some examples of what you see fitting into this category?
Most of the standard HN gripes.
Design prioritized over regular hardware updates for existing product lines. Mobile emphasis to the detriment of desktop and developer. Touch Bar. Keyboard changes to an already loved design. Pursuit of thinness / lightness past the point of utility. iPhone stiffness issues. iPhone antenna issues. Severe macOS functionality regressions / bugs in updates.
Apple makes a great product, so I'm not bashing. But their priorities seem increasingly myopic, and they're losing the forest for the trees.
Like it or not, you're not the type of consumer Apple values highly. They need customers like you, but they're only willing to put forth the minimum effort to hang on to you.
We can quibble over whether or not the Touch Bar is an improvement or a regression, but dust jamming keyboards that can't be decapped?
That's someone taking their eye off the ball of customer experience. Not just for power users, but for all users.
I would agree that producing TV isn’t a Steve Jobs “bicycle” move, though, and that’s the same with the non-swappable-parts strategy they employ in hardware, even though the software is liberating and creative. I think they are pursuing the right strategy, but wouldn’t it be great if Apple’s content push could come more directly from users’ copies of Final Cut Pro?
(I’m a power user and Marco Arment doesn’t speak for me.)
(This is not a rhetorical question.)
US movie studios and television production are more costly than they need to be, because they need to pay for the barnacles and rent-seeking cruft that attached themselves to the industry when they were operating for a half century with an oligopoly on distribution.
When challenged by upstarts, they reduced costs by making crap reality shows and squeezing established franchises to death theaters. They are a business, and at this point, they will be squeezed by Amazon & Netflix.
If Amazon prime becomes a household good, meaning it sees wide adoption by a large viewing segment which doesn't care about seeing high quality content, that puts Amazon in a great position to churn out bad shows with popular appeal.