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AustinKlarPaper1 8 - 20 Oct 2011 - Main.AustinKlar
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Here is a very rough draft of my first paper. If anyone has ideas of things to delete, or topics I should address that I didn't, please let me know. I'll deal with grammar/spelling after I figure all of the content out. Thanks for the help. | | | I think your latest ideas are plausible, but I guess be careful that they can be generalized to something beyond an analysis of Apple (use Apple as the example, not the focus?). Apple claims that maintaining central control over their platform allows them to deliver a more polished and cohesive user experience (which, arguably it has), but they also abuse this power to pander to telecoms. Restricting tethering / use of 3G video calling on iOS are surely things that ATT/Verizon asked them to do, and being able to offer that gives them a competitive advantage when negotiating vis-a-vis open platforms like Android -- at the expense of their users / user experience. But how would opening up these things benefit Apple, when they need to keep telecoms happy? Android has obviously been hugely successful, but it is not Google's bread and butter -- they make little (if any) money off the project, but it makes sense for them because it serves as a funnel for their advertising business. Apple's bread and butter IS to sell iPhones at a profit, which they are currently able to do despite these restrictions. What is their profit incentive to change. I would avoid talking about Flash, because I think it is quickly becoming irrelevant in the post-HTML5 world.
-- CrystalMao - 20 Oct 2011 | |
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I think if APple opened up these possibilities for users, yea, it would make the telecoms unhappy....but to so what. In 2011 alone, Apple's market share for phones grew 115% according to a news report issued by market research firm IDC. According to the Nielson Company in March 2011 Apple had 25% of the smartphone market. With Apple selling LITERALLY over 1,000 iPhone 4s a minute (having sold over 4 million in a week), that share is ONLY going to grow.
Think about how much money these telecom companies make off charging 60-110 a month for iphone plans. Are you suggesting that if APple allowed these features, carriers would drop Apple products? I think that this is especially less likely a possibility given that now Sprint is in the iPhone game. The release of the 4s was Sprints BEST sales day EVER and the company has bet $20 billion on the iphone. I don't think Sprint would let this go to waste simply because APple opened up those features.
There will always be a carrier to provide the phone. I switched to ATT because they had the iphone first. Id switch to Sprint for the iPhone if they were the only one left, and i think many would (but also many wouldnt). The point is, Verizon and ATT make so much money off the iPhone that they wouldnt drop Apple altogether and they are restricted from raising prices because Sprint is there to combat them if they need to be combatted. There is more competition now than in previous years amongst carriers regarding the iPhone.
Many people don't buy iPhones because they are "closed" and prefer android for that purpose. theoretically, if Apple opened up those features, more people would buy their phones, or less people might jailbreak which means these phone companies could also benefit. Apple makes most of its money a ton of money off of the handset itself. More people buying the handset means more money for Apple. Since the carriers won't go anywhere, no users are harmed. The carriers wont like increase prices because there is more competition
-- AustinKlar - 20 Oct 2011
Apple surely makes a lot of money off of the 30% they charge developers for App store cuts. But, jailbreakers don't pay ANY money so Apple could potentially gain from those people who are persuaded to no longer jailbreak for these specific features like tethering and 3G video. Further, selling more phones to people who formerly refused to buy iPhones because they are too "closed" or "proprietary" would help also offset losses Apple takes from becoming completely open sourced. Developers are still free to charge for Apps and will be able to draw in a market for those paid Apps so long as those Apps funciton better than their counterparts. It will be a constant battle between developers of Apps and jailbreakers to make better Apps. That benefits the user and makes them more willing to be a part of that system and this leads to more money for apple because the users need apple handsets to do these functions. They need the phones
-- AustinKlar - 20 Oct 2011 | | | |
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