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The argument is they want you to use less effective anti-addiction tools so you stay on your phone more.

by ada1981 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago
And since they aren’t an advertising supported business, what financial motivation do they have by keeping you on your phone more?
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Not that I agree with this argument, but Apple does have services that they could earn money off of.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    And Apple services that they earn money from are all subscription based. It would be better for Apple if people subscribed and used them less...
    - saagarjha 8y ago
      Not all of them. For example, you can still pay for apps and music.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        And you’ve been able to block iTunes and the App Store through parental controls forever.
- ada1981 8y ago
  You honestly can’t imagine why a company would want you to use their product more and how increased use would have a direct financial benefit?
  - scarface74 8y ago
    So tell me how does Apple make more money they more time I spend on my phone? I spend most of the time on my phone on the web, using subscription services that aren’t bought through the App Store, watching tutorial videos that I don’t buy through the App Store, and reading books I bought from the Amazon store. I also listen to podcast using a third party player.
    - ada1981 8y ago
      Have you ever bought a new iPhone? Have you ever dropped your phone and needed a repair? The chance of both of those is correlated to how much time you spend on your device. And of course, your particular use case isn’t driving apples decisions — it’s the aggregate behavior of all its users. So while you may not buy more apps or services, it is certainly the case that increases in phone use correlate to increases in Apple Eco System generated revenue for Apple.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        Really? That’s the road you’re going down? Apple wants you to use your phone more to increase the likelihood that you will drop it? And you still haven’t answered the other question. How are these third party apps better at controlling usage than Apple’s built in screen time and parental controls?
        ada1981 8y ago
        Your question was how does increased usage increase revenue. Repairs are a non-trivial source of revenue and increased usage certainly increases repairs. But more important are the other examples I gave which you have ignored. I don’t know how they are better personally, but the author of the article (did you read it?) certain pointed out some examples. As far as I can tell, your argument is that user phone usage has zero impact on apples revenue, I’m making the opposite case. My sense is that phone usage is correlated with revenue.
        8y ago
ada1981 8y ago
I’m confused why the downvotes, did I inaccurately represent the argument the original posted article is trying to make? You might not agree with the original post, but downvoting me for merely stating what the argument is seems out of the spirit of HN.
- scarface74 8y ago
  It’s unsubstatisted. What is the financial motivation for Apple wanting you to be on your phone more? How is Apple’s offering less effective?
  - ada1981 8y ago
    Again, I simple stated what the OPs argument was. If you are downvoting me because you disagree with the original post, you aren’t clear on how to use HN. As to your other questions, if I use the phone more I’m more likely to buy a new phone, buy more cloud storage, download and buy more apps, generate referral sales by other people seeing me use the product, drop the phone requiring Apple repairs, the list goes on. Apple wants to develop a deep relationship with their users, so in Nearly every case using the products more is to their benefit. The more you rely on the products the more free attention you spend in their eco-system, and the more likely you will spend money that they will get a % of. I think some others have laid out the argument for how the Apple solution is less effective than others, so I’ll let that stand and not rehash it here. Whether or not this is the actual motivation for Apple is unclear, but the incentives are clear that they’d want you to use your phone vs not using it.
    - pvg 8y ago
      you aren’t clear on how to use HN. There's a document about this stuff at https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Take a look at the third item from the bottom.
      - ada1981 8y ago
        Fair.

The argument is they want you to use less effective anti-addiction tools so you stay on your phone more.

And since they aren’t an advertising supported business, what financial motivation do they have by keeping you on your phone more?

saagarjha 8y ago
Not that I agree with this argument, but Apple does have services that they could earn money off of.
- scarface74 8y ago
  And Apple services that they earn money from are all subscription based. It would be better for Apple if people subscribed and used them less...
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    Not all of them. For example, you can still pay for apps and music.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      And you’ve been able to block iTunes and the App Store through parental controls forever.
ada1981 8y ago
You honestly can’t imagine why a company would want you to use their product more and how increased use would have a direct financial benefit?
- scarface74 8y ago
  So tell me how does Apple make more money they more time I spend on my phone? I spend most of the time on my phone on the web, using subscription services that aren’t bought through the App Store, watching tutorial videos that I don’t buy through the App Store, and reading books I bought from the Amazon store. I also listen to podcast using a third party player.
  - ada1981 8y ago
    Have you ever bought a new iPhone? Have you ever dropped your phone and needed a repair? The chance of both of those is correlated to how much time you spend on your device. And of course, your particular use case isn’t driving apples decisions — it’s the aggregate behavior of all its users. So while you may not buy more apps or services, it is certainly the case that increases in phone use correlate to increases in Apple Eco System generated revenue for Apple.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      Really? That’s the road you’re going down? Apple wants you to use your phone more to increase the likelihood that you will drop it? And you still haven’t answered the other question. How are these third party apps better at controlling usage than Apple’s built in screen time and parental controls?
      - ada1981 8y ago
        Your question was how does increased usage increase revenue. Repairs are a non-trivial source of revenue and increased usage certainly increases repairs. But more important are the other examples I gave which you have ignored. I don’t know how they are better personally, but the author of the article (did you read it?) certain pointed out some examples. As far as I can tell, your argument is that user phone usage has zero impact on apples revenue, I’m making the opposite case. My sense is that phone usage is correlated with revenue.
        8y ago

ada1981 8y ago

I’m confused why the downvotes, did I inaccurately represent the argument the original posted article is trying to make? You might not agree with the original post, but downvoting me for merely stating what the argument is seems out of the spirit of HN.

scarface74 8y ago
It’s unsubstatisted. What is the financial motivation for Apple wanting you to be on your phone more? How is Apple’s offering less effective?
- ada1981 8y ago
  Again, I simple stated what the OPs argument was. If you are downvoting me because you disagree with the original post, you aren’t clear on how to use HN. As to your other questions, if I use the phone more I’m more likely to buy a new phone, buy more cloud storage, download and buy more apps, generate referral sales by other people seeing me use the product, drop the phone requiring Apple repairs, the list goes on. Apple wants to develop a deep relationship with their users, so in Nearly every case using the products more is to their benefit. The more you rely on the products the more free attention you spend in their eco-system, and the more likely you will spend money that they will get a % of. I think some others have laid out the argument for how the Apple solution is less effective than others, so I’ll let that stand and not rehash it here. Whether or not this is the actual motivation for Apple is unclear, but the incentives are clear that they’d want you to use your phone vs not using it.
  - pvg 8y ago
    you aren’t clear on how to use HN. There's a document about this stuff at https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Take a look at the third item from the bottom.
    - ada1981 8y ago
      Fair.