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Apple wants to buy Beats

About the fanboys
if I were an APPL investor (I am not I missed the boat there) You can't get emotional it's all about the numbers .

The Beats acquisition I believe is a long term play possibly with some as yet undetermined (or at least announced growth and opportunity strategies ) maybe over the top video and Apple TV ofc the music and streaming music business maybe some creative content as well? and some obvious short term diversity .

Jimmy Levone is a key player
in the acquisition for growth opportunity in the music business so is dr. Dre. The profitable Beats Electronics business and design patents can't hurt either .Wearable tech is another growth opportunity synergistic to both brands ,Apple and Beats .

The Beats brands as owned subsidiaries can be cross promoted and sold on iTunes and Apple TV and vice versa . For the time being and probably in the long term I think keeping Beats brands is a smart move .

iTunes brings millions of customers and credit cards to the party as well as over 64% share of the online music market, and over 29% share of all music sales worldwide not to mention video customers and podcast subscribers .


Even if Beats Electronics and Beats music together double their sales and profit immediately it would barely move the needle on Apples 41+ billion dollar annual net profit this is a long term growth opportunity and diversity stratagy .


In any event there is little risk to Apple with their scale and cash reserves .

The fanboy stuff is silly I don't own any Apple products ,the ones I've used briefly seem fine and are of decent quality and design with a premium feel .As for the prices like anything else they are worth whatever the market will bear. They sell well for the most part so the market is there.

As for functionality without considering the prices Apple products are very competitive and often when prices are considered.

As long their products sell Apple will make money OTOH if not they also have enough cash to buy things or just about anything they want including producing creative content that should make money should the need arise. This play can give them some additional vertical integration in the music industry, content sales and creation ,streaming and ofc device business .
 
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Just listened to a piece on NPR's all tech considered blog.

This acquisition is actually all about wearable tech!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I gotta say, I am still baffled by the reaction to this transaction. Wall Street seems happy, the tech press seems happy, Apple's developers seem happy, but in the online "forum" world it has been met with vitriol normally reserver for iOS vs Android or Mac vs PC, or Ford vs Chevy, except that it seems the Beats haters are especially riled up. I don't own or care for the headphones, but it seem to me that the headphones are just the excuse. I wonder how it would go down if it was Beats by (name your favorite non-hip-hop artist).

I really wonder how much of this vitriol is cultural rather than business based.
 
BayouTiger said:
I gotta say, I am still baffled by the reaction to this transaction. Wall Street seems happy, the tech press seems happy, Apple's developers seem happy, but in the online "forum" world it has been met with vitriol normally reserver for iOS vs Android or Mac vs PC, or Ford vs Chevy, except that it seems the Beats haters are especially riled up. I don't own or care for the headphones, but it seem to me that the headphones are just the excuse. I wonder how it would go down if it was Beats by (name your favorite non-hip-hop artist).

I really wonder how much of this vitriol is cultural rather than business based.
Click to expand...

Have to tried to use Beats Music? There's plenty to hate there without getting into perceived racism. It's a horrible comedown from using MOG.
 
It's not about race, but culture. A lot of people don't like hip-hop and are very vocal about it. Would likely be the same is they were Beats by Robert Stigwood or some other disco connotation.

Most of the vitriol I am talking about is directed at the headphones not the music service. That is where their money and image is derived.

FWIW, I listened to a long interview with Walt Mosberg and Eddie Cue and Jimmy Iovine at the Code conference. I was very impressed with Iovine overall. Especially when Asked what Album he wishes he had produced and he mentioned the wall and credited Bob Ezrin. I was very impressed by his candid thoughts on why the tech and music industries don's work together well.

Something that really caught my attention were his comments to his belief that music has unfortunately moved beyond albums to be single oriented. Not because it's what the fans want, but because the tours are what make the money for the artists and not the albums any more, as such most albums are made on the road almost as an afterthought. As such, it's important to build the service around well made and curated playlists to return some continuity to the music. He also points out that to bring in listeners it is important that the music sounds great. Otherwise it is going to lose out to video, games, etc. Sounding great to the listener does not necessarily mean the same to every one and does not necessarily mean what an audiophile might want it to be. This thought process explains the success at Beats electronics and their model for the music service and I think it's very sound. I also like that he pointed out that the free services offered by the other services are not sustainable long term and as their capital dries up will have to change.

Overall, as an AAPL shareholder, I sure felt a lot better about the buy, after listening to what they got from the management/vision side.
 
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Beats is considered by many to be a marketing machine making popular headphones that are easily beat in sound quality and build quality by cheaper competitors. Bose speakers have a similar reputation, so I am sure there are some Beats haters that fit into the same group as Bose haters. (Mainly audiophiles)

Personally, I will be happy if Apple can fix the Beats Music app and make it better and maybe integrate it with Siri. The local Apple store already looked like a Beats marketing wing, so Apple obviously feels they have a similar audience. It doesn't hurt my feelings that they purchased them.
 
I saw most of it. Some cool stuff with Continuance, but I worry a bit as the wife and I share one Appleid and work on separate stuff. Curious to see how it behaves.
 
Continuance, Cloud attachments, and email attachment editing are features I will use daily. Those are nice.

Way too much time spent selling Spotlight.


Not enough time spent on Siri. It really needs some improvement.

And it looks like the A7 hardware is around for a while longer given all the work done to replace OpenGL.


The predictive typing seemed cool too.


A lot of evolutionary changes. With the exception of the new coding language. That seems like a real breakthrough, but one that consumers won't understand.
 
I'm not a fan of predictive typing as it makes it a PITA typing technical things it doesn't understand, but then I don't text and that's where it might be helpful.

I wish they offered a better tie in for AddressBook, iCal, and Mail, like you get with Outlook (Even Mac Outlook) Mail is OK, but the inline attachments absolutely drive me nuts. Maybe something like SOHO Organizer. Maybe flattening them out will lead to a better interface, but I doubt it as they're moving to a more iOS style, and that points more to stand alone apps vs an integrated solution.

I use Spotlight a LOT so I welcome improvements there.

Siri, I really don't use much.

Apple is completely committed to OpenCL. I own a new Mac Pro, so I am glad for that. I also am tired of the aggravation of graphics card switching, so I am all for more simplicity. The onboard graphics on my rMBP make it hard to predict battery life. One day it's great, then the next I forget that AutoCad LT is open and it's drained quickly because the GeForce is running. I'm switching to a 13" with only onboard, slower, but adequate for me.

The big new was definitely the iOS DEV stuff. I hope it leads to home useful productivity stuff. I don't play games.

I'm caught in the middle. As a shareholder I love the new flashy stuff, as a business user, I wish I would more attention to the work side. Would sure like to see better Office compatibility with Numbers and Pages!
 
would be nice to have an Apple OS native modeling program that would make for easy and seamless 3D printing.....
 
That would be nice synergy for me as well as I also hold a little 3D systems (DDD)!

Actually I really wish they could get some of the Enterprise printing companies (Ricoh/Lanier) to get on the program with OSX drivers. They are so dated and only offer Postscript drivers requiring the PS cards. I have to use generic drivers and its always a pain getting them working right. My latest Ricoh has AirPrint, but it's finicky as hell. My HP AirPrint MFP plotter is solid.
 
I just went online to see what MOG was all about and apparently it is now Beats Radio.
 
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