Thread

1. AnonC · 1790088825 · focus · HN ↗

   I doubt John Ternus will change direction anytime soon, since it will look like he’s reversing the plethora of eyesore ads that Tim Cook added over his tenure.

   But the Apple with ads is not the Apple that had some taste and discernment in the past. For a long time I’ve visited the App Store’s app update page directly (tap and hold on App Store icon to see the context menu option). Anytime I inadvertently go to the App Store home page or the few times I search, it’s an ad filled disaster!

   From this article

   > repeatedly attempting to prod customers towards even more of the company’s products might seem cheap, even distasteful.

   From a recent post by John Gruber:

   > Steve Jobs in 2011: 'We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don't Want Ads' [1]

   Looks like Tim Cook, John Ternus and Eddy Cue really enjoy being swamped with ads in their products. Will there soon be a time when Apple executives start carrying some other brand’s devices with them to avoid having a rotten experience?

   [1]: We don’t want ads <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;daringfireball.net&#x2F;linked&#x2F;2026&#x2F;07&#x2F;28&#x2F;jobs-we-dont-want-ads" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;daringfireball.net&#x2F;linked&#x2F;2026&#x2F;07&#x2F;28&#x2F;jobs-we-dont-wa...

   1. rapind · 1790089281 · focus · HN ↗

      Imagine spending $2k on a phone only to be presented with ads. Quick way to lose your luxury and loyal customers IMO.

      On the flip side, imagine having another product made for people who can afford $2k phones... Well you&#x27;d probably pay a lot to advertise to that market.

      I think trying to balance between these 2 is going to be tough, and your luxury market could evaporate if a significant competitor came along. And by competitor, we&#x27;re probably just talking about AI in your pocket or on your face that replaces the traditional phone interface. I also think it&#x27;s a real slippery slope to short term profits once you start taking ad revenue.

      1. JumpCrisscross · 1790094889 · focus · HN ↗

         &gt; lose your luxury and loyal customers IMO

         You lose customers to those products. I’ve switched to CoMaps. Some of my friends went back to Google Maps—the differentiator for Apple was privacy and that seems to have been lost in kind even if not yet in magnitude.

         1. al_borland · 1790095277 · focus · HN ↗

            Going to Google Maps in response to Apple adding ads to Maps doesn&#x27;t make a lot of sense. Google has been putting ads in Google Maps for many years. Is the view that they&#x27;re both the same now, in terms of having ads, so they might as well use the one with the better POI data?

            1. JumpCrisscross · 1790100087 · focus · HN ↗

               &gt; they&#x27;re both the same now, in terms of having ads, so they might as well use the one with the better POI data?

               Yup. If the main differentiator is gone, you move to the next marginal thing that matters, which in this case is working as a map.

            2. Lio · 1790143924 · focus · HN ↗

               Yes it is for me. Google Maps has much better and more up to date information.

               A number of times I’ve been set to the wrong place by Apple Maps.

               If you’re going to be served ads either way you might as well pick the more reliable tool.

               For maps Apple has a lower quality product, that lets me down when I really need it, and has no privacy advantage.

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