“The first noteworthy Apple video was the ad it debuted at the 1984 Super Bowl, showing a female athlete hurling a mallet through a screen, announcing the arrival of the Macintosh computer,” Avi Salzman writes for Barron’s. “More than 30 years later, Apple is reportedly getting ready to spend $1 billion on new content for its own video service. But the company’s revolutionary spirit is long gone. It’s now an $800 billion behemoth whose incremental product upgrades rarely shock the world anymore.”
“CEO Tim Cook did not sound overly enthusiastic with the idea of producing TV shows on the company’s most recent conference call,” Salzman writes. “In today’s risk-taking TV culture, that could be a hindrance”
“Competitors have gotten comfortable challenging societal norms, at the risk of offending people. Netflix, for instance, has gained a reputation for pushing envelopes, broadcasting shows with frank depictions of sex and violence… Amazon has also invited controversy with shows like The Man in the High Castle, which imagines what would happen if the Nazis had won World War II,” Salzman writes. “Not all good shows, of course, have to push boundaries. But if Apple really wants to compete on original content, it will need to give significant control to creative people with new ideas. And it may not be willing to risk tarnishing its clean-cut brand to do that.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Risk aversion is certainly a valid concern and, combined with inept management, could have contributed to Apple excreting such a tepid trifle, Planet of the Apps, for their first effort.
Tim Cook has proven to be sensitive to certain concerns, from cartoon squirt gun emojis to banning some political apps. Would Cook stand for Apple-branded content that’s steeped in say, gun violence or explicit sex or certain politics with which he does not agree? If Apple plays it safe, expect more derivative pablum like Planet of the Saps.
SEE ALSO:
Apple blocks Apple Pay support on sites selling white nationalist apparel – August 17, 2017
Apple rejects game featuring ‘objectionable’ Pepe The Frog cartoon – June 12, 2017
Apple App Store rejects pro-Trump ‘Build the Wall’ game over ‘Pepe The Frog’ cartoon – October 21, 2016
Apple App Store rejects satirical Hillary Clinton game, despite offering dozens of anti-Trump games – July 27, 2016
In wake of London stabbing rampage, will Apple replace their knife emoji with a plastic spork? – August 4, 2016
Open Thread: Should Apple code their OSes to block video games that glorify guns and murder? – August 3, 2016
Apple jumps the shark by removing the handgun emoji; Gun owners might want to reconsider buying Apple’s products – August 3, 2016
Apple removes handgun emoji, replaces it with a squirt gun – August 1, 2016
Apple’s politics may be hurting its brand – June 29, 2016
Apple quashes rifle Emoji – June 20, 2016