I agree with Adam…you’re overestimating his…or any journalist’s…influence. The only thing he or they can do is perhaps influence a contact inside the company…which may or may not actually do any good. Again…Apple is going to do whatever they think best to maximize shareholder value.
Let me see if I can clear this up.
All the actual music is on a Netgear server in storage back in the US. I’m traveling.
But I had uploaded the library metadata to Apple back when it was still attached and paid to subscribe to their matching service. Like $25 a year. They were successful in matching 40% or so of my library.
So without the server, the only thing I could actually play were the matched tunes.
Everything is all intact. The whole library, the playlists, and the matched tunes present in Apple’s collection.
The difference is it was all present upon launch in iTunes. It would just report the actual mp3 music file could not be found for the unmatched songs…
In the new app, all the libraries are new and separate: Music, Video, Podcasts.
Upon launch of the new Music App, my library was empty. The titles of my playlists were visible but the playlists themselves were empty. Zero song, no metadata, just playlist names in the sidebar.
To make it visible however, I had to subscribe. Or sign up for the trial.
Then it looked just like iTunes, the library and playlists intact, but only able to play the matched tunes.
So in the conversion, Apple preserved everything perfectly, but made it all a part of Apple Music.
Perhaps it would be different if I still had the library with the actual songs attached to my computer. Perhaps the library metadata will remain after I cancel Apple Music. Certainly I expect the matched tunes to go away after canceling.
There was no documentation. It’s still beta. But that old service of Apple taking your library and matching it is apparently no longer available as a separate service.
It’s built into Apple Music.
No bugs, no complaints. Although I was pretty panicked after it loaded the Catalina beta to find everything gone.
I did file a bug report because the library metadata should not be dependent upon subscribing to Apple Music, even if subscribing for 90 days was free. And maybe this is only affecting someone coming over from iTunes?
I’m just pretty happy with Spotify. And since I don’t have the music server with me, it is easier to just use Spotify instead of the Apple Music app.
i need to read some reviews of Apple Music versus Spotify.
I have very little knowledge of Apple Music so not in a position to offer an opinion.
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I’ve really gotten tired and disgusted with this thread and had sworn off commenting. But I feel another history lesson is necessary here to put the development of the App Store into perspective. Think back to the 2000s when Facebook wasn’t yet a gleam in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye, Amazon was still mostly an online book and cd seller and Google was a Chrome free search engine. Except for Mac, Microsoft Windows (which was, and IMHO still is a ripoff of Mac. OS) had managed to obliterate every other operating system, Lotus Jazz, IBM’s PC DOS and OS/2 (which were initially developed in cooperation with Microsoft). Except for Adobe and a few others, and there very were few other developers other than Adobe, and MS was putting the screws to them to halt development for Macs, which Adobe announced they would. And there wasn’t much in the way of Windows apps that were being developed by companies other than Microsoft either.
In 2000, Microsoft Office Standard, cheapest version of the package, cost $499 for new users and $209 for upgrades. Office Premium was $799 new, $399 for upgrades. So figure in 20 years of currency inflation:
This started to change once the Apple developed the App Store and started to give away it’s Office knock off for free. The App Store let anyone who could develop a sandboxed app have a place to market and sell it. It totally and absolutely changed the way software is marketed and sold and gave developers of all sizes a way to make money, and there’s over a billion Apple devices in use, a big % of which are iOS. And iOS users not just spend more on apps, they spend more within apps. For the first half of 2019, Apple has earned $25.5 billion in App Store sales and Google earned $14.2 billion:
Google has about the same pricing structure as the App Store; they both charge 30%, and IFIRC, there’s a small difference in membership fee. Apple does have stricter app vetting policies.
Personally, I don’t think the fee is unreasonable at all. Apple not only delivers superior audience and sales numbers as well as vetting, they are responsible for payments, taxes, currency exchanges, cloud services, etc., all of which vary in countries across the globe. And they provide excellent marketing support and analysis.
Particularly for PDF files, you might want to consider adding them to the Books app. With the respective iCloud configuration, that’ll also synchronize the files across your devices, and it can make accessing them a bit more effective, what with its optimized-for-readible-stuff 
UI.
There’s more good news today about App Store revenues:
“Morgan Stanley pointed to new research from app data tracking firm Sensor Tower, which shows that August App Store revenue saw the strongest year-over-year growth since February 2018 and the largest month-over-month acceleration since early 2015. The firm maintained its overweight rating and $247 price target on Apple’s stock.”
Apple poised to report huge growth in App Store sales, Morgan Stanley says:
To a greater or lesser degree, Apple’s always played fast and loose with its own user interface guidelines, long before Tim Cook began his Reign of Misrule (™).
You know, I love noting in situations like this that Tim Cook’s Apple makes more profit every year than Steve Jobs did in all his time at Apple combined.
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Check out how iPhone continues to dominate a highly desirable, maybe even the most desirable, US market segment:
-
83% of teens own an iPhone (up slightly vs. LY) whereas 86% of teens expect an iPhone to be their next phone
And how Apple Arcade subscriptions could be a very profitable way to keep these iPhone buyers locked in: -
Video games is one of the most notable share gainers in the survey at 14% of teen male spending vs. 11% multi-year average
http://www.piperjaffray.com/3col.aspx?id=5552
Since Josh asked about Arcade games reviews, it might be a good way to lure in some younger subscribers to TidBITS. Maybe eventually a spin off newsletter? It would take some promotion to get it off the ground.
I stopped by here when this article first started on August 26. I stopped by for fun and am astounded how the “beat goes on” - I have been a long time Mac user, not a Mac fan. I know there are shortcomings and issues I wish were better. I post these issues to Apple Support and wait. Because the alternative platforms do not work for our company, we stick with what we know and what works.
I am not surprised to see that complaints keep on coming. I think I have learned that there is nothing more fun than complaining! I have also learned complaining requires understanding where to post your issues. And, while this discussion keeps the hits coming to Tidbits (not a bad thing), I am not sure it is solving anything.
At any rate, carry on and have some fun while you are at it.
BTW, I am not a fan of whining, but here I am whining about people whining!
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Apple still doesn’t want to pay their taxes, neither domestically or internationally. “We pay enough taxes,” opines Tim Cook.
Jobs created companies and industries because there were great things to be done. Jobs transformed the world, Tim Cook made an international tax criminal out of Apple (no don’t delete that Adam in a knee-jerk reaction please, Apple is before the courts in the EU for exactly that, illegal tax evasion).
I won’t delete it, but I will note that you’re characterizing it in an overly extreme and unbalanced way. Apple is before the courts in the EU because the company is appealing the EU’s decision to make Apple pay Ireland $14 billion in back taxes. Without getting into the details of the situation at all, which are vastly more complex than everyone agreeing that Apple is guilty of tax evasion, I find it worth noting that the Irish government is also appealing the decision.
When the supposed victim of wrong-doing is saying, “Well, no, actually, I wasn’t a victim,” it’s hard to consider it a open-and-shut case.
And yes, I did delete the text insulting everyone in North America. Whining is offensive enough, but I don’t allow insults of individuals or groups.
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Jobs may have invented the products that transformed the world, but it was Tim Cook who figured out how to make and distribute those products globally, at a scale almost unprecedented in human history. Cook was the one who actually got them broadly into people’s hands. Jobs created it; Cook made it a consumer product.
As to the tax thing, I note the case covers taxes not paid in Ireland from 2004-2014, which means that, by your logic, Jobs was the one that got Apple into that situation.
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Regarding taxes…Apple is simply following the law…one of the ways you maximize value is to minimize costs and that includes taxes. Tax evasion is illegal…tax avoidance by following the rules that various tax levying authorities institute is not only legal but even the IRS recommends doing so.
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Regarding taxes…Apple is simply following the law…one of the ways you maximize value is to minimize costs and that includes taxes.
True. But large businesses and wealthy people have a lot more to say about how the tax laws are written than you or me. In the case of Ireland I think that Apple was taking advantage of the situation. But many tax laws are written by those who benefit by them.
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This thread, as much as it’s for anything, is for whining about Apple (and I’d prefer it saw no traffic at all because everyone was able to stay constructive). I’m deleting all the more general whining. Post such stuff on Facebook or Twitter if you like, but not here.
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I’ve quoted statistics and sales results here many times…people are not upgrading their hardware, including mobile devices and personal computers, nearly as often as they used to. The exceptions are smart watches and earphones, and Apple leads the pack in terms of profits here. And yesterday’s financial report from Apple was very positive.
And I hope this is the last time I feel obliged to repeat myself about this…Tim Cook did NOT under any circumstances make Apple a tax criminal. The Irish government made them the best offer among the European Union nations that negotiated with Apple. And Tim Cook did not make them anything resembling “an offer you cannot refuse.” The EU tax issue is still actively being adjudicated and is far from being concluded. Ireland is backing Apple 100% and has consistently and clearly and consistently stated they do not want Apple’s $14 billion in back taxes if that’s the way the biscuit crumbles. There’s a very good two minute summary of what is expected to happen in the lastest installment of the EU courtroom drama, which will begin in the next day or two:
I’d like to make a request. Can we have a rule that if someone wants to whine about Apple, they should at least know something about the topic they are whining about, or make an effort to check facts?
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It’s illegal tax avoidance, due to backdoor deals which Ireland had no right to negotiate. Apple saw an opportunity to flout EU laws, not pay its share of tax on revenues from our territory. Tim Cook like the typical unethical leader of a multinational (most are American) has decided that when his hand is deep in the cookie jar to keep grabbing cookies.
The USA and its corporations have no right to do business on our territory and not to pay taxes on the revenue they accrue here. Shouting up and down about the rules in USA does not make them apply here. I understand that this sort of thing flies well in South America or the smaller Asian markets, but it does not fly in the EU.
If the goal is to generate ill-will and distaste among European consumers and lawmakers, Mr Cook and Apple are on a very good path right now. I as a small business owner in the EU who does pay his taxes take great exception to paying Apple’s share of tax for them (if Apple doesn’t pay the rest of us have to pay for Apple: EU countries are no longer allowed by law to run the same deficits under which the USA is slowly being crushed).
No worries. Apple’s antics in avoiding tax, repudiating Apple Care (tougher to get a MacBook Pro or an iPhone fixed than any other maker under warranty: a total flipflop on the Steve Jobs Apple Care policies, which were to charge for Apple Care but treat customers like the gold they are rather than turn warranty service into a profit center) and making very non-green, non-repairable machines have cost them about $10K/year in new hardware revenue from me. I buy used machines which can still be maintained and serviced and will run them for another five years.
If Apple starts to pay its way in the markets from which it accrues revenue and starts to build repairable computers again, they may see significant sums of money from me at that time. As I said earlier, I stay with Apple OS as I have a more than twenty year investment of expertise in working in and maintaining that OS, for the third party developers and for people like Adam who are what made working with Apple computers so special.
I really consider TidBITS part of that third party developer community. TidBITS didn’t power the applications themselves but much of the documentation and sharing of best methods and best independent software was done by the crew here. Generally Adam is too positive about current Apple, but Apple is slowly managing to put cracks even in Adam’s rose-coloured glass these days. Adam is just one of those people who is not comfortable not being cheerful.
I’m a slightly more cynical realistic sort who likes to call a spade a spade.
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Your confusion stems from the fact that you consider Ireland a victim. But in this case they are quite obviously the perpetuator. They colluded with Apple to defraud Europe of tax income by collecting something like 0.13% instead of the mandated 15%. So now the EU is suing to have Ireland forced to collect what they originally should have. Obviously Ireland doesn’t want to do that because they’d prefer to continue to collude with greedy companies to their own benefit. They’d rather not take in a few millions now and then gain many more in the future than collect one last time now before their little scheme is done once and for all.
That said, assuming the courts decide in the EU’s favor, Ireland is of course under no obligation to keep the money. If they oh-so don’t want it they can of course always send it to Brussels who will find a myriad ways to spend it. Perhaps they could send it with a little bowtie and a “sorry for being a dick” card. Maybe a card made by Apple with a Tim quote on it about how Apple always acts in the highest interests of humanity. Love and kisses (but no taxes, thankyouverymuch).
Ireland is of course perfectly free to decide they don’t want a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% and instead take on eg. D and F by offering near-zero dumping rate taxes for greedy multinational conglomerates with an ethics deficit. They are perfectly free to do all of that. After they have left the EU that is. The UK on the verge of falling apart is about to show the world how that experiment goes. According to our great President, it will be yugely successful. We’ll see. Interesting times for sure. :)
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It’s illegal tax avoidance, due to backdoor deals which Ireland had no right to negotiate. Apple saw an opportunity to flout EU laws, not pay its share of tax on revenues from our territory. Tim Cook like the typical unethical leader of a multinational (most are American) has decided that when his hand is deep in the cookie jar to keep grabbing cookies.
Steve Jobs negotiated the deal with Ireland and signed it in 1980; other EU countries pitched for the Apple business as well. There’s an excellent analysis of the major contribution Apple made to Ireland’s economy and how important the relationship to the country has been for almost 40 years here:
https://www.apple.com/ie/customer-letter/
What isn’t mentioned in the letter is that at the time the deal was signed, Ireland was headed to certain bankruptcy, technology jobs barely existed, and skilled workers and college graduates were leaving the country in droves. Apple took a tremendous risk in locating its EU headquarters in Ireland. Apple invested in training, and provided good working conditions and benefits, and their Irish work force grew very quickly, and Apple has been the biggest taxpayer in Ireland for decades. Apple’s success in Ireland has attracted many more technology companies to set up EU HQ there.
Tim Cook was still in college and was two years away from earning his BS in electrical engineering in 1980; He joined Apple in 1995. When Steve Jobs inked the deal with Ireland, he didn’t even know who Tim Cook was.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032715/how-did-tim-cook-become-head-apple.asp
As Was mentioned before, Ireland doesn’t want the $14 billion, and they stand by Apple 100% in this matter. They insist that Apple is following Irish rules like other foreign based companies are required to do.
I really consider TidBITS part of that third party developer community. TidBITS didn’t power the applications themselves but much of the documentation and sharing of best methods and best independent software was done by the crew here. Generally Adam is too positive about current Apple, but Apple is slowly managing to put cracks even in Adam’s rose-coloured glass these days. Adam is just one of those people who is not comfortable not being cheerful. If he were on board the Titanic as it sank, he’d load some women and children onto lifeboats and praise the quality of the free whiskey the rescue teams get to drink.
I’ve been TidBITS Talking longer than I care to admit I’m old and I’ve been a subscriber for longer than that. I think this is totally inaccurate and unfair to Adam and the writing crew, and to Talkers as well.
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I fail to see how noting Adam’s sunny nature and positive outlook on life is unfair.
What isn’t mentioned in the letter is that at the time the deal was signed, Ireland was headed to certain bankruptcy, technology jobs barely existed, and skilled workers and college graduates were leaving the country in droves. Apple took a tremendous risk in locating its EU headquarters in Ireland.
Ireland’s politicians have conspired with Apple to break EU law. The deal was illegal then and is illegal now. Metaphorically your argument is that since Ireland was on the streets and penniless but since Apple tossed Ireland a few quid on their way to work every day, Ireland can tell the EU Apple don’t have to pay their taxes. It’s a scam, illegal tax avoidance: companies get away with many scams, particularly deep-pocketed and influential ones like Apple. But sometimes they get caught.
Were Tim Cook an ethical executive or even a visionary leader (without ethics), he’d admit Apple were caught out, recognise the importance of the EU market for Apple, settle and pay these taxes and future taxes.
The EU’s role in tax policy is to guarantee
businesses in one country don’t have an unfair advantage over competitors in another):
- the free flow of goods, services and capital around the EU (in the single market)
- businesses in one country don’t have an unfair advantage over competitors in another
Top footballers in the UK engaged in these kinds of illegal tax avoidance schemes in nineties and early 2000’s. They are now losing their houses or going to jail. It’s a difference of magnitude and not kind. Why should Apple get away with profiting from our market but stealing from us?
The obvious answer is they shouldn’t. If Apple were an ordinary thief and not a grand larcenist with government connections, Apple would be rotting in jail at this point. I don’t believe in selective justice. Do you?