+- MacResource (https://forums.macresource.com)
+-- Forum: My Category (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Tips and Deals (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity (/showthread.php?tid=167647)
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - Filliam H. Muffman - 05-29-2014
what4 wrote:
Watch out, Apple! If you're not careful, three years from now those tough guys will own you.
Maybe they will fire Apple's Marketing department and let Engineering start selling good Mac products again.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - Marc Anthony - 05-29-2014
I don't believe the quizzical reception is racial bias, if that's what vision is implying; I think people just can't see the reasoning behind the decision. Apple spent a boatload of cash on a company with a relatively small subscriber base and expensive headphones that are almost universally panned as being inferior to less pricey options; they could have built their own quality headphones from the ground up and probably purchased both Rdio and Spotify for what they paid for Beats. HTC only paid $300 million for half of Beats about 3 years ago, and I'm not sure from where the excess value suddenly came. If all Apple wanted was Dre and Iovine, they could have offered them consulting positions. It's a head scratcher.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - richorlin - 05-29-2014
Beats: big on bass, hype and price.
A lot better products out there for less money.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - deckeda - 05-29-2014
ka jowct wrote:
[quote=vision63]
If they bought Senheisser, nobody would say anything.
Or even Sennheiser.
I haven't ever listened to Beats headphones, so I don't know anything about the quality. Are they any good?
If they are only "good" with a couple of genres, I personally wouldn't classify them as good. So what's the verdict?
Any professional reviewer would, and has, panned them. For the same or less money you can buy better-sounding headphones from several companies.
Beats ushered in the current era of headphones popularity, specifically medium/full size "non portable" headphones, based on a widely-known used-to-be DJ hip hop artist's involvement and promotion. Beats was the first in the modern era to combine style with a huge marketing push. Think Bose from the 1970s.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - sekker - 05-29-2014
For years and years, everyone kept telling me that you can get 'better hardware' from other companies.
And that the real reason I made the purchase was for hype.
The product?
The Macintosh personal computer.
I think Beats WAS the first to make mid-range headphones with algorithms designed to make the amplifiers work better with mp3 files. Sure, you could get much more expensive, professional headphones for $1000+; but those really were not all that nice to look at, and they really required full quality audio files to enjoy. After all, they were for professionals or audiophiles.
Other vendors like Bose and Harmon Kardon are now making mid-range listening devices targeted to the main consumer. They are almost to a product 'better' quality. But they were not first in the market.
Apple can take the current momentum from Beats' entry and establishment of this market and make the BEST mid-range headphones. I'd like, in particular, a nice set of noise-canceling headphones with an iPod built right in, for example.
That's the good side.
But if all Apple did was buy the marketing arm of Beats, then this is going down as a terrible purchase.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - deckeda - 05-29-2014
Apple can't produce the best of any genre of headphone. Even with--no, because of--this acquisition, they lack the engineering, musical, audio, philosophical and "DNA" to make it happen. Similarly, no decent audio company would know the first thing about designing a computer.
It's a common fallacy, good at one thing=good at another.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - decay - 05-29-2014
Easy eMac.
R.I.P.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - vision63 - 05-29-2014
I don't think any of this makes sense, based on the $3 billion price tag unless they really believe in Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine and that they as individuals bring something significant to the table. It's like Cook said, they could have rolled their own streaming service.
Beats really shines when it comes to their connection to custom celebrity editions that sell like hotcakes. Nicki Minaj, Shawn White, Drake, J Cole, Mindless Behavior, Lil Wayne, Spike Lee (Knicks), Kobe Bryant (black mamba).
When you watch the NBA they'll show the players arriving to the arena and a big part of it are the headphones that they're styling. The NBA is exploding in popularity and most of the players sport them.
This is a good acquisition for Apple. The younger crowd is fueling the rise of Samsung. Apple wants them all back. You got to want somebody that'll spend $449 dollars on Nicki Minaj's pink Beats.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - silvarios - 05-29-2014
Filliam H. Muffman wrote: Maybe they will fire Apple's Marketing department and let Engineering start selling good Mac products again.
Please.
Re: Tim Cook explains his temporary insanity - silvarios - 05-29-2014
vision63 wrote:
I don't think any of this makes sense, based on the $3 billion price tag unless they really believe in Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine and that they as individuals bring something significant to the table.
No doubt, those cats are sharks. Everything they touch makes money for them. Not always sure about the quality of the product (I find Dre way overhyped and like Iovine, there's evidence of them slapping their name on a finished product that other people actually produced), but they market well and print money. And for better or worse these cats have swam, when plenty of other have sunk in the musics industry that is all about the sharks.
vision63 wrote: You got to want somebody that'll spend $449 dollars on Nicki Minaj's pink Beats.
Man, that's absurd. Can I get it to match my Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer and Harley Davidson F150. Maybe I can plug those into my U2 iPod (remember those) I hate lame co-branding. You should hear the heresy I speak regarding Lego selling their soul for the ability to sale pop culture playsets. Ugh. GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!
