People like me are too deep into the Apple ecosystem to ever reasonably leave. Until/unless they fully neuter macOS, I’m here for life. And I’ll realistically never use Android. But the next generation of users might use an iPhone, but they also rely on the web and services from other companies. They use Chromebooks. They don’t have a reason to “root” for Apple the same way I did as a kid. And that’s how platforms change and ecosystems fall off. https://mastodon.social/@film_girl/112955398796903001
Like a lot of 90s kids, I grew up on Windows at home but used Macs at school and switched to Macs in college during the 2000s. We bought iPods, not Zunes. MacBooks, not Vista. iPhones, not Windows Phones (or Windows Mobile). iPads, not Android tablets. But 2010s kids have other options. And Apple’s odious decisions like making macOS worse, being ratfuckers about the App Store (while still approving/promoting scam apps) doesn’t win over the loyalties of the next-generation of big-money users.
Already we see how these sorts of policies play out poorly for Apple: the Apple Vision Pro is so far, an expensive flop that has very few apps and has made its devs very little money (I’ve talked to many. Only a few have done “well”) and most are wholly unwilling to even build an app for it. These policies and decisions have downstream effects. There are consequences. Apple might not “see” them b/c they still print money, but they exist.
Microsoft has spent the better part of the 15 years trying to win back developers and users post Vista. Sometimes succeeding (VS Code, which is just good software), sometimes failing (Bing), often fumbling with bad decisions (Recall), but despite being THE platform for games, people use Steam, not the Microsoft Store. People buy PS5s more than Xbox (and I love Xbox but it’s true). When vibes shift, users find alternatives. And they find them fast. Winning people back takes much longer.
Given that the Vision Pro was announced as a limited release with an outrageous price, it was unrealistic to think you could make money the first year from it. Any kind of investment by third parties should be made as a long term one, seeking a first mover advantage.
Apple has always have a culture of trying to do it perfect the first time, that makes them launch instant hits (iPhone) and absolute misses (round mouse). Microsoft's culture is a "third is the charm" one. They tend to try once, twice, and get it right the third. And they are much more enterprise oriented; they don't worry about consumer market or game market nearly as much as most of people think. For them, the real money is in Azure and enterprise contracts. And they are much more global; Apple is really big only in the United States. Globally, Android and Windows are kings, and Apple products a premium niche.
