Linked List: September 5, 2023

Tuesday, 5 September 2023

Horace Dediu: ‘The Value of a Customer’ ★

Horace Dediu, writing at the newly refreshed Asymco:

So the picture becomes clearer. The iPhone customer is 7.4 times more valuable than the Android customer. This is more impressive than the 4× rule I had 10 years ago. The reasons are mainly that my anecdotes were from developers who sold products in the US or EU whereas expansion of smartphones to 7 billion global users has drawn in more lower spending customers.

But Apple’s base has also grown to over 1 billion users (650 million store users). This highlights that Apple has effectively grown and discriminated customers effectively. It obtained not just 1 billion customers but the best 1 billion customers.

How to discriminate effectively is the holy grail of marketing. The naïve approach is to keep prices high. But that usually only results in a “luxury” branding and a small base that tends not to grow. The alternative “premium” approach is to offer functionality and multiple tiers and distribution options and financing and merchandising. There is no simple formula.

I really enjoyed this piece, but I will quibble with “There is no simple formula”. It’s the execution that is difficult and complex. But at a high level the formula Apple has applied to make the iPhone (and iPad) the unprecedented success that they are is remarkably simple.

First, make something people care deeply about. Computers are the biggest advance in human society since the industrial revolution; revolution is a strong word but it applied then and applies again today. People care about their computers and what they do on their computers very much, and they care most about the most personal of personal computers: their phones. They use them for communication, photography, entertainment (music and video), games, and more. They carry them almost everywhere they go, all day every day, and sleep next to them.

Second, make the best version of that thing people care deeply about. The people who care the most will perceive the superiority of your product, and gladly — not begrudgingly — pay a premium for it.

Third, keep iterating, tirelessly and continuously, to improve that product year after year. Focus on aspects that cannot be copied or imitated. In the iPhone’s case, those are things such as custom chips, superior hardware components and manufacturing techniques, software frameworks decades in the making, a culture that prioritizes great design, and an ever-expanding ecosystem that keeps customers in the flock by making them happy. Build a luxury resort they don’t want to leave, not a prison they can’t leave.

Don’t prioritize being first or being cheapest. Prioritize being the best. That’s a simple strategy. It’s the execution that’s hard as hell.

Should Apple Cease Advertising on Twitter? ★

Ian Betteridge:

Apple is very good at taking a stand when it’s easy. It refused to carry various small right-wing social platforms on its App Store, because the content moderation policies weren’t up to scratch. Meanwhile, Twitter gets a pass despite having no practical control over hate speech and an owner who actively encourages it.

Should we be considering boycotting Apple and other companies that advertise on Twitter? Let’s frame that another way: if you found out that a company was actively funding hate speech, would you want to buy products from them?

I know I wouldn’t.

Betteridge is without question correct that Apple is in a difficult position here. If you think it would be easy, recall last year, when Apple had drawn Musk’s ire over the App Store’s policies. As I wrote then, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

But it’s hard to imagine any other ad venue — website, billboard, magazine, TV channel — where Apple would run ads that run alongside ads like this one. No need for a statement. Just cease running ads on Twitter/X, and stop paying for these promotional “hashflags”. When inevitably asked why, respond how Apple responds best: no comment.

Little Musk Who Cries ‘Wolf’ Daily Now Claims Twitter/X Is Going to Sue the Anti-Defamation League ★

Rebecca Bellan, reporting for TechCrunch:

In the newest uproar you might have missed, Elon Musk says X, formerly Twitter, will file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League. Musk accused the ADL, an organization that works to combat antisemitism, extremism and bigotry, of falsely accusing him and X of being antisemitic.

“To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!” tweeted the billionaire celebrity on Monday.

Musk also blamed the ADL for X’s falling U.S. advertising revenue. “Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!” said Musk.

Musk started off this latest tirade by claiming to be pro-free speech, but “against anti-Semitism of any kind.”

Musk claims he’s going to do all sorts of crazy shit. Sometimes he actually goes through with it, like the time he said he was going to buy Twitter and take it private. Most of the time, though, he doesn’t. We need to stop reporting on what he says and focus mostly on what he does. Just two weeks ago I began using this headline play on the proverbial Little Boy Who Cried Wolf when Musk declared that Twitter/X was going to get rid of the block feature. He might still go through with that threat, but it hasn’t happened, and I suspect it won’t.

So why am I even linking to this threat against the ADL? Because what has already happened is odious and noteworthy. A weekend-long trending “BanTheADL” hashtag that not only wasn’t suppressed, but was bolstered by Musk himself. Now this “It’s all the Jews’ fault” excuse in the form of the lawsuit threat — it doesn’t really matter if Musk follows through and sues (it’d be a nonsensical suit), the damage is that Twitter’s most popular user — who happens to own it — is openly courting antisemites.

‘The MacOS App Icon Book’ by Michael Flarup ★

Speaking of Kickstarter projects, Michael Flarup is working on a sequel to his outstanding The iOS App Icon Book — this one dedicated to Mac app icons. Given my interests, I’d have been delighted by The iOS App Icon Book even if it had merely been pretty good. But it’s a splendid book — carefully curated, exquisitely well-designed, and very nicely printed and bound. It’s no small trick to reproduce icons meant for screens in a printed book. The iOS App Icon Book is also very well-written and considered, particularly regarding the seminal design shift introduced by iOS 7 in 2013.

So a sibling volume dedicated to Mac app icons? Hell yes.

Studio Neat’s Keen: The World’s Best Box Cutter ★

New from the dynamic duo at Studio Neat: Keen, a $95 box cutter.

Yes, a box cutter/utility knife that costs about $100. A $100 tool to replace the sort of disposable thing that costs like a $1 a pop. Until about a year ago, those disposable plastic jobbies were what I used, and I kept losing them. About a year ago, after losing track of the last one in my office, it occurred to me that I lose them because I don’t care about them. I already owned a nice keychain-sized pocket knife from The James Brand, which I love, so I bought the Palmer, their $59 box cutter. 11 months later and I haven’t misplaced it once. And I’m happier for owning it: it’s way nicer to use than any disposable I’ve ever had.

A few weeks ago, though, my pals at Studio Neat sent me a pre-production Keen. I prefer it to the Palmer in every single regard. First, it’s thinner and smaller, but in no way too small. Second, it’s easier to change the blade. But most importantly, the Keen offers a completely original design for opening and closing the blade: a spring-loaded slider. It’s so different from any box cutter design I’ve ever seen that I wondered if I’d even like it at all, let alone prefer it, because it does not lock into place. Turns out though I much prefer it. It feels both more convenient and safer, because it’s impossible to leave the blade extended while you aren’t holding it. And when released, it springs back so quickly that if you drop it, the blade will retract by the time it lands.

Pens are so cheap you can get them free at most bank counters, but many people who care spend more to get a really nice one. (Studio Neat, in fact, has you covered there as well, if you’re interested, with their Mark One and Mark Two. Me personally, I remain devoted to the $1.75 Zebra Sarasa.) A box cutter is no different. Given how many packages I receive each and every week of the year, it’s one of my most-used tools. So why not buy the best? The Kickstarter is already fully-funded, but the eventual retail price will be around $25 higher than the Kickstarter price.