Linked List: October 18, 2023

Wednesday, 18 October 2023

Vintage 2013 Claim Chowder: ‘Is Apple’s iPhone No Longer Cool to Teens?’ ★

I’ve surfaced this 2013 gem from Forbes before, but it feels worth another link in light of that new Piper Sandler survey pegging the iPhone’s market share amongst U.S. teens at a staggering 87 percent:

Ultimately, in the eyes of today’s youth, massive popularity has watered down Apple’s coolness. “Teens are telling us Apple is done,” says Tina Wells of the youth marketing agency Buzz Marketing Group. “Apple has done a great job of embracing Gen X and older [Millennials], but I don’t think they are connecting with Millennial kids. [They’re] all about Surface tablets/laptops and Galaxy.”

This take looks really goofy 10 years later, but at the time, there was a really strong, persistent media narrative that Apple couldn’t thrive without Steve Jobs, and that Samsung in particular was going to surpass them. 2013 was the year of Phil Schiller’s “Can’t innovate any more, my ass” ad lib during the WWDC keynote.

Color Palettes From Dieter Rams Products for Braun ★

I so very badly wish to push every single one of these buttons. You know they’d have a satisfying clickiness. (Via Present and Correct on Threads.)

Piper Sandler’s Annual ‘Taking Stock With Teens’ Survey ★

Notable results from Piper Sandler’s survey of over 9,000 U.S. teenagers:

70% of teens have used Spotify over the last six months (up from 68%), with 46% of teens opting to subscribe/pay for Spotify (up from 44%)

TikTok improved slightly as the favorite social platform (38% share) by 80 bps vs. spring ’23. SNAP was No. 2 with 28% share, followed by Instagram (23%)

Teens spend 28.7% of daily video consumption on Netflix (-220 bps vs. spring ’23) and 29.1% on YouTube (+100 bps vs. spring ‘23)

87% of teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone to be their next phone; 34% own an Apple Watch

The iPhone’s market share among U.S. teenagers has been remarkably high for as long as I can remember such surveys. Years ago, though, there was a split between how many teens actually had an iPhone vs. how many wanted one for their next phone. Now those numbers are effectively even. I suspect this is the primary driving force in the iPhone’s continuing market share growth in the U.S. It’s easy to think only short-term and believe that just about everyone who might ever get a phone already has one, but there are teenagers (and pre-teens) getting their first phone every day.

That teens spend slightly more time every day watching video on YouTube than on Netflix isn’t surprising, at least if you’ve observed any teens recently. But it’s rather remarkable given how different their business models are. Netflix spends a veritable fortune on new original content and old library content. YouTube content is mostly uploaded from users and content creators for free.

I’d be curious to know if there’s a noticeable split between which devices teens use to watch video on different services. Like, maybe YouTube viewing skews more toward watching on their iPhones, but Netflix on bigger-screen devices like laptops and iPads? TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram are surely viewed almost entirely on their iPhones.

‘Log Is the “Pro” in iPhone 15 Pro’ ★

Stu Maschwitz, writing at Prolost:

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max feature log video recording. This is a big deal, but there’s already some confusion about it. Where consumer devices and pro video overlap, that’s where the Prolost Signal gleams brightest in the night sky. So let’s get to work.

First, what exactly is log? It’s short for logarithmic encoding, which is a math thing, but what does it mean to videographers?

It really boils down to two things: Log is flat, and log is known.

Wonderfully explained, and richly illustrated with examples.

Gurman: Apple Is Readying System to Apply Software Updates to Still-in-Box iPhones ★

Mark Gurman, in his weekly Power On column for Bloomberg:

When a customer buys a new iPhone from an Apple retail store, the device sometimes comes with outdated software. For instance, the first iPhone 15 models out of the factory shipped with iOS 17, but iOS 17.0.1 was already available by the time the devices were available for purchase. Buying a new iPhone without the latest software isn’t ideal, especially if there are some high-profile bugs. But that situation is about to change.

Apple is planning a new system for its retail stores that will update the software on iPhones prior to sale. The company has developed a proprietary pad-like device that the store can place boxes of iPhones on top of. That system can then wirelessly turn on the iPhone, update its software and then power it back down — all without the phone’s packaging ever being opened. The company aims to begin rolling this out to its stores before the end of the year.

Fascinating idea, but I have so many questions. What exactly is the trigger here? Something related to MagSafe? When the system is put into place, will it work with existing still-in-the-box iPhones or will it only work with new units, that ship from the factory running iOS 17.2 or whatever? Will the same system eventually come to other products, like iPads and Apple Watches? Maybe even Macs?