
Apple to acquire digital magazine service Texture - uptown
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/03/apple-to-acquire-digital-magazine-service-texture/
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reaperducer
Finger's crossed for this one.

Hopefully this purchase will bolster Apple News. Just yesterday I was
wondering if Apple News would be discontinued because Apple seems to have lost
interest in it. Which is a shame, because it's probably the best news reader
I've encountered. Fast. Versatile. Clean. I'm OK with ads, and the ones in
Apple News are very unobtrusive.

I just wish there was an Apple News app for the desktop or web, because I
don't always want to read on a tiny screen.

I have used (and often paid for) lots of magazine and newspaper apps over the
last ten years, and most of them have been not great. Some not even good.

Some of the publishers have noticed this, and put out their own apps, usually
with even worse results. But at least they're not paying someone else to make
their brand look terrible. The only one I've found that isn't completely
terrible is the New York Times, but even that has its problems.

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glhaynes
What makes you feel like they've lost interest in Apple News? I don't use the
app much at all so I don't have an opinion but I think it just got a visual
overhaul with iOS 11, didn't it? I'm always surprised how many of my friends
seem to use it a lot. So I've wondered if it might be a dark horse that we'll
all eventually realize is a big deal, like iMessage.

~~~
IBM
It's not really a secret that Apple News is incredibly popular. Everyone on
the publisher side has been talking about how much traffic it drives to their
stories for a while now. Journalists even pitch their stories to the Apple
News editors to try and get them featured [1].

[1] [https://9to5mac.com/2018/02/14/the-information-apple-
news/](https://9to5mac.com/2018/02/14/the-information-apple-news/)

~~~
glhaynes
Ah, I'm behind the times. Thanks!

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uptown
One part of Apple's media strategy that's confusing to me is how they brand
these things.

For instance, how come their exclusive TV programming is branded under Apple
Music? How come iTunes is the wrapper for all media ... not just "tunes"?

Seems like they'd benefit from rebranding these products as "Apple Media" (or
something like that) then have Apple Music, Apple Video, Apple Texture, etc.
as sub-brands under Apple Media. Then, offer a sampling of these services for
free to owners of Apple hardware (or at a flat annual fee similar to Amazon
Prime's bundled services) and offer premium upsells for those that want a
more-expansive or unlimited selection of content.

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ryandrake
“Media” is too bland and generic. Might as well call it “Apple Content”.
Yuuuuck

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pavlov
"Apple Records". Gives you access to anything that was recorded.

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Tsiklon
If this were all possible it would likely involve a very expensive licensing
deal with Apple Corps. as Apple Records already exists.

~~~
pavlov
That was the joke... Apple Inc. has already trampled on Apple Corps multiple
times, with the latest settlement giving them right to the name in every other
context except this one, AFAIK.

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garyclarke27
Hopefully Apple will turn Apple News into a News spotify. I would happily pay
a subscription - say 2 tiers light <2> heavy (hr pw) $10 / $20 pm - with the
subs shared amoungst content providers based on time spent reading. I
subscribe to several now such as FT, Economist, Times. Expensive and a real
pain though, having multiple subs so I may drop them soon, an aggregated sub
would be so much better. Apple News would be an excellent platform for this, I
love it’s layout, quality and Font size controls. I tried Readly App it’s
reader is truly awfull based on pdf version of paper mags so you have to pan
and scan and scroll all the time.

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igravious
Is this good news or bad news (or no news even) for Blendle?
[https://launch.blendle.com/](https://launch.blendle.com/) “Discover the best
journalism. No paywalls, no ads, just stories you'll love. We're in beta.
Reserve your spot.”

edit: What the hell is with the downvotes? I only ask because someone on here
mentioned that Blendle are in roughly the same business–meaning, as Texture
they also claim to offer a "multi-title subscription service giving users the
ability to instantly access some of the most widely read magazines while on
the go"

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dep_b
My first thought too. And since services like Blendle lean heavily on iOS for
generating money I think it's probably bad news for them. But at least they
had a great time playing with their investors money while they were growing ;)

[https://twitter.com/alexandernl/status/585415710546993153](https://twitter.com/alexandernl/status/585415710546993153)

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5_minutes
At least it’s Apple, so chances are they will do something useful with it.

Google could’ve bought it and shut it down.

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Sonnol53
Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook eating up every business

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robmccoll
Any chance they will continue to support non-Apple platforms?

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Erlangolem
Apple is a fascinating company, with their massive cash reserves they have a
lot of options. I feel like they’re exploring banking, publishing in all
forms, in addition to their software and hardware ventures. I hope it works
out, although I look at the bugs and issues with iOS and MacOS and worry that
there is a loss of focus on what makes them Apple in the first place.

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tjwds
I'm honestly surprised with myself for forgetting that iTunes once felt like
the go-to place for media; it seems to me like this move is in support of
those sorts of endeavors.

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ProAm
Apple might be moving into the era Oracle Corp moved into 15 years ago, where
all innovation will occur through acquisition.

~~~
ksec
That is not entirely true. People have these fantasy where innovation ==
invention. Apple is the one with the ecosystem and marketing power that brings
new invention with value to customers. And mostly with an improved version of
the invention.

The day Apple make acquisition and brings a poor product or services out is
the day they enter Oracle Era. Given how I think Oracle makes ( mostly )
absolutely appalling products I say the day is yet to come and far from
happening in near future.

~~~
reaperducer
> The day Apple make acquisition and brings a poor product or services out is
> the day they enter Oracle Era.

What about Siri?

/Siri, add ginger ale to my groceries list. // I've added gaming hammer to
your groceries list.

/Siri, what's the weather? // Here are some web sites I found about "weather."

~~~
briandear
Hey Siri, play Delta Blues!

..Delta Blues starts playing.

Hey Siri, play the first album from T-Bone Burnet.

..and it plays.

Play the number one song from 1983..

And Every Breath You Take by The Police starts playing.

~~~
Nullabillity
"Hey Siri, play Förgätmigej by Raubtier"

..good luck with that one.

