This week: For Tim Cook and Apple, it's Lights, Cameras ... Sideshow!
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If you've been eagerly awaiting the latest iPad you may have enjoyed Apple's "Special Event" on Tuesday. But to me, Apple's big event was mainly a sign of how the scripted product launches that Big Tech relies upon to control the news cycle are increasingly impotent.
Now that tech is at the center of the biggest political and geopolitical dramas, product launches have become sideshows that can't compete with the main event.
And yes, there's the fate of TikTok, caught in the middle of the US-China tech cold war, which continued to play out in real time on Tuesday while Apple streamed.
And Apple immediately raised eyebrows with the launch of Fitness Plus, its new fitness app. That's because it will compete dozens of other small companies who make training and live workout classes, and who can only reach Apple users through Apple's App Store (and by paying Apple a 30% fee on any revenue). As Julie Bort points out, Apple is competing with its own customers — on its own turf, with home-field advantages.
Of course, this may have felt like a sideshow because Apple's event on Tuesday did not feature the new, highly-anticipated iPhone. For that, you'll have to wait until October, when Apple is expected to have another event to introduce its first 5G iPhone.
The iPhone launch is certain to generate a lot more excitement than this week's event. But no matter what the new iPhone can do, and no matter how much hoopla Tim Cook and company bring to the table, Apple will be addressing a different audience — one with a less friendly view of Big Tech and with many other, bigger issues to focus on.
The Facebook executive did note that the company was successfully weeding out 95% of the bad stuff. Maybe for big brand marketers, that's good enough...
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