Apple Maps Enshitification
Apple Maps users could start seeing ads in the app as soon as next year
These companies just can’t help themselves but enshitify everything they possibly can. It’s legal, and basically free money. A lot of free money.
The Enshitification of Big Tech: A Conversation with Cory Doctorow ↗
Nothing is free, and when you use online services that say they are free, you are actually the product, not the customer. Facebook? Google? Increasingly Amazon…? You are a source of data that they own, and they sell. You effectively have no choice in the matter. One of the main reasons I have always been fine paying (a lot) for Apple products is that it’s very clear what you’re paying for, where the company makes their money (you know… from us paying for it), and the customer / product relationship is very clear. That line seems to be blurring.
The big risk Apple faces here is a potential consumer backlash. Some customers are already unhappy that the iPhone has been turned into a digital billboard for services like AppleCare+, Apple Music, Apple TV and Fitness+. The company also pushes web-like ad slots within Apple News. When you consider that an iPhone can cost up to $2,000, some see this as an unseemly money grab.
You don’t say!