Samsung Reminds Us That You Can't Make People Use an App They Don't Want (recode.net) 70
Samsung has announced that it will be discontinuing Milk Music on September 22. The announcement comes a year after the South Korean technology conglomerate shuttered Milk Video, another service that didn't receive the traction Samsung was hoping. Peter Kafka, writing for Recode: It's true that you can't get media/apps/services to customers without access to a platform. But control of the platform doesn't mean customers are going to use your media/apps/services: They've got plenty of choices and they'll choose the ones they want. Ask Verizon and Comcast, which both launched video apps on their networks last year and have nothing to show for it. (You've heard of Verizon's Go90 only because Verizon keeps talking about it when people ask why it spent $10 billion on AOL and Yahoo; you have completely forgotten about Comcast's Watchable.) Soon you'll be able to ask AT&T, which is launching its own video app this fall, which will also feature lots of content people either don't want or can get elsewhere.
Windows 10 (Score:5, Funny)
"Can't make people use an app they don't want? Challenge Accepted." - Microsoft
Re:Windows 10 (Score:5, Informative)
"Can't make people use an app they don't want? Challenge Accepted." - Microsoft
To be fair, Microsoft only tries this every other release. Every other other release, they give people a re-skinned version of the version before last, which is what everybody really wanted to begin with. It's a "tick-schlock" development cycle.
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The difference is that there is no other choice for many tasks, except for maybe Apple. It is truly a monopoly. This article is about not being able to enter a space which already has popular providers.
And don't even try to say Linux or BSD or whatever is viable competition. If you want to actually easily get a computer to do a non-programming professional task for you, Linux is a non-starter. There simply are no quality professional applications for media production and similar.
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Just because you can't use linux you don't have to whine about it. Feel free to use windows without guilt, no one really gives a shit.
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Apple too.
Just try to get Siri to work with your favorite Music or GPS Mapping program by default....
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That was more apt to Microsoft with Internet Explorer.
Back in the olden days over 20 years ago. Netscape was the prominent web browser. Back at the time The Applications installed on Windows were just baby versions of the real Application, just enough to get you to the next step. So IE was installed in Windows 95 mostly for the purpose of downloading Netscape. While IE was fast and light, it lacked way too many features and didn't support too many of the "Modern" HTML Language. features. Making most page
So that's what that is... (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, no wonder it has no marketshare when people that have your phones have never even heard of it. Not that I would have used it anyway, but still...
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That's why I'm getting a nexus, hate this bloatware all these assholes put on our stuff. Even apple doesn't let you delete it's ever expanding library of default app garbage.
Re:So that's what that is... (Score:5, Informative)
I have Verizon, and I noticed Go90 on my phone a little while back but didn't even open it because I had no idea what it was. Now that I know what it is I can delete it without worry. Thanks, Slashdot!
Ar you sure you can delete the Go90 app?
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Well you should be able to uninstall updates and deactivate... Still uses up memory I think.
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Well you should be able to uninstall updates and deactivate... Still uses up memory I think.
Yeah, cleared up some of the memory but I can't see where I can delete it completely. Still better than nothing though.
Re: So that's what that is... (Score:1)
Please if you can, root your phone. You will be able to delete all unwanted bloatware. Hell, I'm running a custom ROM so I didn't even have to delete anything. If you can't root your phone consider getting one you can.
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If the phone was purchased on a contract from one of the big 4 carriers you may not be able to do that until the contract expires which might be as long as two years in the future. After that the carrier may be required to provide the proper unlocking code.
Carriers are moving away from contract phone purchases but don't know if outright purchased phones are unlocked but they should be by law.
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That's a good indication of how attitudes evolve. Back in 80s I wanted to run every program on my computer just out of curiosity to find out what it did (answer: usually something obscure or very little). Somewhere in the 90s that changed to avoiding running things until I knew they were safe, but I would still actively try to find out if they were. These days you just don't run things unless you absolutely must on the assumption that it's pointless bloat, if not some sort of malware that will hijack you
Contradictory (Score:2, Troll)
But control of the platform doesn't mean customers are going to use your media/apps/services: They've got plenty of choices and they'll choose the ones they want.
If you have control of the platform you can limit the customer's choices. See Apple.
Samsung don't control their mobile platform, and neither does Verizon or Comcast. Google controls the platform.
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It took Apple a long time to realize that they should open it up a bit.
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Your comment makes no sense... the Apple 2 was *WAY* more open than the Mac has ever been.
What can't you run on a Mac?
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It's not what I can't run... it's that the entire system is less open. The Apple 2, for instance, was openable, an end user could easily plug in cards into available slots much like what PC ISA would years laters, and the manual that came with the machine even had a complete schematic for the computer!
No.... Apple is not more open than they used to be. Not anywhere close.
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It's not what I can't run...
OK, so you can run whatever you need. So there's no "openness" issue regarding software.
it's that the entire system is less open. The Apple 2, for instance, was openable, an end user could easily plug in cards into available slots much like what PC ISA would years laters, and the manual that came with the machine even had a complete schematic for the computer!
And today, you can still open up the computer. Granted, there are fewer slots, and some things are now soldered instead of card plugs. Today's expansions are more about plugging things into those Thunderbolt/USB-C connectors, which offer much higher throughput than PC ISA, EISA, or even base PCI. So, removing all those things from consideration that you can now extend via either of those connectors, what exactly are you
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Schematics, and the ability to tinker.
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Schematics, and the ability to tinker.
no more or less than any other modern system. No modern PC system I'm aware of gives you schematics these days, and there are many that have gone to minimal chip motherboards with limited slots. So other than pining for the build it yourself systems of yesteryear, what are you missing compared to a Dell, Alienware, Lenovo, HP, or Acer computer? What about a Surface Pro?
They are all less open than previously, and less able to be tinkered with, at least not without voiding the warranty.
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Milk WAS great... (Score:1)
Milk was an awesome service when it first launched and I used it pretty extensively. It had a pretty decent music selection, an unusual (but still functional) interface, was completely ad free - not even "channel identification" ads, and unlimited skip.
The second the added adverts and took away the skips, it became a half-assed pandora clone. I fired it up the other week just to see if it had gotten better, and it had not. Ads every 2-3 tracks, 6 skips, and what seemed to me like a reduction in artists. At
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Ads every 2-3 tracks
Improvement over Spotify - I occasionally manage to get ads between every single song, and if I skip a song I'm practically guaranteed an ad.
Devices? (Score:1)
But there is evidence everywhere that you can make them use devices they don't want if the marketplace is lacking any real alternatives. The public has been asking for devices that THEY are the owner of since the beginning. When are they going to realize that smartphones are just computers. I'll use the operating system of my choice and I shouldn't have to hack my own device to be able to do so.
Spoiled milk by any other name (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder if the app would have done better with a name other than "Milk". Maybe it's just me, but the word evokes thoughts about spoilage instead of music.
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Pointless, useless apps. (Score:1)
You know what? I don't want a god damned app for everything I do on my smartphone. I don't want to have to download and take up gigs of space on my phone when you can just deliver a HTML5 web page that's going to effectively do everything some annoying app would have done.
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You know what? I don't want a god damned app for everything I do on my smartphone. I don't want to have to download and take up gigs of space on my phone when you can just deliver a HTML5 web page that's going to effectively do everything some annoying app would have done.
^^^^^^^^^ THIS, 100%.
Most apps are little more than a shitty wrapper to a web service that would work far better through a propely designed HTML page, but noooooooo, everything has to be an app. Thanks but no thanks.
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Yes, but going to a web page, doesn't give the app manufacturers a chance to throw a EULA at you asking for permission to access and track everything you do on your device at all times.
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You know what? I don't want a god damned app for everything I do on my smartphone. I don't want to have to download and take up gigs of space on my phone when you can just deliver a HTML5 web page that's going to effectively do everything some annoying app would have done.
Yeah, if speed isn't important to you. See link [sealedabstract.com] as to why mobile web apps are slow. You need to mobile native apps to get good performance.
Now what about all the other S apps? (Score:2)
I don't understand why this is so difficult to do. It probably makes their lives easier for firmware updates too since there is less to go wrong or test if the a
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No, it's all about extending their market brand. Yes there's apps that are great for functionality and productivity, like S Pen but others are like so much detritus unless you root and remove it . At that point you may as well go full bore and get rid of your carrier/samsung provided O/S and go custom ROM but then again you'll lose features that your carrier provides or that Samsung only provide in their distribution.
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Either way it would let them shrink the firmware partition meaning more storage for user data and reduce the packaging / testing cycle for updates. I
Stop trying to bundle shit (Score:1)
Didn't the telecoms learn anything from the cable companies?
People don't want to pay more for a bundle of channels/programs, they want to pay a la carte. Especially when there's overlap between services, and tons of unwatchable shit you have to pay for just to get the one show you want.
Look toward YouTube and Amazon Video for a clue.
We want:
* Every show to be easily available (we don't care who provides it)
* Reasonable pricing
* Instant availability
* High quality
* Watchable on all our devices
Please tell "Flipboard" (Score:2)
Samsung needs to follow RedHat's example. (Score:1)
They seem to be pushing SystemD on their server OS despite documented security and reliability concerns.
Quite the downside for Gear users (Score:2)
I got a Gear S2 a few months ago as a promo when I upgraded my phone, and I've been pretty happy with it. However, the only streaming music service that actually seems to work with the tizen device is Milk Music. Pandora (which I've been using for years, and continue to pay for on an off) doesn't have an app for the Gear. I can't seem to find a working standalone streaming service that doesn't simply control an app on my phone or not work well from the outset.
Granted, there are other issues with the Gear
You can't make us use them... (Score:2)
I'm tired of this crap. The user has less and less control over their devices. Mobiles OS don't let the user be root and now Ms is forcing their services and spying on users with Windows 10. I want to be in control of my devices but won't (officially) let me no matter the money I'm willing to pay
Oh boy yes they can (Score:2)
So, I got this S6 and A3 (2016 model) standing in my desk. They both are asking me to update Samsung Games Service in a persistent notification (can't dismiss). Take a guess at the amazing options I got: "Later" and "Update". FCK YEAH. And this is their "Games Service" - you don't even get a notification for their "Samsung Apps" app (you know, their stupid market). You can't freeze/disable/uninstall any of these apps in a recent, bootloader-FULLY-LOCKED Sammy phone. You might argue "but hey, you're not usin
Nope, can't say as I have.... (Score:2)
"You've heard of Verizon's Go90 only because Verizon keeps talking about it when people ask why it spent $10 billion on AOL and Yahoo; you have completely forgotten about Comcast's Watchable."
Watchable? Go90? Nope, never heard of either of them, to be honest.
Two more bullshit services that sank like a stone without so much as a ripple.
Still the dark ages of music apps. (Score:2)
Milk was ok, but it used Slack as its back end. Milk was the bridge of radio playing that Spotify/Google needs. Pandora would be the closet to it. Even SirrusXM's streaming app is very close to Milk, and includes nice advanced tuning features. (popular vs ecliptic)
So we have a mix of music service that really are mashup or good in certain areas, discovery (slack/pandora), playlists (google/spotify), buying (amazon/google/itunes), podcasts (stitch/itunes/spotify is trying add this), tracking songs (Last.fm).
You can't make people use inferior apps for long (Score:1)
Samsung doesn't get content, manufacturer mindset (Score:1)
The origins of Milk Music were a Silicon Valley startup that essentially rebadged Slacker streaming service (trying to find the startup name ...). Me thinks Samsung had Apple Music envy of some sort and the startup was looking for a exit strategy around 2013. Slacker is still around, and if you like/liked Milk Music, switch over to Slacker's direct access plan and you'll hardly know you're listening to a different service.
The plain truth is Samsung has no Steve Jobs (or legacy contacts of said pioneer) to
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Correction, acquired mSpot in 2012
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5... [theverge.com]