Om Malik doesn't like Apple's side projects


Om Malik, founder of GigaOm On This week in Tech (via 9 to 5 Mac):

"If you want to do something for the shareholders make interesting damn MacBooks, which people can buy. You want to do something nice? Make a better phone, which people want to keep buying. Nobody cares if you do Planet of the Apps."

Apple has been pursuing original content as a means to bolster primarily Apple Music, but with Planet of the Apps, also the App Store. This is kind of weird for Apple, but I think the company is experimenting a bit. Cable channels, Netflix, Amazon, etc, have had considerable success building their business through original content. Exclusive content works as a tentpole to build audiences and boost their other offerings. I think Apple is trying this approach, but people I think assume Apple is trying to be Netflix. Apple has said that's not their intent.

So, I get it can be frustrating when Apple isn't pumping out products to someone's liking, but see news of Apple working on stuff like an unscripted reality show like Planet of the Apps or Carpool Karaoke. While this certainly takes up bandwidth of Apple executives, I'm guessing it doesn't affect engineers and product development much.