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Verizon Offered To Install Marketers' Apps Directly On Subscribers' Phones (adage.com)
According to a report on AdAge, Verizon Wireless is trying to add more bloatware to Android phones by installing apps from other companies in exchange for payment. From the report: The wireless carrier has offered to install big brands' apps on its subscribers' home screens, potentially delivering millions of downloads, according to agency executives who have considered making such deals for their clients. But that reach would come at a cost: Verizon was seeking between $1 and $2 for each device affected, executives said. Verizon started courting advertisers with app installations late last year, pitching retail and finance brands among others, agency executives said.
It has only offered the installations on Android phones, because Google's software is open for carriers to customize. Apple controls its platform more tightly. The proposed deals with brands ensure that their apps download to only new devices when consumers activate the phones and their software for the first time.
How many potential installs are they looking for? If i were a Verizon customer i'd consider paying at _least_ $10 extra to avoid having all the extra crap installed on my phone.
(Assuming of course that after paying the Danegeld the amortized cost would still be less than switching to a different phone on a different provider.)
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There doesn't appear to be much of a reason to buy a carrier-bound phone anymore, especially Android.
Basically, if you want an Android phone that will remain supported, you almost have to go non-carrier Nexus
It's the PC industry all over again. Kickbacks for crapware, installed by default. Permanent product placement on your app screen and no option to remove it.
The last Lenovo laptop I bought wasn't able to play Skyrim because crapware kept getting in the way and stealing focus, locking up the GPU.
Now it's a race to see who is going to root the device first - the malvertisers with root certs or the users with jailbreaks.
This kind of behavior is just a symptom of the deeper problem that no one (or very few people) at these traditional telecom companies are fundamentally interested in advocating for the customer's comprehensive experience and satisfaction.
They view every interaction as a way to milk out profit in the short term, regardless of how much of the burden and dissatisfaction it shifts onto the consumer.
Any wonder, then, that whenever the customer has a chance to dump them and shift to a provider/medium/hardware solution that works better and is considerate of the customer's desires, they do?
If on the other hand I can't, the phone's going to get unlocked and rooted. All carriers should take note - we're getting closer to a discontinuity in how much we're willing to be abused.
So what happens when Verizon pushes out a malware infested app that roots your device?
How's escaping the tyranny of Apple's walled garden working out for you? Meet the new boss, worse than the old boss.
Fine because I just buy a Google Nexus Phone and can do whatever the hell I want with it? Unlocked boot-loader, root access, because its my own piece of hardware.
You're capable of following the directions on the web to unlock and root your phone -- that's makes you a very atypical phone customer! Most people are too stupid to understand what their carrier is forcing them to do.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Microsoft Store doesn't seem to sell any laptops that run those either.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
They want to (not so) slowly move people to OS-as-a-service.
It's not even that.
Microsoft has discontinued OS sales and then support for years. Much longer than the OS-as-a-service concept has been on their radar.
With proprietary for-profit software, you will inevitably reach the point where new sales of the software will not cover the cost to maintain the software. And if you're a business, that means it's time to consider killing the product.
While users and developers both require a stable platform to do their work, the very stability of that platform eliminates the need for new purchases. Just reassign that perpetual license when the hardware dies and carry on. Meanwhile, the developer must support new hardware and new standards, and he must also fix any bugs or exploits.
Going OS-as-a-service and subsidizing the annual license fee to $0 through the use of analytic and advertising revenue... well, that's one solution. I don't like it, but if people are unwilling to pay for support one way then they will pay another. Microsoft has to make money, and users are generally not interested in paying cash for operating systems.
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
This is their fiduciary duty to shareholders.
This is utterly wrong. They have a duty to try and keep the company healthy. Angering customers who then leave is doing the opposite.
What you and all of the other ignorant people that parrot your "fiduciary duty" crap fail to realize is that money is only one metric of a companies success, and even that is measured in the long term. Otherwise I could literally offer them one dollar to have all sales people dress like rabbits and they would be forced to do so because $1 is greater than $0.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley