Manjoo: It’s scary how dominant Apple has become. But how scary?

Manjoo: It’s scary how dominant Apple has become. But how scary?

2 years ago
Anonymous $xqL1ZTchGQ

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2022/04/02/manjoo-its-scary-how-dominant-apple-has-become-but-how-scary/

How big of a deal is it that a film from Apple, founded as a computer company, just won three Academy Awards, including one for best picture? If you’re among those worried about the inescapable economic, political and cultural dominance of that set of nerdy giants we now call Big Tech, how much greater panic should this induce?

Perhaps none. On its own, the awards-season success of “CODA” — the feel-good film about a deaf family that Apple purchased for its subscription TV service at last year’s Sundance Film Festival — will be immaterial to the company’s very big bottom line. And anyway, Apple is hardly the first corporate interloper to find fortune (or, more often, failure) in showbiz. For decades, auto-parts companies, Canadian liquor magnates and storied American corporations have gone to Hollywood in search of lucrative side hustles and brand-enhancing corporate jewels. Sony, whose Walkman was the iPod of its day, got into the entertainment business way back in 1989; now Sony Pictures’ capacious library of films includes a dozen best picture Oscar winners.

Manjoo: It’s scary how dominant Apple has become. But how scary?

Apr 2, 2022, 12:23pm UTC
https://www.siliconvalley.com/2022/04/02/manjoo-its-scary-how-dominant-apple-has-become-but-how-scary/ > How big of a deal is it that a film from Apple, founded as a computer company, just won three Academy Awards, including one for best picture? If you’re among those worried about the inescapable economic, political and cultural dominance of that set of nerdy giants we now call Big Tech, how much greater panic should this induce? > Perhaps none. On its own, the awards-season success of “CODA” — the feel-good film about a deaf family that Apple purchased for its subscription TV service at last year’s Sundance Film Festival — will be immaterial to the company’s very big bottom line. And anyway, Apple is hardly the first corporate interloper to find fortune (or, more often, failure) in showbiz. For decades, auto-parts companies, Canadian liquor magnates and storied American corporations have gone to Hollywood in search of lucrative side hustles and brand-enhancing corporate jewels. Sony, whose Walkman was the iPod of its day, got into the entertainment business way back in 1989; now Sony Pictures’ capacious library of films includes a dozen best picture Oscar winners.