Comments on: Apple Should Buy Tumblr

By: maerie

maerie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:56:09 +0000

P.S. That all said, I still do like the idea of Apple buying Tumblr.

By: maerie

maerie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:55:02 +0000

I can't even tell you how much I like the phrase, 'embrac[ing] platform agnosticism'. That's a brilliant way to state it.

I'm going to go further (afield!) here and say something that I know is not at all cool to say: I don't get the dichotomy of the PC / Apple world. The camps. I have spoken to enough IT and computer guys and they all say the same thing: both platforms have their glitchey, wonky issues.

I get it that an Apple's basic computer design looks so much better than a PC. I do--I am also a designer, so I appreciate their thoughtful, considered, modern aesthetic. Beauty in life is important. But I react to stuff that feels simply divisive, as much of this pro-Apple stuff feels to me. I don't get why we can't have 'platform agnosticism' for all--and then Apple can keep going with groovy designs, and designers and hep-cats will all keep flocking to them, simply because they own that market niche.

And we haven't even mentioned Linux! I do just feel like, "Can't we all just get along?"
Why can't we have a utopian platform so that everyone moves along and evolves?

By: maerie

maerie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:56:09 +0000

P.S. That all said, I still do like the idea of Apple buying Tumblr.

By: maerie

maerie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:55:02 +0000

By: rikin

rikin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:31:00 +0000

That's a great point – this partnership could be very limiting. It's all hypothetical; however, if a deal like this was completed I'd hope that accessibility and openness was upheld. Closed networks will only benefit in the short term and will eventually have to open up their walls to everyone.

I think that companies, even those whose products are as proprietary as Apple's, are realizing this and slowly beginning to embrace platform agnosticism.

By: maerie

maerie — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:11:14 +0000

I must say, I kind of like this idea of Apple buying Tumblr, just for the beauty and symmetry of it. It's true (that I find) Tumblr to be the easiest way to post bloggity bits, as well as photos, audios, videos, etc. I presently have about six or seven different Tumblr blogs suited to my many moods. And while I grew up on a PC, I use an Apple at work and grokk the stuff about it being best suited for designers (and I am not a designer now, am a copywriter, but getting files ready for my website is most easily done with Apple).

What I don't like about this scenario is that it feels limiting: what with Apple at 10% of market share, and Tumblr themselves stating that 40% of their traffic comes from Apple. I am not necessarily an Appleholic, so I think it would be a crime to have this beautiful app squeezed down into this smaller market.

It could become a specialized, gorgeous niche app....but is it really too much to want the democratization of design in web and mobile apps? Is it so wrong to want the promise the Good Design movement to extend into the 21st century as a reality for our new technologies and mediums?

I just want it to be enjoyed by the most people possible. Because awesome should be rewarded.

By: Apple Should Buy Tumblr — rikin on the web - Fresh Thoughts On … | Mac Affinity

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:27:37 +0000

[...] Continue reading here: Apple Should Buy Tumblr — rikin on the web – Fresh Thoughts On … [...]