The Upgrade
Apple vs. Facebook Enters a New Era
With two pivots on the horizon, here’s what you should know
People are expected to draw a line between public and private life — it’s why you (probably) don’t go to the office in your slippers and underwear. There’s a fundamental expectation that the companies we interact with every day can manage that divide as well.
Some tech companies understand this dichotomy better than others. Facebook hasn’t traditionally cared much for it, for example, while Apple has bent over backwards to market privacy features. But the tide may be shifting, depending on how you interpret some recent product announcements. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently committed himself to “building a privacy-focused” platform, while Apple announced a slate of new services that a different, less scrupulous company might use to harvest user data.
At this pivotal moment, it’s worth examining how the two approaches differ and what users might realistically expect as we enter a new era for these technology giants.
For starters, take Apple’s new services. In all these products—from original TV shows to magazines, games, and banking—understanding performance, user metrics, and activities is crucial to success. Magazines in News+ will rely on ad sales to make…
