Apple Confirms Purchase of Beats For $3 Billion

SimonTheSoundMan writes: "Apple has confirmed it will buy Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. Apple will make the purchase using $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in stock. An important part of the acquisition for Apple is absorbing the Beats subscription streaming service, even though it only has about 110k users. The Beats brand will remain intact, and will continue to sell headphones. "

Apple has now jumped the shark

[Spy Handler]

what exactly does Beats have that Apple can't come up with by itself in an afternoon? Hell they could get Eminem or some other rapper to endorse it for a lot less money.

I used to be an Apple faithful but I think their days of innovation are past. Even Samsung is still trying to make its own shit like the VR goggles rather than just buy whatever seems popular.

Re:Style over substance

[nblender]

I hadn't heard of Beats until last week. I was in a Future Shop (like Best Buy) with my son and he was all gaga over some of these Beats headphones on display... So I put them on and listened. It was like I was listening to music through a tin can while someone tapped on the can with a pencil... I'm far from a 'golden ear' audiophile wanker... I have a pair of mid-low end Sennheisers on my head 8 hours a day at work...

Re:Style over substance

[greg1104]

Serious Coke drinkers can even tell what type of container the soda was stored in. Larger containers are carbonated more heavily so they can survive being opened more times, and that makes them taste differently.

Re:Style over substance

[mythosaz]

Sure. There's no questioning that, say, fountain Coke varies from location to location - McDonald's uses RO water, generally the same equipment, and a Coke there tastes different (and to me, better) than a fountain Coke at Burger King -- which purifies its water, but not RO. Also, apparently, a larger quantity of the water is kept chilled in their RO system (keeping it colder, allowing for better CO2 absorption).

[A quick "McDonalds reverse osmosis" search shows a few articles that all say the same thing.]

You can generally get a good Coke at your local Water and Ice store for similar reasons.

Anyone living near Mexico can also tell the difference between a glass bottled Mexican Coke and the US version because of the sugar used.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M... [wikipedia.org]
It used to be a treat at "real' Mexican restaurants here in the Southwest, but now they're available at Costco.
[I personally avoid most sugared drinks, but indulge in the occasional "MexiCoke."]

Regardless, Safeway Select Cola is in no way "exactly the same" as Coke :)

Re:Style over substance

[mjwx]

I think it's safe to assume Apple wanted the Beats brand and styling, since the technology is nothing special. Beats headphones sound shit compared to much cheaper competitors, so apparently the logo is worth billions.

You see Beats sells headphones with cheap hardware worth about $50 for around $300.
Apple sells phones with cheap hardware worth about $100 for $600.

Both utilise brand over performance, style over substance and both like to give their customers a good rodgering at every opportunity. It's a marriage made in corporate heaven.

Only 110K people who have figured out how to...

[anyaristow]

...sign up.

I tried to sign up for the streaming service today. I pressed the prominent "free trial" button, read the terms of service and privacy policy, and filled out the web form, only to be told "username not reserved." WTF does that mean? Temporary trouble? Hit the sign up button again...username not reserved. Picked a different user name. "Email not reserved."

So, I read some of their support forum, where other people are asking, "wtf is username not reserved", and found you had to sign up through their mobile app before you can sign up for the free trial on their website.

I checked again and found no instructions to that effect.

Maybe there are only 110K people who have figured out how to sign up.