Marco Arment

But an even better way is to invest in the company and become a part owner. And now you have much more control over what they do. And you want to lock that up because if some other company comes in before you and buys them and kicks you out and now you can't make contracts with them or you have to deal with Elon Musk, which no one wants to do, that's bad for the company.

But an even better way is to invest in the company and become a part owner. And now you have much more control over what they do. And you want to lock that up because if some other company comes in before you and buys them and kicks you out and now you can't make contracts with them or you have to deal with Elon Musk, which no one wants to do, that's bad for the company.

So this seems like a relatively smart investment. Although I do have to say $1.1 billion seems a lot for a feature that I personally view as one of those like...

So this seems like a relatively smart investment. Although I do have to say $1.1 billion seems a lot for a feature that I personally view as one of those like...

cool like off in the corner features of an iPhone it's great that they have it but it's not something hopefully that everybody uses every day I know they allow you to text from it now but like how it's really just for emergencies and for people who find themselves in an area without coverage and they still want to text people like that's what this is for

cool like off in the corner features of an iPhone it's great that they have it but it's not something hopefully that everybody uses every day I know they allow you to text from it now but like how it's really just for emergencies and for people who find themselves in an area without coverage and they still want to text people like that's what this is for

So it is a boon for them to put it in their products, but it's not as strategic as say, you know, investing in someone to make silicon chips or like a new factory in Arizona that we might talk about in the future or whatever. So it is a lot of money, but I guess space equals a lot of money.

So it is a boon for them to put it in their products, but it's not as strategic as say, you know, investing in someone to make silicon chips or like a new factory in Arizona that we might talk about in the future or whatever. So it is a lot of money, but I guess space equals a lot of money.

They're never going to do that. They could charge you retroactively. But the thing is, these satellites, as amazing as they are, they're never going to be...

They're never going to do that. They could charge you retroactively. But the thing is, these satellites, as amazing as they are, they're never going to be...

a major part of data communications on phones because there's just not enough bandwidth right it's not like hey you won't need a cell provider you'll do everything over satellite i don't think the global star satellite network even with this 1.1 billion dollar investment has any hope of becoming like a replacement for the cell network that now apple doesn't need carriers because they do everything through satellite setting aside the speed of light delays and all that other stuff or whatever

a major part of data communications on phones because there's just not enough bandwidth right it's not like hey you won't need a cell provider you'll do everything over satellite i don't think the global star satellite network even with this 1.1 billion dollar investment has any hope of becoming like a replacement for the cell network that now apple doesn't need carriers because they do everything through satellite setting aside the speed of light delays and all that other stuff or whatever

So what I'm saying is this is an investment purely for the types of things they're currently doing. There's no future scenario where this has some amazing new use that we're not even thinking of. It's never going to be high bandwidth.

So what I'm saying is this is an investment purely for the types of things they're currently doing. There's no future scenario where this has some amazing new use that we're not even thinking of. It's never going to be high bandwidth.

low latency like it's not gonna they're not gonna stream apple tv over to everybody's phones like that's just not gonna happen this is purely for uh you know when you absolutely need to connect and there's no other option outer space right and that is a very it's a great use case and it's an important one and it adds value to their products but it is never going to replace any existing thing they do so maybe 1.1 billion is just pocket change from apple so maybe it's not a big deal but uh

low latency like it's not gonna they're not gonna stream apple tv over to everybody's phones like that's just not gonna happen this is purely for uh you know when you absolutely need to connect and there's no other option outer space right and that is a very it's a great use case and it's an important one and it adds value to their products but it is never going to replace any existing thing they do so maybe 1.1 billion is just pocket change from apple so maybe it's not a big deal but uh

And again, with them investing in the company, maybe Apple foresees other companies wanting to do the exact same type of thing, whether it's a car company or, you know, Android phone seller that also wants to have the same sort of SOS type capabilities, powered satellites. If Apple is a part owner in the company, they get a share of that profit as well. So maybe it's just a smart business move.

And again, with them investing in the company, maybe Apple foresees other companies wanting to do the exact same type of thing, whether it's a car company or, you know, Android phone seller that also wants to have the same sort of SOS type capabilities, powered satellites. If Apple is a part owner in the company, they get a share of that profit as well. So maybe it's just a smart business move.

Yeah, there's just not enough of them. I mean, as many as there are there, and there are too many Starlink satellites, but as many as there are, there are far more cell phone towers in the United States and they're closer to you. Those cell phone towers are much closer to you and they're way, way more of them.

Yeah, there's just not enough of them. I mean, as many as there are there, and there are too many Starlink satellites, but as many as there are, there are far more cell phone towers in the United States and they're closer to you. Those cell phone towers are much closer to you and they're way, way more of them.