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Comments on news posted 2014-08-20 12:23:58: Verizon has a long history of trying to operate their own app store they hope will challenge iTunes and Google's Play Store, and failing miserably at it because as a legacy company they're simply not very good at being disruptive or innovative. ..


bbeesley
join:2003-08-07
Richardson, TX

bbeesley

Member

"Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

so...since they failed in the past, they should just give up and no longer try to innovate?

Kudos to them for trying to fill a gap in the market. I hope they stir things up
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

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openbox9

Premium Member

I'd suggest that VZ should focus on core competencies. That carriers have proven several times that they're very good at providing connectivity and much less than good at providing application services.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

1 recommendation

morbo to bbeesley

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to bbeesley
said by bbeesley:

Kudos to them for trying to fill a gap in the market. I hope they stir things up

There is no gap in the market, so they really are wasting their time and money. As a VZ stockholder, I'd prefer they do something worthwhile.

I often think about how a 'telco' could really innovate and do something new in any space. History has shown their current methods for innovation always fail. Is it even possible for VZ or AT&T to buy or grow a small division to do something new, or is the corporate culture so toxic that anything that doesn't provide an instant ROI is killed?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Because if there's anything customers wanted...

Because if there's anything Verizon customers wanted... It was an App Store.

whfsdude
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Washington, DC

1 recommendation

whfsdude

Premium Member

All I Want is a Dumb Pipe

All consumers want is a dump pipe. Take my money and pass my bits.

Sprint is launching an app subscription store deal. »www.androidpolice.com/20 ··· r-month/
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

5 recommendations

ISurfTooMuch to bbeesley

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to bbeesley

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

If they want to stir things up, that's fine, but the last thing I want on my phone is yet another piece of bloatware that I can't uninstall without rooting.

And you know what's worse than that? The corpse of an app that's left behind when the service fails, a worthless piece of code that I STILL can't uninstall, even though it now serves no purpose at all.

If they feel they can make a good app, then convince me that I should install it. But don't force this likely pile of steaming feces on my phone without my permission!

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

1 edit

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Karl Bode to bbeesley

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to bbeesley

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

quote:
gap in the market
Which gap in the market would that be? The imaginary one screaming for a poorly operated carrier app store with an abysmal GUI and packed with bloatware? Even if a gap were there, Verizon has not once in a decade shown they have the ability and ingenuity to fill it.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

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TechyDad to ISurfTooMuch

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to ISurfTooMuch

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

I'd even accept the auto-installed apps on new phones if they would let the users uninstall the apps instead of forcing us to root our phones just to get rid of apps we don't want and will never use, but whose corporate owners paid Verizon Wireless (or AT&T) to make sure that said app will be on all of their phones.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

we do not want to go back to days of the Carrier ringtone and jar stores wit

we do not want to go back to days of the Carrier ringtone and jar stores with locked down phones you where not able to load your own apps or had to do stuff like set up a web page to load them as the usb link was locked down.

firephoto
Truth and reality matters
Premium Member
join:2003-03-18
Brewster, WA

1 recommendation

firephoto

Premium Member

They need control

Obviously they have some new off the books contracts with the feds so a new app store will give them a jump started spying platform that they know hasn't been leaked because it's all new with catchy names and dubious goals.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

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ISurfTooMuch to TechyDad

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to TechyDad

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

Indeed. My beef isn't so much that the apps are there but that they can't be removed without rooting.

I read an article a while beck saying that Verizon had made all the bloatware on the G3 removable as an experiment to see if users liked it. Karl, maybe you could reach out to them to see if that's what they're going to do on all their phones going forward.

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

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jseymour to bbeesley

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to bbeesley
said by bbeesley:

so...since they failed in the past, they should just give up and no longer try to innovate?

Srsly? Innovate? A legacy TelCom company?

When is the last time, since the demise of Bell Labs, you saw a legacy TelCom innovate? I mean: In other than imaginative ways to fleece their customers and stifle any hint of competition?
said by bbeesley:

Kudos to them for trying to fill a gap in the market.

What "gap in the market" is that? The "rarely used, non-portable, clunky app market?"

Jim

Karl Bode
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Karl Bode to ISurfTooMuch

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quote:
I read an article a while beck saying that Verizon had made all the bloatware on the G3 removable as an experiment to see if users liked it.
I have a LG G3 on Verizon and the bloatware, though somewhat less of it, still can't be removed without rooting.

buzz_4_20
join:2003-09-20
Dover, NH

2 recommendations

buzz_4_20

Member

Wait a Minute

I already have to root my phone to get rid of the preinstalled junk from VZW... now they want a special store to shill crap from.

No Thank You.

bbeesley
join:2003-08-07
Richardson, TX

bbeesley to Karl Bode

Member

to Karl Bode

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

said by Karl Bode:

Which gap in the market would that be?

The one they identified that they feel they can fill

They haven't offered any details yet and already everyone is speculating that they will implement some feature (i.e. bloatware, non-portable, clunky)

how about letting them develop it and then offer it up before we decide we don't want it?
NLiveris
join:2001-11-25
Chicago, IL

NLiveris

Member

Great.

yet another useless application that cannot be uninstalled AND constantly runs in the background, wasting RAM. I believe this is why our phones always get slow and unusable after 2 years. And I still can't figure out why user-installed apps like Google Goggles always needs to run in the background?

Is there a reason why Verizon forces these shitty pre-installed apps to constantly run in the background? It's like an extra haha F-U from VZ to the customer.

This is certainly one area where Apple has a leg up on Android. My parents are both retired and it's frustrating to attempt giving them an explanation as to why their cell phones have 2 app stores. I remember Verizon, in their usual underhanded sleaziness, called their store "Apps" so it would be the first thing to display in user's app lists.

I believe Android could be so much easier for end-users if Verizon and OEMs didn't adulterate the operating system with their filth. Consistency and usability are more important than so-called "differentiation."

JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA

1 recommendation

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to bbeesley

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

That's a joke, right? The only gap is the one they're whining about, the one in their bank account. I'm sorry, but why should google have been sharing profits from the app store to begin with?
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

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Interesting. I found the article. You may want to have a look. Interestingly, I never saw this on any other site. PhoneScoop is pretty reliable, though, so I'm not sure what to make of this.

»www.phonescoop.com/artic ··· ?a=14375

JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA

1 recommendation

JakCrow to bbeesley

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to bbeesley

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

You're the one that said there's a gap in the market, so in your OWN WORDS, tell us what it is.

bbeesley
join:2003-08-07
Richardson, TX

bbeesley

Member

like I said, the one they felt existed that they could take advantage of and create new value.

perhaps they are deluded
perhaps they are greedy
perhaps they actually had an "ah-ha moment" and are creating something new

we really won't know until they release it and we can then make informed judgment rather than presume bad intent and poor effort

Sometimes I think that the only acceptable position on this forum is to hate every carrier and complain about when they don't give us something and complain even more when they try to give us something.

JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA

1 edit

1 recommendation

JakCrow

Member

The problem with this position is that there is no gap in the market. The only gap is vz not making money off the app stores, which unless vz is selling some apps, is how it should be. Nuff said.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Bill to account

I'd like the idea of being able to bill to my Verizon account if I owned an Android device. I'm not a big fan of Google other that it's search engine and YouTube.

I don't know if I'd trust Google with payment information. They may snoop on my bank account.
xrobertcmx
Premium Member
join:2001-06-18
White Plains, MD

1 recommendation

xrobertcmx

Premium Member

Woohooo

I think they miss the point that this fails on two levels. First, it is more bloat that most people will simple ignore. Second, the majority of users are locked into a single ecosystem at this point and don't want to worry about which app came from which store.

bbeesley
join:2003-08-07
Richardson, TX

bbeesley to JakCrow

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to JakCrow

Re: "Verizon appears to have not learned any lessons from past failures on this"

said by JakCrow:

Nuff said.

Yeah, you win...I can't argue against such a well researched and articulated position

JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA

1 recommendation

JakCrow

Member

Whereas you make an claim on behalf of a corporation that, interestingly enough, was not made before you chimed in. Perhaps this time you can tell us what this mythical gap is the market is.