Mark Zuckerberg just dropped a bomb on Tim Cook and Apple.
The Facebook CEO responded to Tim Cook’s lamentations that advertisement-supported businesses such as Facebook and Google are out of alignment with their customers, implying that the two tech giants see the customers they serve as products.
Zuckerberg responded in an interview with Time Magazine .
“A frustration I have is that a lot of people increasingly seem to equate an advertising business model with somehow being out of alignment with your customers… I think it’s the most ridiculous concept. What, you think because you’re paying Apple that you’re somehow in alignment with them? If you were in alignment with them, then they’d make their products a lot cheaper!”
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been incredibly vocal about his distrust of Facebook and Google in the past, stating that the two companies track users’ data and sell it to the highest bidder. In another interview, Cook blasted Facebook and Google.
“If [companies are] making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried. And companies I think should be very transparent about it.”
Google and Facebook’s businesses rely on collecting personal information, with the latter’s entirely dependent on the practice, and selling advertisements tailored to the data it collects. But while Tim Cook fervently argues his company’s business is the exact opposite, selling hardware and software that collects little to no information, evidence points to the contrary According to International Business Times , Apple automatically collects Safari web searches and user locations, and buried the disclosures within the lengthy Terms and Agreements document.
And while Facebook has come under fire about its data sharing practices, Zuckerberg’s counterpoint isn’t without validity. Historically, users have shown that they are willing to give up a little privacy for a product that is both of great quality, and more importantly, absolutely free.
Facebook enjoys a user base of more than 1.3 billion, despite the fact that Facebook sells personal information for advertising. Likewise, Google has more than a billion users across their products, and likewise uses customer information in a similar fashion. Twitter, a direct competitor to Facebook, has hundreds of millions of users, and it relies on advertising tailored to personal information.
Furthermore, the average iPhone is priced in the ballpark of $600, while the average Android phone is priced at just about half that. Zuckerberg’s argument that Apple should lower the cost of their devices rings truer considering Apple has roughly $150 billion in cash on hand and is the most profitable company on the planet. Apple can afford the price cut.
Facebook, Google, and Twitter are all free for everyone to use. That freedom comes at the cost of personal information, which Zuckerberg seems to think is a good deal.
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