Apple, Amazon, and the Great Media Wars to Come | Out of Ink (Medium collection)

From a timely media + technology reality check

"In the 2010s, publishers found themselves as commodities in a grand battle between Facebook and Google to sell ads. In the 2020s, publishers will find themselves as a commodity in a grand battle between Apple and Amazon to sell superbundles.
Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad deal for publishers, but more than anything else, this will once again intertwine media’s fate with the ethos of big tech leadership. For Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Google, the plight of journalism was acceptable collateral damage for the growth of their ad businesses. We must hope Apple and Amazon view publishers differently.
The best argument for Apple as media’s tech guardian is the fact that the company has consistently placed a premium on using highly qualified editors over algorithms to curate news. Of course, this looks radical only in the context of the dystopian approach of its peers."

Apple, Amazon, and the Great Media Wars to Come | Out of Ink (Medium collection)