2014, just like any other year, has definitely seen its share of drama and disputes between major corporations and their heads. A trending topic this year has been about customers and whether companies care about their customers at all. Now, this sort of debate is always a favorite among famous analysts, who view the situation from an unbiased eye and present a conclusion based on logical reasoning and facts. However, when companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Ello, and Facebook start debating with each other and leave analysts out, the debate is bound to get messy.
Apple, Ello recently launched an attack on Facebook through the media, stating that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) only cared about its revenues, and treated its users as “products”. Although both these companies never mentioned Facebook explicitly, the way they presented their message only pointed at the social media giant.
Apple, indirectly, threw dirt on Facebook this September, when the company clarified a few concerns about the security of its iCloud service. In the letter, the company reassured all concerned that the service never compromised on user security and hinting at Facebook, said the company treats its customers as people, not products like some free online services do, indirectly, but firmly, hinting at Facebook.
Ello, on the same lines, attacked Facebook on its website within its manifesto. The social networking website, which analysts have dubbed the rival of Facebook, mentions in its manifesto that the users of Ello are not products, with the line “You are not a product” at the end. This, when seen in line with remarks by CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, in the iCloud letter published in September, seems like a well-crafted plan against Facebook to defame it in the eyes of the masses.
However, Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Facebook, is not kind to defamatory remarks, especially when they are given by industry giants such as Apple Inc., by respected figures such as Tim Cook. Even though Zuckerberg has reaffirmed his respect for the current Apple CEO multiple times, he did not hold back in a recent interview with Time magazine regarding the recent indirect attack on Facebook.
In his interview, Zuckerberg first defended Facebook, and stated that advertising businesses are often times equated with holding customers as the final products in their models, which, according to him, is a wrong equation altogether. According to Zuckerberg, Facebook does not sell its customers, but instead focuses on ensuring the customer is provided with the most relevant information. Because of this, users log onto Facebook hundreds of time in a day, which makes it an attractive avenue for advertisers to advertise on. In no way is user data ever compromised to achieve this final end.
After defending Facebook, Zuckerberg then launched a counter-attack on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), stating that it is Apple itself which treats its customers as products. According to Zuckerberg, if the company did not consider customers a product, then it would not be selling its products at such an unnecessarily high price.
It is interesting to see that even giant corporations are not shy of having a go at each other; no matter how much how much respect these corporations show for each other, but this argument just proves that they are all fighting for the top spot.
