Apple goes the way of ‘quality over quantity’ in a bid to outdo Netflix

• Apple TV+ is planning to offer only a handful of top tier shows instead of listing them all.
• In a bid to take on Netflix, Apple's Senior Vice President said that while Apple "won't create the most" shows, it will be creating the "best".
• Research on the 'paradox of choice' shows that having lesser options on the table might actually have greater satisfaction for users.

Apple TV+, the iPhone maker's planned TV service, is going the way of 'quality over quantity' in a bid to take on Netflix.

Where Netflix has over 6,000 TV shows on its docket, Apple only plans to list a handful of top tier TV shows in its catalogue. Apple's Senior Vice President in charge of Apple's new television venture, Eddy Cue, told The Times that Apple "won't create the most" number of shows but is, instead, working on creating the "best" of shows.

Cue clarified that Netflix's impetus on having a huge catalogue wasn't necessarily bad but just didn't fit in with the model that Apple has in mind.

It's uncertain whether this strategy with pay off for the tech giant, but Cue asserts that users will be receive a steady feed of new material on the platform every month.

The problem of too much choice

Netflix was revolutionary in its stance as an alternative to piracy at a time when most users were using torrents to download their favorite movies and shows. But, as the video streaming platform expanded rapidly, so did the choices that were available to users.

Normally, one would think it's a good thing to have as much as possible but one social scientist and TED speaker, Barry Schwatz, asserts that, "One effect (of choice), paradoxically, is that it produces paralysis, rather than liberation. With so many options to choose from, people find it very difficult to choose at all."

In economic terms, the satisfaction from having ample options starts to drop once choice hits maximum utility. The same is true when users don't have enough options at hand, they begin to feel cheated. This phenomenon is called the 'paradox of choice'.

According to research, the sweet spot is having around eight to 15 choices on hand — suggesting that Apple TV+'s new strategy could work giving overwhelmed users an alternative when it comes to their online viewing experience.

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