Michael Eisenberg

It's a Large World After All

By the way, same is true for Israel. Israeli carriers have not launched the iPhone yet. However, it seems that everyone in Tel Aviv has one. Bought in Europe or the US, unlocked and in Tel Aviv. It will be interesting to see whether Israeli carriers deal with AAPL pays off.

Why Android Is Gaining Ground on Apple

At least go download the Tunewiki app so you can enjoy your music on the Android

The iPhone's Remarkable Early Penetration

Initially, PCs were also consumer driven. Minis ran in the corporation. I see that I use my computer less now that i am running around with an iPhone and a Blackberry


On Aug 04 12:32 AM RK wrote:

> One major difference between the PC market and mobile device market
> is the former was enterprise driven while the latter is driven by
> customer demand. The PCs were too expensive early on and only enterprises
> could afford them. They desired uniformity and scale: WinTel was
> the right combo at the right time.
>
> Mobile devices are selected by consumer tastes and preferences (RIMM
> devices are an exception). Like other consumer electronic devices,
> these markets do not have the winner take all characteristics: e.g.
> consumer audio, TV, camera, video game markets. Already, we are seeing
> cameras incorporating GPS and social network integrations. The proliferation
> of mobile devices will continue. Something akin to wintel taking
> over 90% of the mobile device market is extremely unlikely.

The iPhone's Remarkable Early Penetration

I tend to agree with this. Snow Leopard's native interface with MS Exchange could possibly really open up this game.


On Aug 03 10:47 AM brewer wrote:

> WIndows is the farthest possible thing from an 'open' environment.
> Your only choice is between one generic computer and the next.
> All are equally bad. If you have a Mac, you can run anything.
> Soon, there will even be a way around Outlook... That has been
> a big part of Microsoft's efforts to keep us all in Windows. Office
> was a big part of it, too, but that lock in is much less effective
> than it used to be.

'The Market and the Internet Don't Care if You Make Money'

This is completely wrong. the reason newspapers were sold out on the day after obama won was not because people wanted to read the news, but they wanted to frame the news. You see, it was a collectors item, a fossil, a relic. Not news.


On Nov 10 12:42 PM TJIrish wrote:

> I won't argue your business model points. BUT what about Obama's
> election. Newspapers were sold out worldwide. My point is not that
> the author is wrong and newspaper CEO's do need to change. I bristle
> with the suggestion that Print is dead or will be dead. When that
> comment is made what is the meaning "Print will die." Does it mean
> newspapers will die or PRINT will die? There will always be PRINT!
> The day after Obama's election proves their is still an interest
> in Print. Now I know people did not run out to read the articles
> but rather bought the papers as a collector's item. Which is my point.
> Printing is more than newspapers. There is commercial printing, printing
> magazines, printing labels on wine bottles etc... Not everyone has
> a blackberry and not everyone wants to sit in doctor's office waiting
> room looking at a blackberry. Me? I rather read a magazine or a newspaper
> when I am sitting on the toilet taking a dump then looking at a high
> tech berry or holding a lap top. As for GOOGLE... Agree about their
> business model. But I know the CEO of Google takes no pleasure in
> seeing what has happened to the newspaper business. It's very expensive
> to do the expansive in depth reporting about an important issue.
> Newspapers and their websites such as the washington Post are still
> best equipped. When I read a major story I look to the Wall Street
> Journal, Wash Post, Slate or some other major media center online
> rather than a blog site.

Will Music Sales Be Profitable for Record Companies in Ten Years?

I encourage the music industry to read Chris Anderson because Music is going to be free and it will need to seek a different business model.

Smart Phone Wars: iPhone vs. Blackberry vs. ...Android?

This is the best comment i have seen on this topic by far. It has been my belief also. the iPhone revolutionized handheld computing (shall I say Palm Computing) in a way Newton wanted to but never succeeded. The phone is a throw in. And in a Wireless VOIP world, who will care what the protocol is. you will want to have the computer though.

This is also a big reason for the push of Safari onto windows. With Itunes and Safari, Apple is creating the unified compute interface of the future. that is why you have them both on the iPhone as well.


On Apr 14 04:04 AM Davewrite wrote:

> The iPhone is a MOBILE COMPUTER that can also make phone calls. Some
> other so called 'smart-phones' can't even be hooked up to a computer.
>
>
> It took something like 20 years to create OsX (staring as Next Os),
> a modified version runs the iPhone. Many don't get how sophisticated
> Unix based OsX is. Microsoft can't match it, doubtful if any PHONE
> maker can do so. That's why so far every "iphone" killer has fallen
> flat on its face. Apple will fix whatever iPhone shortcomings there
> is like 3G, GPS, no sweat just a matter of time but their competitors
> will never get OsX.
>
> With iPhone software 2.0 and SDK apps. coming in June the whole game
> is going to change. The iPhone and future Apple iDevices are going
> dominate this whole new 'mobile computing' category, nobody is going
> to come close. As John Doerr Google and Amazon financier said it's
> whole 'new platform' and he added 'bigger than the PC'. John Doerr
> biggest tech financier is so sure of this he's setting up a 100 m
> fund to finance iPhone application development.
>
> I won Google stock but my bets still with iPhone vs. Android.
>

Apple Facing Serious Downside Risk - Morgan Keegan

and what happens if Steve Jobs retires?

The Bar Mitzvah Portfolio: Five Long Term Winners

This is a great post. I wonder what the Bar Mitzvah portfolios of your older children included and how they performed. Mazel Tov!

Apple's iPhone Restrictions Are Good For Consumers

Carl -
I hope you are right on the OSX widget opening the door for 3rd party apps. I still wonder about yet another cell phone porting platform though.

Why I'm Disappointed By The iPhone

Tommo -
I agree it is a game changer but it is not good for the consumer or the rapid development of the mobile world broadly. Wide availability of next gen devices and applications drove ISPs to build out more bandwidth. Carrier and device maker lock-ins don;t give other carriers the same impetus. Competition drives markets and consumer choice. Exclusivity does not.

Apple's Hubris: Will All The Hype Go According to Plan?

In Herb's defense, it is interesting to note that one of the longest running growth stocks ever, MSFT, would consistently beat earnings by a penny or so and then guide lower to lower expectations going forward (unfortunately no Seeking Alpha Transcripts dating that far back to prove it but any MSFT follower knows it). It is an effective way to set a stock up for long term growth rather than big spikes and drops. I am not suggesting that AAPL did this with stock market guidance but sometimes all the hype and expectations can lead to disappointement and the stock can follow suit.

Why I'm Disappointed By The iPhone

Josh -
I agree with much of what you wrote. But yet another mobile platform to port to? BREW? umpteen flavors of Java Phones, Symbian and now OS X. It makes it very hard for app makers to make ubiquitous apps. That is, unless, AAPL takes 70% of the phone market as it did in music players. if they did that and became the windows of mobile so that you could write one mobile app and run it anywhere, then I would eat my hat and cheer them on.

Why I'm Disappointed By The iPhone

There are two elements to the closed architecture that I should have been more clear about. is the Iphone open to external software apps (that Apple certainly controls) and The closed nature of the cell phones and I wonder whether AAPL with all of their market leverage could have pushed Cingular on that. Opening either would have certainly been a revolution. As to the margins, you are correct but AAPl has typically been first or early in those markets that they have commanded premiums on or totally reworked the product. i am not convinced that is the case here.