Murphy Mac

Great Expectations of Apple Events

I agree on the feeling of disappointment. The Air was disappointing because I wanted the tablet.

And it's hard to say what could be as satisfying as the iPod mini, nano, or shuffle. Or even the Mac mini. The only thing I can imagine delivering that kind of wow is the tablet.

Hopefully Apple has thought of things in ways the rest of us aren't imaginative to have dreamed up ourselves - and more wows are on the way.

That said - wow isn't everything. I'm very satisfied with my iPhone and my Macs. My Apple TV leaves me wanting certain additions, but even it has improved media consumption in my house.

I think the next big wow is coming in January.

Apple Preview: A Non-Event for Wall Street?

We all know what Munster thinks, he's everywhere. What do YOU think Sam Diaz?? Put it on the line !

I'm convinced no Beatles announcements will be made - the move from the normal Tuesday is simply because of Labor Day. Like in 2007.

Hard to picture anything as exciting as previous events, but Apple likes to surprise. The nano came out pretty soon after the mini - and people were blown away. So who really knows?

Apple Dropped the Ball on an NFL Deal

Dan, if you read closely the post says out-of-market baseball games.

You said the Apple TV has low sales. That's the point. NFL access would be an immediate and major boost to sales.

Yes, some people use Directv for all their channels. But some only use it for football. Directv has gotten a huge number of new subscribers by offering Sunday Ticket. I know plenty of people who have both cable and sat subscriptions.

Apple could do exactly the same thing DirecTV did - add users via the NFL.

No Apple does not have cable programming. But leaving cable providers is becoming a far more prevalent practice now with alternatives like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, and other outlets. Every additional outlet loosens the grip satellite and cable providers have on the market.


On Aug 21 11:52 AM Dan Rayburn wrote:

> This post makes no sense.
>
> For starters, the Apple TV has a very low sales rate. Even if this
> deal was made, how many Apple TV units would they really sell? Who's
> going to spend a few hundred dollars for a device that only gives
> them NFL games?
>
> Also, people who have DirecTV use it for all their cable channels,
> not just NFL content. There would be no "exodus" from DirecTV if
> NFL games were on Apple TV because Apple TV does not give you any
> cable programming.
>
> Also, you say that "For many consumers looking to quit cable or the
> dish there was a problem: live sporting events. The MLB deal changes
> that, making live baseball games easily accessible and affordable."
>
>
> But you neglect to mention that if you want to watch your local MLB
> team, live, you can't do that via Roku or the PC with MLB's offering.
> All local games are blacked out. So how does "the MLB deal change
> that"? It doesn't.

Should Apple Spin Off Its App Store?

Compare Android and iPhone. There is no comparison. Android appeals to tinkerers. A phone OS is targeted to the billions, not the Linux crowd that likes to tinker.

Everything you say about spinning off the App Store leads to it being Android. Well - Android is out there and so far it's not doing much compared to the iPhone.

A phone is far different from a computer in terms of user expectations for the OS. A phone is more like a Tivo in that sense - you just want it to work without babysitting it. Android has a lot in common with Tivo, but start spreading it onto hundreds of hardware devices and you don't know what you'll get.

Stripping the App store from Apple's protective walls would diminish the Apps' ability to just work. And so it's just another draw into the Apple ecosystem.

Should Apple Spin Off Its App Store?

Yeah, they DO make a lot of money on the app store. People buy iPhones and iPods to get the apps. And Apple makes a big margin on every sale.

Go out on a limb, build a mobile phone when everyone insists you will fail, turn a maturing industry completely upside down, and spin it off immediately so you have no say in it anymore. Yeah, makes a lot of sense.


On Aug 10 11:37 AM rd4sndk wrote:

> You make a compelling argument. If we are to believe Apple, they
> don't make much profit off of the app store; so by spinning it off,
> they could make a lot of money on each down load with none of the
> cost.
>
> The potential cost to apple would be to leave its app store platform
> up to less imaginative people who may corrupt the present excellent
> user experience. Apple needs to make the decision if the long term
> risk out weigh the short term financial gains.

Apple, Research In Motion Both Continue to Win

Blackberry unit sales numbers are warped because they give so many away.

My New iPhone 3GS: Beyond Awesome

@ Vassar

There's nothing to understand, the AT&T vs. Verizon discussion is almost pointless. AT&T works for you. It drops calls for me. It's geographical. I was in Miami a couple weeks ago and AT&T had full bars EVERYWHERE I went.
Here in Charlotte there are giant gaps in highly populated areas four miles outside the city center. I live one mile out and even here I fail to get a signal at times. Verizon never dropped calls for me.

That said, outside AT&T the iPhone 3GS surpasses virtually every expectation I had. Except the still-photo camera.


On Aug 03 09:48 AM vassar wrote:

> I don't understand the problems people have with ATT. I had Verzion
> beforehand and now ATT and have not had any problems, both in rural
> and in metropolitan areas.

Should the FCC Force Apple to Stock Competitive Products in Its Own Store?

@ jmmx

Google Voice is not VOIP. The calls are completed by making an outgoing voice call or receiving an incoming voice call. If you're using Google Voice to talk to someone using your mobile phone you are consuming your cellular voice minutes. It's not "freeloading" as you suggest.

SMS is another story. Google Voice can be used to completely bypass AT&T for SMS in the U.S. You don't need the app to do this, but it makes it easier and more convenient with an app.

Are Camera Phones Killing the Digital Camera?

My iPhone 3GS is terrible as a camera in anything but ideal lighting. I can't imagine how bad previous iPhones were before the upgrade. My LG 2MP phone-camera was much more reliable.

That said, the video camera almost makes up for the lame still-photo camera.

Apple should consider making the volume buttons a shutter release. It could help.

Should the FCC Force Apple to Stock Competitive Products in Its Own Store?

Some of your points make sense with regard to Apple, but not with regard to AT&T. AT&T is one of four carriers who control approximately 90% of the U.S. market.

A Google Voice app is mostly a threat to AT&T's SMS business, as it allows sending and receiving of free SMS messages. Goodbye twenty dollars a month for unlimited texting. Indirectly, Google Voice as a whole is a threat as people can use their landlines for free long distance instead of chewing up cellular minutes.

With that in mind, I'm happy to see the FCC poke a stick at this. I doubt anything will come of it. But maybe someone besides Senator Herb Kohl will question why the carriers have established twenty cents as the cost of an SMS message when industry experts claim the actual cost is negligible. That price points to collusion by the monopoly carriers.

AT&T might rethink their whole stance: Google Voice could make using voice services bearable again, a goal the carriers have not lifted a finger to achieve. Voice minutes are hugely profitable, especially when the plans require purchasing more minutes than someone wants to use. I suspect Google Voice will lead to me using voice minutes more often. It would be interesting to know what AT&T thinks of that possibility.

Apple Earnings Preview - Guidance Commentary Is Key

Quarter after quarter aapl has beat the consensus and provided conservative guidance. Anyone who follows aapl knows the pattern: The run-up before reporting earnings is the reward for the past quarter. Take your profits before the call if you want them. The sell-off on Apple's conservative outlook is your chance to buy in.

I'd say the odds are around 50,000,000:1 against Apple commenting on the tablet in your bulleted "keys to the call" list. They might make a vague reference to China though.

Hoping for an Apple Media Server

My Apple TV displays my Flickr photos in a hypnotic screensaver. From what I've seen people love looking at photos that way. It's nicer than saying, "Sit down, I want to show you my photos," and clicking through them.

I used the Apple TV for podcasts, music, and video. With Airfoil I can use the Apple TV to listen to Pandora or other music streaming sites. The iPhone is a great Apple TV remote.

Mentioning the Apple TV as an after-thought in a story about Apple Media Servers? Hmmm.....

Does Palm's Pre Have Anything on the iPhone or Storm?

I don't think Paris Hilton was the driving force behind runaway iPhone success. It'll take a lot more than shots in People Magazine to compete with iPhones and Blackberries.

iPhone is just getting started. Do you know how many times analysts declared the iPod space was saturated - nobody left to sell them to? Wrong quarter after quarter. Repeat coming with iPhones.

Blackberry users rival Apple fans in terms of loyalty. Not quite as loyal - but it would take a lot for them to consider switching to Sprint for a device that may or may not be part of a company (Palm) on the verge of bankruptcy.

Taking Another Bite of Apple

I've accumulated aapl everywhere from $30 up to $120. If it gets back to $170 or so I'd be tempted to cash out - with a plan to get back in on the next big pullback.

Is aapl one of those stocks you hold forever? If I saw them making serious enterprise plans I'd say yes. I don't see that happening, and it makes me wonder how aapl can move past $200.

Note for Paul Goodwin: Apple hasn't made a Powerbook since 2006.

Wireless vs. Landlines: Past the Point of No Return

Things would be a lot different if the POTS providers had bothered to innovate AT ALL. What have they done since adding voicemail and some very basic features like call forwarding all those years ago?

Same with the cellular industry. Why did it take Apple to force something as obvious as visual voicemail?

The landline industry has ignored the VOIP phenomenon going on around them - too slow to even offer new features as PAID services. And now Google is going to offer more than the Bells ever would have dreamed of charging us for - for free.

We never learn about monopolies. Time Warner wants to charge us for Internet consumption by use, fine. But they don't even have the means in place to tell us what we consume. Like other monopolies they're fat and lazy - they just want their check.

Google is taking these businesses apart - like the Fed should have.