F. J. Taylor

Chinese Youth Will Propel Economic and Political Changes

What a load of cobblers. China is going down because her main trading partners (us and the EU) are going down.

What we are seeing was the inevitable result of years of wastrel living in the West following WW II. Many of us have spent all our money, poisoned our environment, and lived lavish, conspicuously consumptive lifestyles in our greedy pursuit of ever more wealth, huge SUVs, McMansions, etc.

Now it is time to pay the piper - in terms of off-shored jobs (themselves now collapsing due to lack of demand), people drowning in debt who are losing their foreclosed houses (crammed to the seams with tons of useless shite that nobody really needed, much of it bearing labels stating "made in China"), and grossly obese people with major health issues, and many other problems - and yet you are suggesting we and / or the Chinese youth can and should spend our way out of it to sally forth into a brave new world of yet more spending on useless gew-gaws? Are you all stark raving mad? - wait a minute, this IS an investment site - so many here are the same people who helped create the monster... even me, who has led a relatively simple life, has invested a few bob (although I have tried earnestly to do so in a socially and environmentally responsible fashion).

mollytjm - get used to gloomy scenarios, because that is what is and will be transpiring - and you and all of us had better pray (or whatever you do in lieu thereof) that it won't come down to a REAL "doomsday" scenario - which is all too possible - history is rife with examples, easily discernible to those of us who read more than the Financial section of the papers and look beyond the end of Q4.

Most of you folks have minus zero idea of how close to the edge "civilization" is all the time, never mind in times like these, or how easily it can and has been toppled.

As to those who, like the author, believe that it is a good thing that Chinese youth adopt our profligate lifestyle and that they can propel "good" political change thereby (by which one assumes that they will establish a capitalist so-called "free market" and "democratic" government), I would say that it is more likely that they will spend their parent's hard-earned savings (as some of the others here have mentioned) and that if they try to make any substantive changes, they will meet with the same iron fist that was unleashed in Tienamen Square.

Summary? Dream on... but don't be surprised when reality hits you between the eyes...

A Real iPhone Challenger - Barron's

HO-hum... yet another "iPhone killer" - yeah, right! Like Zune and the rest killed iPod?

HTC? Never heard of it till now. Never even SAW one. (I've seen hundreds of iPhones, however.) AND it runs Windows??? If it doesn't run Apple OS, I am not interested. I am a former DOS / Windows user and systems administrator who migrated to Apple about 10 years ago and have never looked back - so I want as little to do with MS dreck as possible.

The only close competitor iPhone had was Blackberry - and with the new generation, that is going to be sucking eggs soon.

I have no idea where these gentlemen are getting their outlandish ideas - but I can make a guess... Redmond.

Wanted, Dead or Alive: The iPhone Killer

I would like to order some of Mr. Yag is smoking. It is clearly of great potency. The notion that Windows ANYTHING is equal to, let alone superior to, Apple is such an absurd notion that it is difficult to know whether to laugh or cry. FYI, I was a DOS and later Windows user for over 15 years - and I only wish I had transitioned sooner! Even before OS X, Macs were clearly the superior machine and experience. I know many former Windows sufferers who feel the same way.

As to Voyager being an "iPhone killer" - Right! Like Zune killed the iPod, eh? I love Verizon, and dislike AT&T for a number of reasons - but I am switching as soon as iPhone 2.0 is out...

Handset OS Fragmentation is Here to Stay

While Dean has a number of good points as usual, he misses several facts - here in Europe, iPhones are flying out the door - they cannot stock enough to keep up with demand. Even in countries where it hasn't been "officially" released yet, it is selling like hotcakes. I understand from friends in Asia that the same applies there - there are even iPhone knock-offs and look-alikes appearing. (Be careful of where you purchase them!)

The iPhone already number 2 or 3 (depending on whose figures you use) among smartphones - this is only 6 months after its release, and before the release of SDK, the 3G and MS Exchange-capable, increased capacity versions, etc.

All of this indicates by any reasonable standard that the iPhone is indeed rapidly changing the face of the entire industry.

As to the overall theme of platform wars, etc, I imagine that they will continue for some time, although it is my hope that the Unix-based platforms (esp. those who have embraced Open Source) will prevail, as they are quite simply the smoothest, most stable, most secure, and best.

For me personally, Apple will remain the platform of choice for all those reasons and more. I am just waiting to get my iPhone till they intro those items I mentioned above (probably later this year) and (hopefully!) drop the locked provider deal so I can deal with a provider of my choice.