waterman

How Do the Best Performing Stocks of the Decade Compare to Predictions in 2000?

Actually, the decade doesn't end until 12/31/2010.

1/1/2001 - 12/31/2010

(when you start counting numbers do you start with Zero and say the tenth number is 9? OR how about in Year 1 A.D. (or C.E.) did the first decade end on 12/31/0009 or 12/31/0010? Obviously the answer to this is 12/31/0010 since the first day in the decade began on 1/1/0001.)

However, who cares? The point of the story is a 10-year performance review.

Top Apple Analyst Muddies Black Friday Results

Last year there were two stores in NYC (SOHO - 401 W 14th St. and 1981 Broadway) and this year there is a third: Fifth Avenue - Concourse Level, 767 5th Ave


On Dec 02 10:45 AM Roy Flanders, Nantucket wrote:

> @Brewer makes a fine point. (I'm a tad embarrassed to be ”commenting”
> on such a scrawny “data set” in general.) Munster tends to go with
> the flow, except when he goes exuberantly over the top- and NO, I
> don’t think he even drinks! But even Gene would have a tough job
> being in two stores at the same time.
>
> Yep: Last year there was one in NYC; this year there are two. As
> parochial as are the shoppers in NYC- 1) They’re not all THAT stupid
> (Most don’t buy a Mac and share their thoughts on the “MAC.” and
> - 2) Most folks in the City tend to know what’s going on, so if a
> new Apple store opens 10-12 blocks closer, more often than not, they
> might just stop in there.
>
> I almost NEVER visit Apple stores. 1) They are _always_ crowded and
> I hate crowds; 2) I live on a little island 30 miles out at sea
> (with no Apple store) where I get most of what I need with a simple
> “CLICK.”
>
> As for all these “Analysts:” There’s another island out here (Yep-
> presidents like it!) where God might well relocate ALL these silly
> financial gurus. There they could all babble to one another regularly,
> and it sure might help the Vineyard’s (sorry) “Economy.”

The Problem with iPhone Killers

Tom B.

Trimming back aapl (at ~$195/share today) and increasing GOOG (at $543) will certainly be interesting to do.

Bye, Bye Love: Leaving My iPhone for Droid

Great article.

Good luck with trying the Droid. I don't have an iPhone yet but I have Verizon Wireless cellphone services.

I don't usually get service in my home - a house built in 1761 - in an urban area in Rhode Island. I don't usually get service in my son's apartment in Brooklyn, New York.

Phone calls are also dropped with Verizon service too.

As the EPA says about gas mileage your performance may differ.

J.D. Powers: Apple Best Among Consumer & Business Smartphones

I have Verizon in Rhode Island and the moment I drive in my driveway I lose connectivity and forget about service in my house - it is very rare to have that and when it is available inside it quickly drops off and disconnects.

I also had been getting phone messages about a week after they were made.

Others I know also complain about Verizon services. I am not saying that AT&T is better - since I don't have it - I am only saying that there are issues with Verizon too.

Rhode Island is the second densely populated state in the US but there are numerous places where cell service just doesn't work - that could be Verizon or all of the services.

I do think that ATT's service will over time be much better than Verizon's.


On Oct 09 09:00 AM don6699 wrote:

> And it's still on the lamest support system AT&T that does not
> work in my neighborhood witch if you look on the coverage map lets
> down about 60% of our region and until they upgrade the system or
> make an agreement with Verizon that leaves about 33% of the population
> out of the picture unless you work and live in a cube!

J.D. Powers: Apple Best Among Consumer & Business Smartphones

@davswa

I don't disagree with your statement that there are "a few or
maybe a dozen and sometimes none of [the apps] are exactly what you want." Tell us what you think are the omissions or deficiencies in categories or specifically so we can develop those apps. What are people looking for that is not already developed. I am not saying the classic "everything is already invented" type statement, I am just looking for thoughts about what folks would like their smartphone to do?


On Oct 08 06:31 PM davswa wrote:

> One brief comment about iPhone apps. You'd think that with 75,000
> (or whatever crazy number it is today) apps available on the iPhone
> there would be hundreds for every possible use. But the truth of
> the matter is that for most specialized niches there are a few or
> maybe a dozen and sometimes none of them are exactly what you want
> or need. I think that is important when you think about how useful
> a device is really going to be. You need a mountain of applications
> in order to find that golden nugget.
>
> In my case I have recently purchased applications to manage grocery
> shopping lists, record and graph medical information such as blood
> pressure and weight (which my doctor has said is extremely helpful),
> and manage file transfers to and from an ftp server.
>
> None of these are earth shattering but they add incremental value
> far beyond the $1.99 pricetag I usually fork out. In my mind that
> is the true power of the iPhone. Allowing thousands of developers
> to make a living providing the masses with simple and effective tools
> that save time and improve our lives.

Apple's iPhone App Store: 2 Billion Downloads and Counting

The rate of "shipping" (as Apple calls it) of apps has increased very well for Apple although the rate of increase is slowing down. However, it is difficult to calculate this exactly since specific dates of total sales is not exact in Apple Press Releases all the time.

From Apple Press Releases (rough daily rate calculated)
11-Jul-08 Introduced - 0 "shipped"
14-Jul-08 10,000,000 (~3.3 million/day)
9-Sep-08 100,000,000 (~1.6 million/day)
24-Apr-09 1,000,000,000 (~4.0 million/day)
14-Jul-09 1,500,000,000 (~6.3 million/day)
28-Sep-09 2,000,000,000 (~6,8 million/day)

Certainly between now and the end of the year the rate should increase and the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, the daily download rate will be very high. Add to this China sales and I guess that total apps "shipped" will be over 3 billion.

RIM Faces Growing Competition from Apple and Palm

Wow, dog bites man news. RIMM is losing sales to iPhone and Palm? I don't know about blackberry users jumping ship to go with a Palm Pre but I guess someone is buying those even though it probably is a rounding error in RIMM's and Apple smartphone market share, isn't it?

Anyone who didn't expect RIMM's share to be dropping hasn't been paying attention.

Certainly there will be a solid percentage of enterprise users who will never give up on the Blackberry but I expect Apple's share to grow for the next couple of years at least while RIMM's drops and then stabilizes over the next 12 months.

Smartphones will continue to grow as a percentage of all phones until in about 18 months when no one will call them smartphones anymore, they will just refer to the dumb phones as "your phone doesn't do __________? (fill in the blank)

RIM Could Lead a Price War - Watch for the Fallout

want a deal NOW (fixed a typo) on a smartphone, but an AT&T refurbished iPhone 8Gb for $49

wireless.att.com/c...|||

does RIMM have refurbs? I haven't seen them yet but they must be there.

RIM Could Lead a Price War - Watch for the Fallout

want a deal not on a smartphone, but an AT&T refurbished iPhone 8Gb for $49

www.wireless.att.com/c...|||

does RIMM have refurbs? I haven't seen them yet but they must be there.

Will Microsoft's Next Tablet Computer Succeed?

Thank you, hillshire, for stating that it "... is just computer graphic concept art, not a real object ..."

When I first saw the images and read the article on Gizmodo, my immediate reactions was these are not photos but then I didn't see any mention of whether they were concept art or photos so I wondered. Is this a demo model or a 3-D virtual model? Mr. Horowitz, you refer to "the photo" - where did the Gizmodo article say the images on their website were "photos"? The demo is even an animation NOT a real demonstration.

It is funny that you have comparison between two non-released products - a MS tablet and an Apple tablet? We won't really know what either has until it is formally announced and there are real specs for a real product AND they have been demo'ed and tried my real customers. There is no announcement by Apple of a "February Apple move" and why would anyone think that a MS tablet would work better in an Office environment than an Apple tablet - haven't you paid attention to what is in Snow Leopard and how the iPhone is making inroads to the enterprise. Also, MS Office is available for Macs and the bulk of office work is done in this suite of applications.

In any case, has no one ever heard of Apple's Inkwell software that is included in OS X - Leopard?
from www.apple.com/accessib...
From that page:

"Mac OS X Leopard comes with built-in handwriting recognition technology called Inkwell (or Ink). If you connect a graphics tablet to your Mac, you can write on the tablet using a stylus, and Inkwell translates what you write to typed words in your document.

Some applications allow you to enter text directly; with others, you first enter the text into a “scratch pad” (where you can edit or revise it) before bringing it into the application. Inkwell supports several stylus gestures, making it easy to select, edit, and delete text. It also understands English, French, and German."

Also, Mr. Horowitz please correct the following words in your articles: "windows devises " to "devices" and "problems with comparability", I think you mean "compatibility" ?

Apple Musings: Disappointing Disappointment

I wouldn't think that any company would introduce a product in December - too close to Christmas, Channukah, etc.

Apple has in the past made introductions of new products in October. I also don't think they would bring something to the stores in November.

An upgrade to the iPod Touch with a camera is possible based on earlier rumors regarding possible technical problems (this was for 5 megapixels cameras).

Disney / Marvel Deal Bad for 'House of Mouse' - Citibank

Those who walked away from IronMan must have had lead in their pants.

I think this purchase is long term thinking - not 3 -5 year thinking.

Apple's History Puts Its Present into Question

Thanks for the trip down memory lane - the late 1990s???

This article really is pretty off-beat and just odd.

While there is a lot to comment on here ... it isn't worth it.

One of my pet peeves that comes up every once in a while is about Microsoft's investment in Apple and the continued misunderstanding or Mis-stating what actually occurred way back then.

"Not long afterward, Microsoft (MSFT) inject a large amount of money into Apple. At that point, Apple shares started to rise tremendously."

Short story ... As part of a settlement of a lawsuit between MS and Apple, the agreement included the purchase by MS of about $150 million of preferred Apple stock which is NON Voting stock. MS also agreed to continue developing MS Office for five years and Apple agreed to use Explorer as the default browser on its Macs. (MS was allowed to convert this preferred stock to common stock and i think they did but then sold it - it was a minor fraction of the total stock issued. Some have calculated it might be worth $18 Billion today)

Yes, aapl stock went up for the next three years after the purchase of stock by MS and the signing of the agreement with Apple BUT the Stock upward movement was due to many factors (certainly it does include that MS Office would be available on the Mac) - BUT probably the most important was the re-organization (Steve Jobs' return) and refocusing of Apple on better products. Perhaps you have heard of the "iMac" which was introduced almost exactly a year later. Then came all the rest ... retail stores, iPod, iTune, OS X, etc.

About that time, Larry Ellison was quoted as saying something like "I have seen what is on the drawing board and Apple will be the Sony of the 21st century" (not an exact quote).

some history ...
www.apple.com/ca/press...

The EU Stabs Apple in the Back

Apple was one of the companies that signed the agreement to use this new standard.

See CNet article or go to macsurfer.com for other articles

"Apple, others agree to universal cell phone charger standard in Europe"

So I don't think the EU stabbed Apple in the back and I guess Apple has an idea on what to do to comply.