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Apple: Dissecting Black Friday Sales

I was in Apple's new store in Nashua, NH. There were no roped-off corral lines and neither my son or I were paired off with an associate. We were free to roam about and try different products. Twice during the twenty minutes or so we were asked if we needed any assistance; but after saying we were just looking were left to our looking.

While we were in the store there was a large crowd of shoppers. Some were with associates and others were doing just as we were. Most of this crowd was made up of teenagers. They were all abuzz and having a good time. I've been in five Apple stores from Florida to Maine and my experience has been the same each time. I think their new strategy isn't going to scare anyone away. If anything the store was even more open than before.

How Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500, Part 1

Apple is no longer Apple Computer. When Steve Jobs came back in the 1990's he made it a point to say that the computer OS wars were over and won by Microsoft. Apple set it sights on a different target and direction for itself. Yes, they still make computers and an OS in my opinion they are the best. But that isn't the point. Apple under Jobs set it sights on becoming the "Sony" of the Tech industry.

How many experts predicted that the iPod would rule the portable music playing market over Sony and others? How many experts predicted that the iPhone would so quickly put cell phone companies in its' rear view mirror so quickly? Now, the portable game playing makers are worrying about iTouches. Naturally, all of these feed the desire to get a Mac; but everything is part of the whole.

What separates Apple from just about every other company is their philosophy: Control the whole design and make it work for the end user. Apple is at war with the business philosophy that segments the design of the whole product among companies with varying goals. That war is the same one Steve Jobs has been waging since his garage days. Stop pitting Apple against Microsoft. Apple's target is a lot bigger than that. The difference between Apple Computer and Apple Inc. is not in philosophy. The difference is in the scope of applying that philosophy.

Points Off for Windows? Assailing the 'Macs Are More Expensive' Assumption

Actually, you can get some fairly good discounts on new Macs by doing a little online shopping. As a business owner I have been given 10% discounts on all the Macs I have purchased from Apple's own stores. Apple does seek to be a budget computer company. It goes after the middle and top parts of the market. Ten to fifteen percent market share is easily within Apple's reach.

While I don't own any generic PCs; I have had to use them from time to time. All I can say is "Slow, crash, reboot, reconfigure then back to slow." How's Dell's consumer rating or bottom line? There is a long line of companies who have tried to make a go of building generic Windows machines. Many of these companies are extinct. Many others just keep treading water. These problems are real and reported on by PC journalists; not just Mac fans.

Apple: 35,000 'Wicked Smart' People Will Keep Things Humming

I have been buying Apple products since the early 1980's. At that time there were industry 'experts' inside and outside Apple who believed that Steve Jobs wasn't CEO material. He ended up being forced out.

Fast forward to the late 1990's and Steve is back when Next is purchased. Again there are 'experts' everywhere saying that this would be Apple's death. Now the 'experts' are saying his absence means Apple's death. This crowd cannot be pleased.

The company that Steve was forced out of is not the same that exists today. Steve Jobs would probably say that he has changed. This company is far more established and prepared than it ever has been. Give Steve Jobs credit for this. But understand that he wouldn't be much of a CEO if this company cannot continue without him.

Don't invest in a company that you think is doomed without its' CEO. Find a company you believe will do well because it has great products that people want over the competition. Two years down the road? Apple's pipeline of products? Go see a fortune-teller and stay out of the stock market.

Why Investors Should Have a Healthy Distrust of Management

Quote: "Prior to this Jobs and Apple had insisted he was in perfect health."

I don't believe this statement is true. It was known before this that Jobs was under treatment for an ongoing digestive problem. His weight loss was well noted by Apple and the press. Hardly what one would call perfect health. It has also been pointed out many times that the health of Apple's CEO has been factored into the price of their stock.

While it would be foolish to invest in a company based solely on the CEO; there has to be some level of trust in the management. The question really is this: Can you trust the management at Apple to run this company and continue to produce? This article provides little in the way of giving an answer.

As far as Apple's answer to that question is concern the investor should look at their past performance and the management that produce it. If that management remains intact then one should have some level of trust. There are risks. This would be true even if Steve Jobs was in perfect health.

Is There an Apple Community Anymore?

Well, living just north of Boston I also went to quite a few MacWorlds in Boston. I have been using Macs since the days of the Plus and Apple IIs before that. I can say that the Mac community is still here; but it is different.

I have vivid memories of my PC using friends laughing at my mouse and Mac windows GUI. I remember telling them that they would soon be using a mouse and GUI. They scoffed. I remember meeting Mac evangelists at MacWorld. It almost seemed like computing holy war. I am glad those days are over. The Mac community is made up of more users with a wider outlook than just survival.

Now, if I could just get a decent greeting card app instead of all this PC ported junk!