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  • The Mysterious Steve Jobs
    You weren't supposed to know about the Osama Bin laden communication strategy! Expect a call from the CIA, which does better funding-wise in lunatic-rich environments.

    But seriously: Tech is different from pumping oil (Exxon) or Union-busting (WMT). Tech is hard to get "right"; and "right" is in a constant state of change.

    And Apple is at a crossroads. When the Stores opened and Apple started selling iPods, the pundits all said "Oooh, Apple wants to be a CE company". But, in fact, all their successes have lead to a boost in Mac usage. Apple has HUGELY increased the usability, performance, security and stability gaps between Mac and Windows (which were at their lowest points around 1996, just before Jobs returned). OSX runs on great machines and has dev tools Redmond can only fantasize about.

    And yet, market share sits around 10%, in large part because Enterprise is slow-moving; way more willing to spend 100's of thousands on IT support than $50 more on a CPU; and has, very, very simple needs-- E-mail, Powerpoint, some database. That is changing, but slowly.

    My feeling is that, at some point, OSX will pick up monentum and really start to hammer Windows on market share. 10.6 will help. Maybe Win 7 will help, if it is anything like Vista (and it looks like it will be very much like Vista!). After that point Apple's CEO will matter less. My hope is that Jobs will stay at least a few more years and finish what he started.

    I remember the Apple-is-doomed 90's, and it wasn't that they didn't have the best computers or the best programmers-- they did. The problem was they got WAY behind transitioning to a UNIX-like OS, needed in the modern age where everybody is always running many apps at once.

    MSFT has STILL not made the transition to UNIX, and I'd say its a bit too late to start now, particularly with weak, ineffectual management at the top: Ballmer (Yahoo deal, Vista, Zune, Xbox).
    Jan 06 10:19 am |Rating: +2 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Microsoft: Losing Market Share in a Non-Existent Browser Market?
    The miracle is that, with a browser as out-dated, inaccurate, and generally AWFUL as IE, so many people still use it. The reason they do is because it comes pre-installed on PC's, and "Joe Six-pack" PC users live in mortal dread of installing new apps on their PC's, unless absolutely necessary (like anti-virus software).

    I don't know where GOOG is going with Chrome. There's no Mac version, so the browser is utterly unworthy of attention at this point, but the idea of treating each tab as a separate process is kind of cool. Will it be cooler than Firefox or Safari, though? Who knows?
    Jan 05 08:54 am |Rating: +2 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Mac vs. PC vs. Gold
    "I am not sure if the cause is whether Apple’s products are getting significantly better or whether Windows-based machines keep getting more and more painful to use. "

    The answer is "yes". Apple's computers were substantially superior in 1989, when I started using them, and, though they had a discouraging "sideways" period around system 7.x (1995-1997-ish), they have ALWAYS been a better experience for users. But the gap really widened when Steve Jobs came back and 1) moved to a UNIX kernel 2) integrated development tools from NeXT that are decades ahead of anything else out there 3) ramped up the styling 4) figured out that MP3 players were an interesting place to be. In contrast, MSFT has weak development tools and has been incapable of moving to a UNIX kernel. I think they have geeks that could do it, but Ballmer is basically a loud-mouthed sales guy, and they need someone who knows how to direct a technology transition at the top.They have added issues, because they have no control over the hardware (like Apple does) and they have decades of enterprise junk they have to support to keep thei keep customer base from jumping ship to Mac and/or LINUX.
    Dec 22 08:58 am |Rating: +2 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Apple's Greatest Idea Yet
    AAPL is the ONLY stock in my portfolio I feel is a "sure thing". People don't see change when they are in the middle of it. Buggy whip makers thought buggy whips would always be important and that new-fangled automobiles wouldn't catch on; IT guys, raised on DOS, think Windows will always be important, even though it has dreadfully primitive development tools and hasn't even made the transition to UNIX (even the free-love hippies writing LINUX out code Microsoft!). One must appreciate that people who learn to write apps for the iPhone, as a side effect, would know how to write apps for the Mac! iPod = stealth marketing for the Apple Brand; iPhone = stealth marketing for the business executive; XCode for iPhone = stealth marketing for new developers.
    Nov 19 09:43 am |Rating: +2 -3 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Is Pfizer Now Interested in a Merger?
    I wouldn't pull that trigger.


    On Jan 05 04:26 PM Dan Jacome wrote:

    > mkt think ELN will be the target, look @ it
    Jan 06 09:51 am |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Microsoft: A Solid Investment in Technology
    Agreed. And they keep falling further behind technologically with Windows. All the $$$ they put into Vista and, in addition to all its other faults, it hasn't even made the leap to UNIX yet.


    On Dec 31 08:45 PM Bobco23 wrote:

    > MSFT is a cash machine. The problem is that management is enamored
    > with developing the next giant hit and pisses the cash hord away.
    > Shareholder distributions from this cash machine are miniscule.
    > As competitors and pirates eventually erode MSFTs profitability,
    > shareholders suffer further as management burns cash in an attempt
    > to find "the next big thing." Replicating the financial home run
    > of "Windows" and the associated "Office Suite" will be next to impossible,
    > even if tens of billions of dollars go out in pursuit of this elusive
    > fantasy.
    >
    > The stock has gone from $90 to $20, after all kinds of buy recommendations
    > at $35. Mr. market agrees with me that a cash cow is no good if
    > the cash doesn't flow out to the shareholder, but instead is wasted
    > tilting at windmills. If the YHOO fiasco doesn't give one pause
    > to consider the quality and intent of MSFT management, nothing will.

    >
    >
    > Strong sell.
    Dec 31 22:36 pm |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • What's Happening at Apple: Steve Jobs
    "In our closest example, Microsoft doesn’t seem to have missed a beat after Bill Gates stepped down."


    Really? think closely about what you just said. When I see Ballmer, I see a loud-mouthed frat boy who: 1) couldn't move the flagship product (Windows) to UNIX and spewed forth Vista instead 2) launched abortive products like Silverlight and Zune 3) Continues to bankroll the money-losing XBox white elephant 4) Couldn't convince the Yahoo board to roll over and commit hari-kiri before the Mighty Microsoft 5) gave us those inexplicable Jerry Seinfeld ads.
    Dec 22 09:17 am |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Phil Flynn: Without Electric Cars, Gas Prices Could Rise Exponentially
    Well, of course oil will shoot again when people again have jobs: supply and demand, and the supply is diminishing. As for oil sands; that is a dirty fuel. Of course, so is coal and that is widely used. But from an ethical point of view, oil sands are better left alone.
    Dec 17 09:04 am |Rating: +1 -2