AAPL, Open Source and Persuasive Technologies

Linda as we know this is not new for Apple. Analyst in the recent past have often referred to Jobs and Apple as both Quirky and mercurial which projects the idea that Apple is not a mainstream company. This is far from the truth.

The success of the iPod and the iTunes Music store is no accident, its the culmination of a well conceived strategy to make Apple profitable. Wether you like Steve Jobs or not their is no denying that he has been good for AAPL and the computer industry.

I have alot of respect for the Open Source groups that have produced Linux, Firefox and applications to numerous to mention, Steve Jobs has done alot to support the Open Source movement but has had to balance that with Apple's commercial viability. Open Source groups have done alot for Apple as well and this uneasy partnership is helping to transform the current computing landscape in a very positive ways.

Competition is good for the industry, It weeds out mediocrity in favor of better ways of doing things. But change is slow and methodical. This is why I believe Apple and the Open Source movement will succeed in the long run.

I think KC expressed it best, buy some AAPL shares and hold them for a decade. Apple is on the verge of transforming itself and the industry again in ways that most companies just dream about but have little clout in implementing.

Br, Altaire4 .... Go AAPL !!!!

Porsche their is know substitute.

Speedtest with Safari on my MacMini

Fyi: MacMini 1.42 Ghz (512 MB) Airport Extreme wireless with a Linksys Wireless Router Two other systems on the network running as well

RCN is our cable provider

http://www.pcpitstop.com

Download Bandwidth Test Results with Safari and Mac OS 10.4.2
Download speed: 3946 kilobits per second
Test details: 3354 kilobytes downloaded in 6.799 seconds.

I've been looking for a name for my MacMini. Porsche comes to mind.

Hey Honey .... pass the Retinal Scanner !!!!

And of course we all know that Intel is buying Apple ..... Right %#!?

Cringely is losing it !!!

Looks like a growth stock to me.

Gee now ..... who would be interested ?

7.5 Billion in insurance keeps the Apple Board members sleep better at night.

Re: Airplay for the Shuffle.

The Main issue is finding an FM frequency that is not being used. You can preset up to three frequencies and hop between them if need be. The more urban the environment the more difficult it is to find an empty FM frequency. However, It works very well and its great for long commutes.

KC ...better yet .... I use my 1 GB shuffle to listen to both Podcasts and Music on long drives with an FM Transmitter.

iPod FM Transmitter for iPod shuffle : AirPlay™

AirPlay for iPod shuffle is the first FM Transmitter that allows you to play audio from iPod shuffle through your car's FM radio. It is the perfect solution for connecting iPod shuffle to your car stereo, particularly if you do not have a cassette player or auxiliary input jack. AirPlay matches iPod shuffle's ease-of-use: simply plug it in, tune it, and press play.

Airplay features an easy-to-read, illuminated digital frequency display. When iPod shuffle begins to play AirPlay automatically transmits on the last used radio frequency. Selecting a new frequency is easy, simply find an unused FM frequency on the radio then press AirPlay's tuning buttons to select the same frequency.

AirPlay for iPod shuffle is powered and charged by the attached auxiliary power adapter, which plugs into your car's cigarette lighter or auxiliary power outlet. Whether the AirPlay is transmitting or not, it continues to charge the iPod shuffle.

AirPlay packs the most features and highest performance into the smallest package, matching the compact dimensions of iPod shuffle..

http://www.xtrememac.com/adapters/airplay_shuffle.shtml

Herb, The cash is available to buy back stock shares so that a competitor with Big pockets couldn't take control of Apple.

More iTune Phone Rumors

Apple and Motorola unveiling the ROKR E1, aka the first iTunes phone, on July 25th?

Posted Jul 14, 2005, 6:31 AM ET by Peter Rojas
Related entries: Cellphones

As usual we’re not at liberty to discuss how we got our hands on this info, but a source told us on double super secret background that Steve Jobs is planning to drop by Motorola’s upcoming media and analyst event on July 25th where he’ll help Moto CEO Ed Zander kick off the ROKR E1, the very first iTunes phone. Our source couldn’t confirm for us whether E1 is just another name for the E790 which we had pics of last week (it’s not the first time we’ve heard the name E1…), but they did say that the phone will launch in the UK in July and in the US at the end of August. They also told us that the price for the E1 will be under $200 and that it will be able to store 25 songs on the phone itself (50 songs if your country does not have an iTunes store), with a 100 song upgrade available from Apple (sounds like they’ll be placing some artificial limitations on how many songs can be transferred to the phone). Apparently another new phone will be shown for the first time at this event as well.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000400050446/

Seems like some people who underestimated AAPL are playing catch-up.

Open Mouth insert foot ..... AAPL at 40.65 in Pre-Market action.

Bootz, the next bit of Chorus we will be hearing is.....

"Why are they holding on to 7.5 Billion in Cash" ?

Like this is not a net positive to AAPL shareholders.

AAPL has always held a large cash position to prevent any attempt at a hostile takeover. This sound business practice has insured AAPL against ending up a fleeting memory like the technology ghosts of Osborne, Packard Bell and others who are too numerous to mention.

Great AAPL News

AAPL up $1.46 today to $39.70 in after hours. If it can break $42.00 dollars a share soon we are looking $50.00 easy. Another wonderful quarter.

iPod numbers look good, System sales need more work but the momentum is still on AAPL's side.

The other great news I got today thanks to the 10.4.2 Server update (Single Windows user login feature) is the systems group is now seriously looking into implementing the XServe to replace our aging Windows NT domain.

Apples Domain solution is significantly cheaper because it allows unlimited client access while Windows charges per seat. With Apple migrating to Intel for chips many businesses that never would consider Apple are going too.

I'm staying long because with Leopard 10.5 coming out in 2006 to confront Longhorn you can bet your bottom dollar that AAPL will over deliver and Microsoft will come up short. The Upside potential is huge but its still Microsofts market to lose.

I gather from Ace's silence that he is having difficulty in coming up with a short list of Microsoft's Technological breakthroughs. Some time the truth hurts but you know ..... ACE should join our board .... soon he'll be able to run Windows and Mac OS X on the new Apple hardware next year. Then he will get to see an honest comparison of which Operating System is better.

Go AAPL !!!!

Students Use iTunes, Even With Free Napster at Hand

By Keith Regan
E-Commerce Times
07/11/05 11:39 AM PT

The results of the University of Rochester survey call into question the strategic value of the partnerships from Napster's point of view. The universities in the program are offered steep discounts to take part, with the notion being that students who received complementary subscriptions are more likely to become paying customers once they graduate.

College students at one of the universities partnered with Napster for free access to its subscription-style music offering give the service high marks, but more than seven out of every 10 still buy music from Apple's market-leading iTunes Music Store.

The University of Rochester released results of a survey it conducted of its student population to calibrate the popularity of the Napster subscription approach to downloading music, the model that many analysts believe is poised to displace iTunes Music Store and its pay-per-track approach over time.

The survey found that the students were quick to sign up for and use Napster's free service, offered through a partnership with a number of campuses as a way of cutting down on illegal file-sharing, which traditionally has been rampant on campus-based high-speed networks.

Partnership Value Questioned

However, none of those surveyed bought songs from Napster when they wanted to make a track a permanent part of their music collection during the fall semester of 2004. An earlier survey found one student had bought songs from Napster in the spring of 2004.

The results call into question the strategic value of the partnerships from Napster's point of view. The universities in the program are offered steep discounts to take part, with the notion being that students who received complementary subscriptions are more likely to become paying customers once they graduate.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/44531.html

OT: How the Internet Came to Be

Learn about the pioneers that invented what we all know as the internet.


http://www.bergen.org/ATC/Course/InfoTech/howtheinternet.html

OT: ACE I'll address your comment directly

As Blue correctly points out Apple acquires software from other sources as well but unlike Microsoft they have also produced some excellent groundbreaking technologies as well as improved on their acquistions.

Quicktime and Firewire are ground breaking technologies developed at Apple.

Can you name one significant technology that Microsoft has developed and successfully marketed ?

The BIG difference is that Microsoft appears to acquire software almost exclusively.

Microsoft is an extremely successful company and for what Microsoft charges for Windows XP professional and Windows 2003 server my expectations are significantly higher.

Dollar for Dollar Apple's Mac OS X is a better value.

Every significant feature since the advent of Windows 95 has been purchased rather than developed at Microsoft.


Which begs the question:

With all the talent money can buy how come Microsoft never seems to come up with an original idea or even a compelling extension of a concept ?

If you know of any significant omissions please feel free to englighten me.

Man that is the ugliest AIO design I've ever seen.

Hey Ace don't worry you'll be getting your Groove on with Long shoe Horn Beta 000000.000000001.

May the Gates be With You !!!!

OT: Microsoft Longhorn Beta 1

Microsoft never ceases to amaze me, they buy products, change the name and intergrate into them into Windoze as a killer new feature. Case in point Meeting Space a new feature in Longhorn is the remnants of a product called Groove a Peer to Peer collaborative tool. What I don't understand about Microsoft is with all the talent money can buy how come they never seem to come up with an original idea.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1835367,00.asp

Adios SGI hello Apple

If I recall correctly SGI had sold some of its Intelluctual property to Microsoft awhile back. I'm unsure what they have left to sell ? The switch to Intel and Windows Workstations cost them dearly. It had reached a point with SGI in which they had become perceived as an Overpriced Windows boxmaker that could not compete with Dell an HP on price. SGI at one time had the most capable graphic workstations out their. switch to Linux came too late. Apple has resurged because it has clearly differentiated their products with Mac OS X and its uniques form factors.

Banc of America Bullish on AAPL

Apple Boosted By Upbeat Q3 Outlook
07.07.05, 9:05 AM ET

Banc of America Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and adjusted estimates on Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people). Banc of America raised Apple's earnings-per-share estimates for 2005 and 2006 to $1.32 and $1.44, respectively, from $1.29 and $1.40. Apple reports fiscal third-quarter earnings on July 13. The research firm forecasts sales 5.4 million iPod units and CPU growth rates of 26% to 28%, respectively, for the fiscal third quarter.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/07/07/0707automarketscan01.html

Steve Jobs has made alot of comments of late that reveal alot of his character.
I get a sense that he has matured as a person, his brush with cancer has helped to put everything in perspective.

It's no coincidence that since Jobs return Apple has reinvented itself in many ways. I believe that the Alvin Toffler signature quote I use expresses the way to success in todays rapidly changing world.

SBAC could go to 18.00 a share ?

Alot of Americans have lost pensions an will need to rely on Social Security for their golden years. I wish more CEO's like Jobs would demonstrate compassion.

Not everything should be about business, profit and the acquisition of things. We need to instill good values (The benefits of hard work, Treat others the way you would like to be treated ...etc ....) in our children by both demonstrating real concern for one another and put resources into the social development our chidren need.

It's starts at home. I've got two wonderful children who understand most of these values but like most Americans struggle with the elure of materialism. Ultimately what truly counts is not our acquisitions but the finite time we will spend on this earth. I want to leave it knowing that I've done something positive and good.

"We live in a world which is changing rapidly," Rose told the newspaper.

"We have the technology that can give us the iPod and everything else, but it's not all these things". "We have to work on the minds and the hearts."

OT: SBAC-I know bootz .... just sold some for a nice profit

iTunes Video Support ?

Color screens with new iPods ?

802.11n support from Intel at 100 Mbits throughput will make wireless transport of Compressed Video reasonable ?

Quicktime on Millions of Windows Machines ?

Pieces of the Apple strategy puzzle coming together.

If AAPL morfs the iTunes client to support Video without support for Windows Media then Apple has a shot at dominating the Digital Video content realm.

Great stuff coming !!!!

AAPL winning the Digital Media War ?

MIKE WENDLAND: Dominance of iPod leaves Microsoft player in dust
July 1, 2005

BY MIKE WENDLAND
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

The overwhelming success of the iPod -- which now accounts for about 75% of the 22 million personal music players that have been bought over the last couple of years -- is putting well-deserved heat on Microsoft to tune up its much-touted, but now outdated, Microsoft Media Player.

In a move that Apple boss Steve Jobs claims will take the radio-like downloadable programs called podcasts mainstream, Apple made it easier this week for iPod users to subscribe to their favorite podcasts and have the latest editions automatically available for listening each day.

Apple did it through a free update to its iTunes music software, which made thousands of podcasts available for free through the iTunes Music Store.

Microsoft's Media Player -- the hallmark of Bill Gates' plan to record, play and distribute all forms of digital music and video through the Windows operating system -- has no such podcast support.

And that has a lot of users steamed, especially those who bought rival music players under the Microsoft PlaysForSure marketing slogan and can't figure out why their iRiver or Rio or Mojo players can't get podcasts nearly as easily as iPods now can.

more here:

http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwendland1e_20050701.htm

Apple and Podcasting: Great move !!!

Linda, You have to give Apple alot of credit for the relentless development of iTunes adding support for podcasting will drive even more people to the Apple iTunes store as well as new sales of iPods.

Go AAPL !!!!

OT: Taco Bell ..... Taco Bell ...... product placement for Taco Bell

Sorry, I've watched Kung Pow: Enter the Fist a few to many times.

It's all Bettiieees fault.

OT: As he passed the collection plate to his parishoners,

OT: ILA its sounds like your talking about a Wholy war ?

The only Wholy war that is going to happen is when the American taypayer comes to the realization that their pockets have been picked clean by this administration.

But as a kindly old irish catholic priest once told me .... God will provide.

OT: ILA its sounds like your talking about a Wholy war ?

The only Wholy war that is going to happen is when the American taypayer comes to the realization that their pockets have been picked clean by this administration.

But as a kindly old irish catholic priest once told me .... God will provide.

iTunes 4.9 and Podcasting

iTunes 4.9 Podcasting feature is going to do wonders for the some of the sane voices of political dissent in America. People like Randy Rhodes, Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller are going to be heard by a much larger audience.

WLD ....That's Just the point ..... 1700 + American Soldiers have already paid the ultimate price for this administrations little adventure and that number pales in comparison to the massive number of iraqi causualties many of which had been innocent civilians. It's obvious to me and others that this administration is criminally negligent for this atrocity.

OT: Blue, I don't have boots that high ?

Running out to get some of those waist high ones they use for Bass fish'n !!!

Heading up to Howard Dean Country for some R&R for the fourth of July.

I'm expecting to hear Dubbya say some of the following:

We've made great progress in liberating the Iraqi people "It's hard .... harddddd Work !!!", with Dubbya's trademark smirk ... (What he's really thinking: "It's harrrddd work Rippin-off the American Middleclass from Social Security ..... but somebody's gotta do it !!!").

"Our Fighting Men and Women have made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of free-dom and liberty".... Another Dubbya Smirk, (What he's really thinkin': "Just don't ask us to send our sons and daughters because they have other priorities ... like staying alive.";" That's Iraqi freedom and liberty .... damn liberal Americans, have way to much freedom .... they think too much" !!! "How else can we liberate the iraqi people from their oil ?" "it's hard .... harrddd work.") Dubbya reaches for a glass of water to prevent a big old Cheshire Cat grin !!!

It should go something like that.

Happy Birthday Blue !!!!

Best Reagards,
Altaire4

Syntax Deal ..... not so good

Linda, Thanks for pointing this deal Out. I have a 30" Syntax Olevia with detachable speakers and I'm very satisfied with my purchase. I could not recommend this deal because the 20" Display resolution 800 x 600 is sub par. For a 20" + display Your better off with the Dell Ultra sharp with significantly higher resolutions.

Br, Altaire4

AAPL, Cingular and Moto to deliver iTunes Music Cell Phone

French newspaper says the iTunes phone is on for next month

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000433048169/

Cingular looks like it will be delivering the iTunes phone.

http://news.com.com/Cingular+considering+iTunes+phone/2100-1039_3-5763055.html

iPods Wireless Competition

Interesting analysis but it doesn't mention that most Cellphone Carriers do not want to support data transfers between computer devices and cellphones with bluetooth. They want consumers to use their data networking service which can be prohibitivly expensive. It's also unclear if the interface to purchase music via cellphone will be as easy and enjoyable as the Apple iTunes store.

IMHO, Moto's iTunes Cellphone if it supports bluetooth transfer could have a distinct advantage over the competition. This is going to get very interesting but I believe that it will take Two years before any of this impacts Apple's iPod revenue.

Ultimately it will be consumers who will declare a winner on the delivery of digital Music, Apple understands this and will use intels Wifi technologies to make iPods wireless. In a challenging market like this I'm betting on the most creative and inventive company around ..... Apple.