Sep
03
2008
If the news isn’t glowing with Apple pundit praise – the stock price falls. So much is written on the internet that affects the market these days, you would think really good news or a new product release would make a stock sizzle. But that does not necessary follow. Oh yes, negative things will drive the price down. Success doesn’t always yield a positive stock price increase or the Wall Street attitude toward a company like Apple. Last January, Apple Inc® (AAPL) reported increased earnings all across it’s product line, yet the stock price continued it’s fall from a 2007 high over $200.00.
My New iPhone 3G came in very handy helping me find my way around unfamiliar terrain. Took me a while to figure out which way was North, the Google Map always points north. The little blue ball that tracks along your path is pretty accurate, but it took me a while to figure out that if the ball was moving up, I was moving north. I have the same problem with my Garmin GPS but I noticed there is a setting I can make the “UP” direction on the screen always the heading (on the Garmin). IPhone will even show relative position with Google Maps, that is while sitting at the back of my kids house, it showed that relative distance from the street. Pretty cool!
From a Rogers (CA) phone $30/month data plan ad. after customer complaints of data plan costs
The latest 2.0.2 update is a major improvement for performance. The interface is a lot snappier, but I haven’t noticed that much better connectivity as Apple & AT&T claim it does. I find a Wifi I cannot connect to once in a while, and why doesn’t AT&T include data Wifi for airports or their own hotspots?
- We stood in line overnight and all day in the heat,
- To get the first 2G iPhone. (I was fifteenth in line actually)
- We wanted to wait to buy the new 3G, anticipating a rush to buy it and to see if there were any wrinkles we could live without. (but I couldn’t resist!)
We were invited into the Lincoln Road Apple Store early in the day by the store manager, offering to help as a consultant. I chatted and advised all day long, as the store staff was busy with iPhones. We waited until late in the day on Friday trying to resist buying, but came up with a rationalization – the need to know about the new device in order to help clients if they have problems. Whether a good decision or not financially in the long run, I am a happy iPhone 3G customer. It’s better (IMNSHO) in may ways, but the APP STORE is by far one of the best new features. Okay, so you can use the APP STORE with the 2g version iPhone, but the coolest stuff are location services.
Unfortunately, there were a few technical snafu’s with the sales process as Apple is determined to initialize the phones on the spot so, ”everyone could leave the store with a working phone”. The iTunes Store was down for a long period of time at least until 3:30 when we got ours. They were selling them to people faster at that point because they were sending them home to initialize through iTunes on their own, like we did last year. The AT&T store 6 blocks away told me that they had only received four (4) phones to sell, which must have been due to some shipping error – they had plenty on Saturday.
Last year’s process made more sense to me, rather than making everyone wait hours on end just to get into the store, then wait another half hour or so making the purchase and initializing the phone. People were still queuing up in line yesterday as well. I haven’t checked yet this morning. Maybe it should be left up to the purchaser to decide if they need help or feel comfortable enough setting up the hone on their own. As it were, the sales rep that helped me had me enter everything into the phone through the iTunes store, just like I did with the 2G.
I’ve bought many cell phones over the last fifteen years, and after initializing every one of them, the person on the other end of the phone or the representative in the store told me not to expect it to function fully for several hours. Frankly I was surprised my sale went so smoothly and my number transferred from my old 2g iPhone to the new one without a single issue. I did have to go home to sync the new one with my music, movies and contacts. But we expected that didn’t we?
With location services on the App ”Showtime” finds your location then suggests the closest movie theatre AND the movie times of all of the shows. Another free download is called ”NearBy” which allows anyone to create and notate locations. Other NearBy users can see and read them.
[more opinion]
It used to be you could trust things you read in the newspaper. Since freestyle journalism has taken hold of the internet, basically anyone can write whatever they want without fact, truth or common sense with little or no repercussions. Wall Street gamblers basically glean their information from the press, online and insider trading, don’t ya know. I also read and trust Walt Mossberg, Andy Ihnatko and Spencer F Katt, who seem to get it right all the time.
Other tech writers we shall call “pundidiots” are well… some lame and some just idiots who bolster their own points of view with partial truths and sentiment and love to bash Apple, Inc.® whenever the opportunity presents itself. It screws with the stock price and typically drives it lower when they hash over stuff like Steve Jobs health issues. C’mon fellas, what does that really matter? Is Steve the only brilliant light at Apple anymore? One thing he has really learned and that is how to judge his people and get the best out of them. He is getting someone ready to take over the reigns when he decides to retire. So there. I’ve created just such an example – my own point of view without a shred of credibility, just my own opinion. I’d like to see the stock go up for a change.Then some tidbit about Steve Jobs health makes the stock plummit the next day, after everyone comments and takes a magnifying glass to each and every aspect. Steve is a genius no doubt, but I’d think he must be grooming someone to take over eventually. He certainly can face his own mortality. So leave his health alone, all right guys?
[some Facts]
I read Macsurfer’s Headline News every day, several times a day. I am a subscriber because I believe in paying my own way and I want to see the website succeed. I submit my writings and they often publish them, and some folks come to my website to read them. Some articles get top billing for one reason or another and some stay on the list at the top for days. I’m not sure how they rank articles or decide how long they stay on the site. Maybe a click through thing or counter.
I cannot argue with those articles presenting raw truth. But it makes me mad when there are misquoted facts (or none in some cases) supporting the authors suppositions. Now I don’t respond to those misquoted, misdirected articles anymore. Arguing with an Apple basher is a waste of time.
I like my new 3G iPhone better than the 2G version. Is it as flawed as many users or pundits complain about? I don’t think it’s as bad as some folks make out. Really, it’s a brand new product for the fledgling phone maker. 3G is more than a phone and the best PDA bar none. Blackberry may have a corner on business or enterprise installations, but the iPhone is MAKING INROADS. It may just well be the platform of the future, at least the form factor – one that fits in a shirt or jacket pocket. The Newton format, was not it, although an iPhone thin “SCREEN NEWTON SIZED” portable device with a bunch of RAM would be cool. I’m tired of lugging the notebook, phone and iPod. It’s great to have them all in the iPhone 3G that fits in my pocket.
The Author is long on Apple Stock – just so you know whose side we are on. I am also an Apple Certified Consultant and rely on my consulting work for a living, which could definitely be better.
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