[icebreaker]

In point of fact Apple's earnings were very good. They reported sales and EPS above the high end of analyst estimates. They reported net income and revenue higher than they ever reported before and the 4th highest quarterly results of any company, ever.

Until two weeks ago, the so called analysts were predicting iPhone sales of 47 million for the quarter. In the last two weeks, in what has become a predictable pattern, the estimates got ramped up out of all sense of reality until Friday reports were coming out estimating iPhone sales of 55 million units. In fact they sold 51.4 million. Well above what was expected two weeks ago before the analyst hype machines kicked in.

Now the earnings are being spun as a "miss". Bear in mind that Apple does provide guidance as to how many units of a product it is selling, the number is entirely drawn from the rabid imaginations of the analysts.

Apple provided guidance as to revenue and earnings and they beat both of those.

Of the six best reported quarters ever, in the world, for sales and earnings, 3 of them were reported by Apple.


Also BTW - I use my iPad as an eReader, I also use it as my primary computer. I use it for word processing and spreadsheets. I compose and edit all of presentations on it. The only thing I cannot do on it is downloading my Garmin, and that is largely the only thing I ever use my laptop for anymore.