"Apple is the next Microsoft"

[hardcastle]

Originally Posted by afv011

The return of the distro wars! ...

What was the point of this reply?

OpenSUSE uses, I believe, RPM packages. When I used SUSE back in the 90s, update packages were a nightmare, there were always unsolved dependencies and trying to fix them manually was an exercise in frustration.

I would suggest you look at a distribution using Debian packages (.deb), like Debian, Ubuntu, Mint and so on, updates are pain free.

Mmm, yes, distro wars indeed. You're one to cast stones, aren't you: "back in the 90's," such definitive evidence.

I personally have no experience with Fedora, but Fedora is a spin off of Red Hat, the original RPM (Red hat Package Manager) implementer, so it would have the same issues as openSUSE.

Generally, when one has no experience with something, they don't bother speaking.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I know that. But with Windows and Mac, you don't have to know it.

You mean because you have no choice either way?

No matter what, you are installing from Kovids website either way.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

A related topic might be the relationship between the position of Apple stock and that of other U.S. companies, and how a decline in value will impact on the world and North American economies.

--- I can also see why some people might be angry over Apple's roach-motel-country-club ecosystem and pricing.------

What I don't know is the effect that a sharp decline in Apple's value would have on the market overall. The predicted decline of Apple might seem wonderful to people who don't like their products or business practices, but would it be a good thing in other respects?

Value is a complex thing.
If Apple[AAPL] and its products disappeared, replacement would be easy. On the other if Exxon [XOM] and its "more real" properties disappeared the world would be in trouble and yet we compare the "value" of AAPL to XOM.

AAPL's stock once hit $700 a share, then dropped to $400, and then went back up to the $550 to $570 range until recently when it started back down and went below $500 which some defined as a "resistance level" and some, myself included, speculated whether it would continue down to the $400 resistance level.
Apple then (at first secretively) proceeded to support the share price (up to about $546) with a stock buyback of $14 Billion (about 10% of its cash holdings). A lot of people, myself and one of my sons included, who watch these things, myself as a amateur and my son as a professional, wondered why the increase and then 2 weeks later, the secret of the buyout came out.

Apple is now moving back down again to about $525 currently.

Apple's value doesn't mean a lot except to people holding on to the stock.

What a lot of people don't quite understand is that if the last share of a stock sold for $100, that doesn't mean that all the shares sold for $100.

Unless you are in the Market, don't worry too much about it. It doesn't necessarily directly reflect the health of a company or the worth of it's products.

[wizwor]

I don't think a company or even an officer of a company can transact large sales/purchases in secret. Buy backs are a legitimate use of cash/stock. I paid off my 'readiloan' when GE tanked. That was a small scale buy back.

Your point about the value of a company is valid to a point. IP, patents, licenses, and even personalities (Steve Jobs) are part of the value of a company. There is speculation about future sales and success, too, but that's OK. Really, who buys a company/stock based on the value of its assets?

The thing is, if you look at Apple, a lot of that is gone. They have lost some of the perceived value of IP, patents, and licenses in court battles. Cook is not Jobs. People feel less positive about future sales as their customer base ages and low cost competitors get much better.

I don't know if $400 is the right price, but absent another amazing product, Apple is on the decline. People are talking about TVs and streaming boxes and watches. Those products will lead to a $300 Apple. They are not going to sustain historic margins competing with Roku and Amazon.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by ApK

Yeah, in this sense, for all practical purposes, it is. Because if almost no one is out to get you, you're less likely to get got. If fewer people are looking for exploits, then they are less likely to be found.

This is absolutely incorrect. Google Maginot Line. People are attacking Linux and Apple.

That TF-20 Vista machine I rebuilt is for my taxes. It will not go online except e-file. That's a pretty safe computer.

I have one at work that is never connected to any network. It is stored in a locked container is a locked and alarmed room is an access controlled building patrolled by guards inside a fenced in facility with cameras monitoring the perimeter. This computer runs Windows XP. It might be the safest computer on the planet.

[wizwor]

Linux has been brimming with potential most of my adult life. Still is. Any Linux distro would KILL to be the next Microsoft.

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Ever heard the phrase "distro wars?" The more popular Linux flavors all have their pluses and minuses, fanboys and detractors.

Here's what the Fedora people say:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Compa..._distributions

If the above link is typical, Fedora folks are good honest technical enthusiasts with high user expectations.


I know that. But with Windows and Mac, you don't have to know it.



I look at the New/Improved News Sources list weekly, and only update if my needs dictate. Unnecessary updating would cost Kovid server fees.



Depends on the definition of pain:

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1217

[Shane R]

I think most people knew the smartphone as we use it now was coming. I think most people knew the electronic tablet was coming. Apple and Google/Samsung made a lot of money by grabbing a core piece of the audience for those devices.

I don't think there's anything else coming in the near future that will touch as many people as those types of devices have. The next big technology shifts are probably farther out, and I think Google has made lots of investments to be the first mover in those markets - self driving cars (I assume they will license this technology to automakers?), robotics, and the smart home.

I think Apples future will feature more targeting of profitable small audiences than targeting big general audiences (as they are with the iPhone and iPad). The new Mac Pro might be a good example of that. Another would be the watch. They have supposedly been researching medical technology and I think that if they release a watch it will be marketed to fitness nuts and to people interested in managing their health or chronic illnesses in certain markets, and not simply as a general consumer device.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

I am not worried for Apple. They are NOT the next Microsoft.

iPad sales have slowed, but so has the Kindle Fire. The difference is that the majority of iPads that were bought are still being used, while the majority of Kindle Fires ended up on eBay and/or broke and people upgraded to the Nexus 7, Galaxy Tabs, and others.

For every person that still owns and uses an iPad 1, there are probably 10 who have bought two or more Android tablets since then.

The same can be said for Macs and iPhones. There are more people with 2007/8 MacBook Pros than with Dell laptops from that same year. There are more people with the iPhone 4 (not 4S) than there are those still using a Samsung Galaxy S2.

And the same thing with iPods, which is why Apple recalled the Nano five years after the fact, and if anything else came up with the others, would probably be doing the same procedure now.

iOS 7 has received a lot of negative press, but at the end of the day, it's nowhere near the amount of hate Windows 8 has received. Android guys don't complain about KitKat, but the majority of them probably haven't even seen Jelly Bean.

I'm unclear about your point here. If your point is that iPads are better than Android tablets because people still use their old iPads, while Android users keep getting replacements, wouldn't the fact that there are still an estimated half a billion windows XP users around (after more than a decade from its release) mean that Microsoft has made better operating systems?

I mean you either judge by the sales of their latest product or by how long older products are kept in use.

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by Shane R

I don't think there's anything else coming in the near future that will touch as many people as those types of devices have. The next big technology shifts are probably farther out, and I think Google has made lots of investments to be the first mover in those markets - self driving cars (I assume they will license this technology to automakers?), robotics, and the smart home.

I think Apples future will feature more targeting of profitable small audiences than targeting big general audiences (as they are with the iPhone and iPad). The new Mac Pro might be a good example of that. Another would be the watch. They have supposedly been researching medical technology and I think that if they release a watch it will be marketed to fitness nuts and to people interested in managing their health or chronic illnesses in certain markets, and not simply as a general consumer device.

I want watch such:

Raise arm and fly!
I will buy one for each arm.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I'm unclear about your point here. If your point is that iPads are better than Android tablets because people still use their old iPads, while Android users keep getting replacements, wouldn't the fact that there are still an estimated half a billion windows XP users around (after more than a decade from its release) mean that Microsoft has made better operating systems?

I mean you either judge by the sales of their latest product or by how long older products are kept in use.

She is saying she likes Apple and is hoping for continued success for the company.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by wizwor

She is saying she likes Apple and is hoping for continued success for the company.

I believe you are correct!

[frahse]

Originally Posted by wizwor

This is absolutely incorrect. Google Maginot Line. People are attacking Linux and Apple.

That TF-20 Vista machine I rebuilt is for my taxes. It will not go online except e-file. That's a pretty safe computer.

I have one at work that is never connected to any network. It is stored in a locked container is a locked and alarmed room is an access controlled building patrolled by guards inside a fenced in facility with cameras monitoring the perimeter. This computer runs Windows XP. It might be the safest computer on the planet.

Orbital or targeting?

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by ApK

Mini poll!
Now is the time to:

1. buy Apple stock.
2. sell off your Apple stock.

People who make these judgement calls based on a single article, or even 25 articles for that matter, are far better off just putting money into a low expense mutual fund each month. Don't try to time the market, just keep socking it away.

Ok, I'm done with my pedantic rant. (But true pedantics don't really do rants all that well, they just sort of make everyone roll their eyes.)

[wizwor]

Unfortunately, a lot of people make their decisions based on emotion. Best to buy and hold good companies or sectors.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wizwor

Unfortunately, a lot of people make their decisions based on emotion. Best to buy and hold good companies or sectors.

Hold till when? The point for many in the market is to make money, not just collect stock certificates.

Buy low, sell high....that does involve selling at some point.