Pandora Rocks, Apple Scrooge, and Other Thoughts...

I know - it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post. OK. I know, I'm an SEO junkie, and I ought to know how detrimental this is to my blog's prospects for visibility. But, alas, as I have failed so far in my attempts to make this blog into a net money-maker, my time has been used up with more profitable ventures.

Back to blogging, I must take a short minute and say something about one of the things I like. Pandora is amazing; if you've never tried it, take a quick detour right now (and then come back). If you don't know what Pandora is yet, just think "Internet radio" - except much, much better than our normal concepts of radio. The site is so user-friendly that spending any more time explaining it would be overkill.

Now for today's first news item: Apple’s cash: It’s one sour cider - Financial Week

It seems Apple is following a troubling cycle, and it goes like this:

1. endure steady, light criticism from tech blogs everywhere for several months;


2. announce an upcoming product release; ride an incredible wave of rising hype as the release date draws nigh;


3. reap big profits from initial sales;


4. endure steady criticism about the new product's shortcomings.

So, it appears we're in the interim period between #4 and #1, a familiar "dead zone", where Apple can't seem to do anything right, and we all wonder about the merits of their closed model of production.

Falling Far From the Tree

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Fortune - Apple's $300 Million Gray Market Dilemma
AppleInsider - Steve Jobs to Apple investors: 'hang in there'
Gizmodo - First Proof Apple Making Near Zero on AppleTV (And Big Bucks on iTunes)


Looking out on the tech world today, I see one article about slashed prices on one big Apple product, another article about a gray market problem on another big Apple product (and possible slashed prices in the future), and a "please let us keep your money" letter from Steve Jobs. This Apple is falling far from the tree lately.

For a company that is supposedly on the cutting edge of consumer tech, there have been so many obvious features omitted from several products debuted in recent years.

• For starters, the iPhone was debuted, surprisingly, without 3G support, and didn't initially support any 3rd party software.
• Furthermore, Apple TV had to go through a re-launch after an embarrassed Apple acknowledged that the first version didn't work out. We knew that iTunes did not have a selection of HD content for Apple TV, but what about the other shortcomings? Why release a product like Apple TV with no optical drive?
• And then, there is the MacBook Air. It's obvious to many that this new product is missing more than an optical drive. End users can't even replace the battery.

It's no stretch to assume that these missteps have indirectly contributed to the recent free-fall of Apple's stock price, down $65/share (roughly 32%) over the last month.

The point I'm trying to make is that, while Apple and Jobs seem to be laden with an uncanny sense for creating those gadgets that consumers didn't even know they needed, there have been surprising oversights in their product releases. Too many popular, and sometimes necessary, features have been missing on their new products. These latest stories about subsidizing Apple TV and gray market iPhones seem to be pointing to one idea - Apple either has to shape up and read the tea leaves better before releasing new products, or they must embrace a more open model of production. The current closed model seems to make every move too much of a make-or-break moment - it's too risky. It may still survive for a while to come, but in order for that to happen, Apple's got to put better features on it's "it" products.

Hold Your Breath On The Gathering Gloom: Everyone Waits For Microsoft's Earnings Report

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Microsoft Earnings: They Really Are A "Big" Deal

The market seems to be back up, along with Google, Apple, and the rest of the technology world today, but everyone also seems to be waiting to hear what Microsoft has to say. Microsoft is up $0.56 per share today, or 1.75%, and it seems that everyone is expecting them to give a favorable earnings report later today.

Analysts estimated revenue of $16 bil for Microsoft for the quarter ending December 31st. Everyone apparently thinks Microsoft made that target. If they did, then the economic gloom may not be gathering so quickly after all.

If they didn't make it, then... Well, I don't really want to think about what might happen if they didn't make it. Let's just hope they did, for the sakes of our IRAs.

Breathe Deep The Gathering Gloom: GOOG Down 3.5% In Early Trading

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Are we seeing further signs in the Internet world of a storm on the horizon? Early reports indicate that Google stock is down 3.55%, or about 20 points, at $564 per share.

According to Google's own SERP, the Nasdaq info that came up in a search for "goog" is delayed by 15 minutes. Whether or not 15 minutes is incredibly significant, when I started to write this post, reports where saying Google was down 2.6%. It's 9:04AM now, and apparently, 5 minutes has been enough for the company to lose an entire percentage point.

Microsoft is also reporting a pre-market loss of 1.9%, or $0.59 per share, which brings them to about $31 per share.

And just to make it a tri-fecta, Apple is also reporting significant losses, down $17.5 - no... $17.6 per share. This is yet another stock that fell further as I was checking on it. That's a whopping 11.3%.

Actually, the consensus seems to be that Microsoft, Google, and the bulk of Silicon Valley's business giants are all being affected by Apple's disappointing Q2 forecast, just released. Apple reportedly thinks that revenue will grow only 29% in Q2, down from Q1's 35% in revenue growth.

It's amazing that positive reports are bringing the world down this fast, just because they're not positive enough. I'm no stock analyst, or prophet of doom, but from the looks of these falling stocks, we could be watching lights fade from every room.

Google Wireless Phone

Google Wireless Phone

Dan Horton just posted about the coming Google Wireless Phone on DaveN's blog. Good post. And, I must add, Dan seems to be a much better writer than DaveN himself. I mean, Dave... c'mon. It makes you look bad when you use such bad grammar. Your sentences often don't even make sense.

Anyway, so Google might put out a phone that will finally liberate us from the wireless tyrants (ATT, Verizon, Sprint). I mean, nobody gets a good deal from these companies, and they all tailor their software specifically so that you'll have to buy more features on your monthly plan in order to do the things that would make your cell phone really useful. Like... send SMSs to your email box.

Anyway, Go Google! Great post on DaveN's blog.
JT



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Google Planning Mobile Media Search Engine?

Google Planning Mobile Media Search Engine?

Just a link to what I'm reading at the moment. C'mon, Google! We want you in the mobile phone market.

I also was recently thinking that it's interesting that we Google fans usually seem to be Mac fans as well, mostly because of the characterization of MS as the devil incarnate. However, Apple's operations have not been "open source" by any means, though they do continue to strive to produce superior products.

The principle behind most geeks' love for Google seems to be related to organic growth. Finally, here's a company, in Google, that is not perfect, but seems to be honestly stretching its arms to reach the goals that will really advance its industry for the better. There is a connection here with open source software - especially since most of Google opens up most of their products to independent developers by releasing APIs and publishing development tips on blogs.

So do we cheer for Apple based on principle or quality? If we say it is principle, then it would seem that MS should be our shining example of what collaboration could achieve. While it also seems that most collaboration with MS is not by choice as much as by necessity, the PC, MS's domain, is built from the innovation of a variety of companies, big and small, and advances piece by piece, as different corners of the computer world discover new things. The PC's development is a textbook example of organic innovation and growth.

This is in contrast to Apple's Macs and Powerbooks, which have been produced in an almost completely closed system since Apple's inception. Apple writes the software, develops the hardware, produces accessories, and now even owns stores where the computers are sold. Nobody "works" on their IMac or IPod, but most PC owners who are tech-proficient wouldn't consider it necessary to send their computer off to the shop in order to upgrade a piece of hardware.

So, the principle alley seems to lead us away from Apple, and therefore we must go the quality route, which would make some sense, if we can justify spending the extra dollars for what we get out of an Apple. That is the basic question - is the Apple computer worth the bigger price tag?