» ‘The Apple double standard’
Yoni Heisler for NetworkWorld:
Curiously, cold hard data doesn’t really matter with Apple. Double-digit growth, skyrocketing revenue and profits, these all mean nothing to Wall St. But give the folks on Wall Street a rumor from an anonymous source regarding fewer food deliveries to an iPhone manufacturing plant and everyone goes crazy.
I have nothing against NetworkWorld, but when I woke up today I didn’t think I’d be saying “Hey, NetworkWorld posted a good piece about Apple’s stock.”
For the record, I have no idea how strong iPhone demand currently is. I suspect it’s still quite strong given that Apple only caught up on demand a month ago. But I do know one thing: saying flat-out it’s weak based on unsourced rumors is nuts.
» ‘Every empire crumbles’
Victor Keegan, writing for the Guardian, thinks all the cool has gone out of the iPhone and that smartphones from other vendors have already overtaken it:
Apple is losing its hip and unpredictable edge as it risks being left behind by the very technology it helped to proliferate…
…
Make no mistake, these are going to be difficult times for Apple. Jobs’s resuscitation of the company after it nearly collapsed, is one of the great corporate turnarounds of US business history. But gratitude also belongs to history. From now on, Apple faces stiff competition on all fronts.
He certainly paints a very dark picture of the company’s future.
Wait, did I say “iPhone”? I’m sorry, I meant iPod. And it appears that this is from back in 2006. What a silly mistake. This is so embarrassing.
For someone, anyway.
Why Apple Drives People Crazy
If you pick up the latest print edition of Macworld magazine (in an airport, I guess?) and flip to the back, I have taken up the last page attempting to answer a question John Gruber asked me on The Talk Show a couple of months ago: What is it about Apple that drives people crazy?
» Insert list item
Jim Dalrymple reminds me of something I left off my list of things I don’t care about: Anything John Sculley says.
» Dell may go private
Bloomberg:
Dell Inc. (DELL), the personal-computer maker that lost almost a third of its value last year, is in buyout talks with private-equity firms, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
I am not going to link to it. I am not going to link to it. I am not going to…
Oops.
Darn it.
How does that even happen? I’m typing along and suddenly a link appears? That makes no sense. Did I black out for a second? Oh, whatever.
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My thanks to DesignScene for sponsoring the Very Nice Web Site RSS feed this week.
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» 60 days with the Surface RT
No, it’s not what three strikes convicts are sentenced to, it’s Ed Bott checking in with the pros and cons of his Surface RT experience so far. Bott’s a heavy Microsoft Office user which explains much of his mostly positive experience with the Surface to date. I can see how that might be the case, but I’d imagine my mileage would slightly vary.
“IT WAS HELL,” RECALLS MAN WHO HAD TO USE OFFICE PROFESSIONALLY FOR 17 YEARS.
» DOOOOMED
Over at Macworld, Lex Friedman gives a reasonable response to those who claim Apple is doomed. Personally I like to throw rotting fruit at them, but there’s room for more than one kind of response. I guess.
» Office for iOS may be coming, but does it really matter?
Over at Macworld, I talk about the rumors of Microsoft Office for iOS and wonder if most people really care anymore.
» How’s that going?
BGR in May of 2011:
Late last week, BGR wrote about a recent report suggesting Microsoft’s share of the global smartphone market would overtake Google’s share in 2015, and Windows Phone would become the best-selling smartphone platform in the world at that point. On Tuesday, the Pyramid Research analyst responsible for the report published a follow up explaining that her findings were misinterpreted. Pyramid’s Senior Analyst Stela Bokun explains that Windows Phone is poised to overtake Android’s massive market share much earlier than that — as soon as 2013, in fact.
Windows Phone is apparently going to have a huge year.
“Sorry, Stela, we need to get our name out there and it’s your turn to say something completely insane.”