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[isthisthingon]

It's just sad that company like Microsoft is basically pissing away money and talent with all their moves. Microsoft is a perfect example how current company structure with shareholders destroys companies. With all that money Microsoft could truly change the world but no, they are stuck with existing products that suck ass and have to be constantly fixed. And then comes the time to make the next version and because the foundation sucks ass, they have no other choice than make a bigger ball of shit and hope it stays together.

Absolutely.  They've chosen a RAM crutch in lieu of optimizing since the dawn of time.  There's just no way out of the public company trap that Microsoft, Apple and Google now contend with.  I'll always have hope for all three of them, because at one time or another I've loved all of them, but it totally sucks to see such flagrant disregard for what's possible in favor of what's profitable.

>Snow Leopard.

From everything I've read and heard about Snow Leopard it seems to be a strikingly good move for Apple.  Win7 has a much steeper climb to distance itself from the world famous Piss-Ta^tm release.

It's so sad that innovation has escaped from IT business and Apple has gone from innovative company to a company that has found a working formula of making products. They took churn, baby, churn little bit too much to the heart and now because of that, we are slowing down.

Tis   But cut the oxygen off and things will change.  Let the bloated shareholder mindset fail and hopefully their brilliance will be what's left   If I had my design on history, NeXT would have become the dominant platform.  That's the opposite problem: the best of the best technology without a sustainable business model to feed it.

[nop_90]

Hmmmm
Microsoft profits fall on accounting maneuver
http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_13627790
Anyway all the other websites are claiming that MS profits are down by 23% etc.

Reality is they are up by 8%
All the "free copies" that they gave away they counted as an "expense" at retail price 
But really cost them nothing 

Again MS made ~$3.5 B compared to
Apple $1.67B
IBM made $3.2B
Google made $5.52B

Also the apple store has to make money while MS does not have to do fuk all .
In PH where competition is much stiffer, many big name companies rent space in luxary malls, and they do not even sell anything.
The sole purpose of the "store" is just so consumers can try out products.
So the store does not have to sell anything, just as long as it stops the consumer when he buys a new puter from buying a Mac

I also mentioned IBM. IBM has sold off most of its consumer parts.
They make thier $$$ from selling to cooperations, government agencies etc.
And you do not need to worry about making stupid fickle consumers happy
MS is kinda in the same boat.

[kurdt]

Again MS made ~$3.5 B compared to
Apple $1.67B

Considering the market shares & product portfolio sizes, I would say that's pretty pathetic performance from M$.

[perkiset]

@profit: given that Apple is swinging in at something like 1/7th of MS' total penetration, to have 1/3 the profit is pretty awesome IMV.

And yes, Apple does need to make a profit at their stores - right now the 5th avenue store is the most profitable store per square foot (the common retail measurement) of any other store in the burg. All of their stores seem to do really well. It's a combo of marketing an appropriate sizing I think. Here at the Biltmore they've shrunk the store 3 times. It's now a cozy 4K feet or something, and the profitability on it is stellar.

@ MS not needing to: well, I'd argue that they need to be a success, regardless of profitability. And no matter what, if they are just black holes that MS is throwing money they will get cut, unless they think that in the long run it'll kill other platforms.

[jammaster82]

By now, a totally John Goodman "PC" looking man came over to help. I mentioned that I was concerned about Win7 dumping everything and the upgrade process from XP - he said, with a straight face: "Oh don't worry. I've had to do it several times to my machine. It should work for you just fine."

ROFLMAO...  i  can see you standing there blinking about twenty times, exercising your restraint, vetoing 100s of things that your glad you probably didnt say
... hahaha

Perhaps this store with all the floor space and 'deathcamp tutors behind door number three' are just a huge market research tactic....

http://gizmodo.com/5240677/windows-7-rc1-will-auto-shut-down-every-two-hours-months-before-expiration

ohhh.... so thats on PURPOSE?!?!?! hahahahahahaha

[vsloathe]

I assume you meant John Hodgeman.

[perkiset]

  I did ... what a doofus. Got to be the flu I'm enduring ATM

@Kurdt: Oh - and looking back, my flu-induced stupidity must have read your post wrong as well, I thought you were saying that Apple's performance was pathetic. 

[jammaster82]

Im just wondering if you caught this viral flu at the windows 7 store itself... hahahahahaha

[perkiset]

  didn't even catch that one ... caught a virus at the Windows store ... really good JM

[jammaster82]

It's a combo of marketing an appropriate sizing I think. Here at the Biltmore they've shrunk the store 3 times. It's now a cozy 4K feet or something, and the profitability on it is stellar.

@ MS not needing to: well, I'd argue that they need to be a success, regardless of profitability. And no matter what, if they are just black holes that MS is throwing money they will get cut, unless they think that in the long run it'll kill other platforms.

Yes, MS has money to throw at problems for sure, like i wouldnt doubt it if they would just LOSE money at that windows 7 store just to do some market research and to 'in your face it' to jobs.... copying the store and all.... see: pirates of silicon valley.. they are like cain and abel.... sibling rivalry to the nerd ocd factor.

@square footage and profitability.... mac makes great business decisions, ill give you that.

Microsoft will fall, because their users all 'talk about last nights greys anatomy and watch sneezing pandas on you tube while they waste their bosses money by fucking off all day and make keeping their job and looking like they do something instead of actually doing something' people. Apple obviously is in it to win it.. Those ms people wont be able to afford windows 7 because they also have big buildings (that are closing down by the scores) full of people doing nothing except playing charades about what they actually DO for the company.  People that use macs for businesses all of them MAKE MONEY and provide a real service... And the price is afforded by them.

This is the very reason why commissioned salespeople and consultants whom are self employed feel no effectss of the recession/depression.  They actually DO SOMETHING or they dont make money.. they arent some sort of succubus to a host company like all MS USERS.

How many 10,000 square foot ,30 foot tall circuit city buildings (the top 3/4ths UNUSABLE ) are completely vacant now..  WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS WILL BE ABLE TO move into a 10,000 square foot building and do anything at all with it.. the grass has already begun growing in the parking lot of the one around here and its FALL.

We are now on the world stage competing for jobs with the most desperate of any country that got a free laptop from obama.
And the get to work at 9am and youtube all day people are all now unemployed..  They need to pick up a paint brush , shovel, unstuffed envelope and just start DOING SOMETHING.

This is what apple does by shrinking store space ... running the business like a race car or elusive sailboat... THROW OUT THE SILVERWARE, TOSS THE BACK SEATS ... efficiency.  So to
come full circle , I have to agree that MSFT will go down and APPLE will go up....

[nop_90]

Amazon, Microsoft Soar as Stocks Tumble
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3845386/Amazon+Microsoft+Soar+as+Stocks+Tumble.htm
Stock experts seem to think otherwise.

9/10 of an iceberg lie beneath the surface.
How silly people are to be fooled by flash and bang.

IBM makes almost no hardware now days. Where does IBM get their income from ?

Granted this is old data but ... from 2007
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/09/09/microsoft%E2%80%99s-outrageous-office-profits/


As you can see majority of MS profits come from office products and services.

IBM dumped its hardware and to some degree its software divisions, because the big $$$ is in "service".
Also once a cooperation/government starts using your "service" it is like crack cocaine. You are addicted.
How many companies are still running vax systems ? The origional vax is dead, but the "software / service" is now running on an emulator lol.
If you in a cooperation make the decision to change to a new service and it fuks up, you are out of a job.
Better to toe the line and do nothing .
Hence the IBM selling point. No one ever got fired for choosing IBM.

Apple is in a bad position.
All of thier revenue is based on hardware. But personal hardware.
Consumers get a new cell probably every 1-2 years.
Who knows what might happen in 2 years. Maybe chinese will make a legit iphone clone for $50.
Maybe google will make thier shitty cell OS go.
Again google same story. Their revenue comes from "service".
So if thier shitty cell get people to use thier "service", even if they lose money they make money.
Oracle same story

Probably a good time to dump apple stock

[perkiset]

"dump apple stock?" 

Regardless of the AAPLness of it, consider this: when dealing with stocks, you should sell your winners and buy your losers.

If you liked AAPL at (x) price, then you should REALLY like it at (x-10). If you've made a profit on MSFT, then you should consider selling some of it to start playing with the house's money on it, rather than your own. It's not about the brand (although making purchasing decisions often is, that's OK, but this is not about brand).

Sell high, buy low. Don't do the typical thing: AAPL is losing ground! SELL SELL SELL! I had a limit order in on AAPL for 200, sold about 25% of my stake with them and made enough that I've locked in enough profit to be very pleased. I'd LOVE for them to swing down into the 120s again for a pickup again.

[vsloathe]

"dump apple stock?" 

Regardless of the AAPLness of it, consider this: when dealing with stocks, you should sell your winners and buy your losers.

If you liked AAPL at (x) price, then you should REALLY like it at (x-10). If you've made a profit on MSFT, then you should consider selling some of it to start playing with the house's money on it, rather than your own. It's not about the brand (although making purchasing decisions often is, that's OK, but this is not about brand).

Sell high, buy low. Don't do the typical thing: AAPL is losing ground! SELL SELL SELL! I had a limit order in on AAPL for 200, sold about 25% of my stake with them and made enough that I've locked in enough profit to be very pleased. I'd LOVE for them to swing down into the 120s again for a pickup again.

Exactly. Why is this so hard for people to get?

"Oh, this stock made me a bunch of money, and this mutual fund lost value. I'm going to sell the mutual fund options and buy more of this stock!"

 

[perkiset]

About a year ago, one of my family members (who shall remain nameless, but is retired, on her own and relies completely on late-husband's pension and investments) was in complete wild-eyed shock about the decline of the market. "It's hit the lowest point sine the '30s! I've got to call my broker and tell him to sell everything!"

After PinkHat and I physically restrained her from the phone, we spent weeks trying to instill the notion of "locking in losses" and how, what she was about to do was both utterly common, completely emotional and the laser-precise opposite of what she should be doing.

Phone call averted, 1 year later: not quite back to normal, but certainly in reasonable shape (whew).