512 Pixels

From the company’s FAQ page on cloud sync:

We will be doing a large scale test with quantifiable data to estimate server and bandwidth costs. It is not yet clear whether or not it will be necessary to pass any of those costs to the user base. This should not be taken as indication that there will, or will not, be any cost. A final decision will be made later based on the aforementioned testing.

They need to offer a cloud service for free. Its like they don’t understand how unhappy many of their customers (and former customers) are.

The company also doesn’t understand the concept of ‘if you don’t have anything to say, keep your mouth shut.’

[via Federico Viticci]

John Gruber:

EXT. MORNING, TUESDAY 5 JUNE 2007. 1 INFINITE LOOP, CUPERTINO.

A cab pulls in front a building. BRUSHED METAL exits the cab, stands tall, and walks to the door. He waves a badge at the door’s identification sensor. A red light flashes.

He tries the door. It’s locked. He rubs the badge directly against the sensor. Red again.

BRUSHED METAL: What the fuck?

Be sure not to miss the theme’s response to iTunes 5 and to iLife 06. These are probably the funniest things you’ll ever read about UI design.

I’ll be posting links today from sold old sites, per Shawn’s great suggestion. There will be post every hour on the half hour, starting at 9:30 AM CST.

Steve Jobs, in an open letter back in 2007:

I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions.

First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to ‘go for it’ this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone ’tent’. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.

I was working at Apple Retail at the time, and boy, people were pissed. I really think Apple learned its lesson.

Beth Harpaz for the AP:

Susan Maushart lived out every parent’s fantasy: She unplugged her teenagers.

For six months, she took away the Internet, TV, iPods, cell phones and video games. The eerie glow of screens stopped lighting up the family room. Electronic devices no longer chirped through the night like “evil crickets.” And she stopped carrying her iPhone into the bathroom.

Part of me envies those kids.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt:

In our ranking of the best and worst Apple (AAPL) analysts for Q1 2011, which lists them based on how accurately they predicted seven key numbers — revenue, earnings, gross margins and unit sales — the unaffiliated analysts (blue in the chart at right) took 9 out of the 10 top spots.

The bottom 20 spots were all held by professionals working for the banks and brokerage houses. Taken as a whole, the numbers they sent their paying clients were off by a margin (9.04%) more than twice as big as those generated by the guys who do it for free (3.94%).

I go out of way to avoid reading the crap these analysts publish.

[via Daring Fireball]

The New York Times:

In summary, that’s a very smart smartphone we’ve just described: one that knows who owns it, unlocking just for them, one that can listen and respond to your questions, that can provide factual answers or point you to a related mobile app, one where your music library (and maybe more) is stored online, one that includes NFC for mobile payments, and one that works on whatever carrier you choose. Frankly, that sounds downright magical.

Steve Jobs has long been a visionary for this industry, and his ideas and creations have dramatically impacted how people interact with technology. iPhone 5, assuming it offers all the above, could do that yet again. But we’ll have to see if Apple can pull it all off without Jobs’ day-to-day presence at Apple.

I think the device the article outlines is ridiculous. The iPhone 5 will be a revision to the 4, I believe, not a “totally redesigned” handset with tons of hardware upgrades.

Whatever the iPhone 5 is, its been in the works for years. Steve Jobs’ absence isn’t going to a single thing to slow down products set to be released this year.

[via The Brooks Review]

Apple COO Tim Cook, on today’s Q1 2011 call:

Apple is doing its best work ever. We are all very happy with product pipeline and the team here has an unparalleled breadth and depth that Steve has driven in the company, and excellence has become a habit. We feel very very confident about the future of the company. I would also note that we’ve done outstanding job in our Mac: 19 straight quarters of outgrowing market, but still have a very low share. It would seem like still enormous opportunity there.

If you’re still worried Apple will falter without Steve Jobs at the helm, read that quote again.

The Apple PR machine has details.

My brother’s non-profit, Operation Broken Silence was in The Commercial Appeal this weekend:

With a study of a popular website offering adult advertisements for “escorts,” a young human rights group in Memphis is calling for action to reduce human trafficking in the local sex industry.

The group, Operation Broken Silence, this week released a report that studied Memphis-area female escort listings for the final three months of 2010 placed on the classified advertisement website backpage.com.

Things like Backpage are simply shocking, especially in 2011. I’m super proud of the work Mark and Ryan have done, and am encouraged by their drive to change our city — and the world — for the good.

Shawn Blanc:

For each area I have a handful of people whom I trust and whom I know I can ask for their help. I know they have an educated and valuable position on the subject, and they meet two very important requirements:

• They shoot me straight 100% of the time. I prefer blunt honesty and genuine feedback. Don’t dance around my feelings. Tell me what you really think and why.
• They want me to succeed. Usually, by the time I’m ready for feedback from someone, I’ve gone about as far I you can go on my own. And that’s when I need someone to cheer me on to cross the finish line.

Wise words.

Editors Note: This post is written by Matthew Hedgepeth, a guy I’ve known for a long time. He graduates in May from the University of Memphis with a MIS degree and a minor in finance. He’s about to get married, and works for me at the Salvation Army. He is far more qualified to talk about money than I am.

When I awoke this morning hearing the news every one else heard about Steve Jobs taking another medical leave of absence I jumped to two different conclusions.

• As a consumer, I think Apple is going to be fine and continue to be the company we have grown to know and love. Tim Cook has proven himself over and over again.
• As a 7-year holder of AAPL common stock (back when it was $17.17 a share), I’m not selling this stock just yet.

The timing of the announcement is of course strategically placed (well-placed?). U.S. Markets are closed today in observance of the MLK Jr. holiday, and Apple ( Nasdaq: AAPL) is expected to announce strong earnings tomorrow afternoon. Initially when I heard the news of Jobs departure, I thought they were going to use these results to equalize and balance the effect of Steve Jobs leaving. I doubt they will be able to break through an investor’s mindset about this though. It has never really worked in the past. Unfortunately, many investors believe that Steve Jobs is Apple and without him, it cannot be as successful as it is now. Just look when he announced a leave back in 2009, stock prices fluctuated sometimes down to 7.6%. Jobs is smart and an incredible visionary.

I think investors only get half of this.

Apple has already established themselves in the consumer electronics market with the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. This goes for hardware and software too like iOS and OS X. The list can go on and on. Steve Jobs already has a vision set in place for the company and will continue to outline his vision. I believe this can go on without him because of the team he has in place: Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Jonathan Ive, and on and on.

But here is what might happen tomorrow: Investors are worried regardless and to them, Steve Jobs = Apple. Apple is about 20% of the NASDAQ so a significant fall from selling the stock could affect the exchange as a whole. AAPL is dropping fast in world markets already where markets aren’t closed today. German markets have already reported a 7.3% drop in share value, which results in a loss roughly of $22 billion.

But, if the Efficient Market hypothesis has taught me anything about buying and selling stocks the past 8 years (And I don’t even think I qualify as an amateur yet) is that there is money to be made and lost in the short term and long term. My personal strategy is the classic: “Buy low, sell high” bit. Of course, life is always more complicated than this.

I am going to put a Limit order in today to sell (An order basically to sell at a specified price) at a 12–15% drop when markets open tomorrow. Then I have an order setup to buy on Tuesday night/Wednesday once the stock starts rising, or jumps in after hours trading should investors buy after the (presumably) strong earnings are released.

Is this a smart decision? Probably not for you but I think it works for me. I merely trade stocks like this because I find it fun. It’s not like I’m managing a hedge fund or a college tuition account.

If any of you are selling and making some massive gains through dumping this stock tomorrow, you are welcome to buy me a 13-inch MacBook Air. My AAPL will be tied up in my Retirement account until I’m 59 and a half. In the meantime, I’ll be reading Burton Malkiel’s “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” and watching this video of him touching on the Efficient Market Hypothesis. Try to apply it to AAPL and have fun out there. But I firmly believe that Apple Inc. will continue to thrive as a company should Jobs ever decide to permanently leave the company. The team he has put in place has proven itself over and over again to the consumer. And I don’t think there will be anything to worry about.