radarthekat

Long-running AOL Instant Messenger shuts down for good

December 2017

Verizon also owns, and at the same time shut down, the Compuserve forums. Who knew those were still around and active until today. End of an era, indeed.

Qualcomm targets Apple iPhone 8, iPhone X in new patent suit

radarthekat

November 2017

Martin57 said:

vukasika said:

American adults act more and more like petulant 6 years olds every day...

Nope.

There is ONE “petulant 6 year old”, and it’s not Apple.

BTW, if you’re NOT promoting the tired trope of “They’re all the same”, then I will retract part of my statement. Until then, it stands.

-Puzzler

Could be he’s referring to multiple adults within Qualcomm.

Apple Music's Jimmy Iovine says services like Spotify & Pandora can't be profitable

radarthekat

November 2017

Iovine is echoing my own sentiments, posted here a while back under a larger topic. Here’s that again:

Be THE future of something

Was thinking about this one, and it finally occurred to me, after all the years I’ve been in the market, the proper phrasing for how to think about the GPROs, FITs, ROKUs, Ps and FBs of the world. And that’s this... “if you’re going to be a steady climbing stock that has a future valuation that makes the current valuation pale in comparison, you have to be THE future of something.” Not part of the future, not along for the ride. You really have to be the driver of the future of something significant. FB was, back at $19/share, the future of social media. (I missed that one.)

But GPRO was not the future of how people use cameras. At best it was, and remains, a niche. The smartphone is the future of how people use cameras; okay but evolving optics strapped to a huge screen and a very capable processor with built-in AI to get the most out of the images. That’s an iPhone.

FIT is not the future of wearables. That’s a smartwatch connected to a huge ecosystem, home control systems, music streaming, hime/car/office/hotel room access, notifications, fitness, health monitoring and recording and reporting, etc. That’s Apple Watch.

P (Pandora) and Spotify are not the future of streaming music, maybe for no reason greater than its a business trying to profit on streaming music. Streaming music’s future might not be profitable; there may simply not be a profitable business model to be built around it. Apple Music, of course, isn’t reliant upon that. It can branch out in myriad unprofitable directions to enrich the user experience and bring more content than can a business that has to show a profit. Think subsidizing budding artists in return for a period of exclusivity. Think Carpool Karaoke and other exclusive and free content additions. Streaming music is just along for the ride, the future being successful platforms that provide such services.

Roku is not the future of streaming video. It’s just one player among many that has no specific advantage in the long evolution and eventual shake out and consolidation. No more than RIMM [Blackberry] was the future of smartphones. In the end, the biggest players with the deepest pockets will own this market.

To be investable, you can’t just be involved in the future, you have to be THE future of something.

UK government to initiate tax crackdown on tech firms holding earnings offshore

radarthekat

November 2017

MacsandMoreDH said:

radarthekat said:

larrya said:

Good for them. Taxes not paid by corporations are taxes paid by the rest of us, yet they benefit disproportionately from roads, airports, labor force, government research, and the rest of the national infrastructure.

Taxes paid by corporations are, in aggregate, paid by the populous, because the burden of taxes is typically passed along in the form of higher prices for the goods and services provided. For example, import duties and sales taxes are factors in the cost of an iPhone in countries like the U.K., where it’s not uncommon to hear its citizens, right here on AI, complain about the relative cost of an iPhone there versus in the states. The price is not merely the U.S. dollar price converted to pounds, after all.

The population doesn't pay! Just consumers of Apple products and they don't really pay because taxes are on profits they are not costs. So while the comment "sounds good" to is actually 100% rubbish!

Consumers of all products that are taxed pay. That’s why I said “in aggregate” and “the populous” because pretty much everyone has to consume something they didn’t make or grow themselves. If a company ends up with any Bottom line, after tax profits at the end of a year that means, by definition, all costs have been covered. And whose money went to cover those costs, including taxes? The business’ customers.