gmgravytrain

Google and Facebook make most of their money by invading user privacy so I doubt there will be any legislation putting controls on those companies. Making huge sums of money is always more important than protecting privacy. Big investors know that those two companies are using private data to make money for shareholders. Big investors will fight hard to stop any legislation or regulation. Google and Facebook are huge contributors to top people in Washington and they're likely paying those people off to look the other way when it comes to protecting privacy. I think Tim Cook is fighting a losing battle. Too many people hate Apple to back Tim Cook's fight for personal privacy. As far as users are concerned, most Facebook and Google app users simply don't care about their own privacy and are likely happy to have their personal data spread all over the internet as long as they get free use of Facebook's and Google services. From what I've seen there are very few people who care about protecting their privacy. Even when data leaks are discovered, very few subscribers delete their accounts. Being part of a social group is much more important to them

Look at all those active listening devices people are putting in their homes and apartments in almost every room. Do you really think those people care anything about personal privacy? Amazon is being praised constantly for putting hundreds of thousands of listening devices into people's homes and apartments. I sure don't want those things listening to me 24/7 as it makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable. Most people don't think that way. I don't know where all that bugged data is going. I figure if people are happily putting those active listening devices in their homes, then they don't care who's listening.  They're basically inviting Big Brother into their homes.  Tim Cook is all out there by himself will little backing from other companies.  I guess the attitudes of citizens in the U.S. are different from those citizens in Europe when it comes to privacy.  Actually, I would have thought European citizens would be more liberal when it comes to privacy.

Many analysts believe both Google and Amazon will be bigger than Apple because those companies can harvest personal data from billions of people and turn it into company wealth.  It makes sense.  Those data harvesting companies are turning personal info into gold and they don't have to produce anything because those users are their valuable product.  Big investors are laughing all the way to the bank.

Awww! The greedy big investors were counting on that "supercycle" some analysts were talking about. I never thought there would be any "supercycle" and I was right. Of course, I'm not going to be dumping my Apple stock on the open market because my expectations aren't as high as some. In this economy, I don't expect everyone will be rushing out to buy the latest models of iPhones when the citizens of the BRIC nations are going to be buying $100 - $200 Android smartphones or even (crazier) feature-phones. I only expect Apple to be able to slightly grow its already large iPhone installed base to create Services revenue and profits.

It doesn't take a genius to see that Apple isn't going to get double-digit growth from selling iPhones. The high-end smartphone market is already saturated and won't allow such growth. Sure, the greedy fund managers are pissed because Apple fell short of iPhone sales expectations and future guidance was conservative. They're not patient and would rather dump their Apple stock. That's their loss. Let's see if those greedy investors can find another safe haven for their money in this crazy stock market. Apple still looks pretty safe to me (and Buffett and a few mutual fund managers). I have no interest in running that quarter to quarter race. I play for the entire year and I believe Apple will still come out ahead of most companies.

Although Apple looks a bit ugly (shedding $209B in value), I think this recent selloff of Apple stock is a good thing for long-term shareholders. It makes it much easier for Apple to buy back more shares and for true believers in Apple to pick up more shares. Traders selling in a panic isn't a smart thing to do because it will just cost them more to get back in when Apple stock turns around and they've lost out on the dividends. It's best to keep a cool head with Apple and not go off half-cocked. What's a down month for long-term Apple shareholders? Not much. I'm feel certain Apple will recover all of its recent losses by early next year as long as the economy is good. I can't predict the future but I can always take a positive outlook which has worked well in the past for Apple shareholders.

Maybe Facebook should stop supporting iOS altogether. No Facebook app for you, Apple. What Zuck is asking is quite ridiculous as plenty of those executives would be unhappy to switch to Android OS if they're already in the iPhone ecosystem. The things Tim Cook is saying about Facebook certainly isn't untrue so Zuckerberg shouldn't be taking offense.

slurpy said:

Why the fuck do sales have to "keep growing"? What's wrong if Apple continues to sell at their current numbers until the end of time? Why is that such a disaster? They already sell so much more, and make so much more profit than anyone else, that it's insane. At their current level, why is "slowing growth" such a terrifying thing? I've never understood this.

Why?  Big investor fear and greed is why.  You need to listen to some of those big fund managers who never want to lose a penny.  It's like they live and breathe for big gains and any possible losses will send them dumping and fleeing like rats from a sinking ship.  Wealthy people are just like that.  They don't want to lose any money, no matter what.  Even rumors spook these big money people.  When you hear the expression about investor concerns, they're not talking about me who is in Apple for the long haul and quarterly dividends, they're talking about those big fund managers who'll toss their whole Apple bundle because they're somewhat nervous.  They're always moving money from stock to stock, looking for some safe haven even if the entire market is a mess.  They're not interested in dividends or stabilizing a weak market.  All they want is big gains from somewhere, anywhere.  Their greed is insatiable.  There was this fund manager named O'Leary who dumped all Apple holdings for spite when Apple announced it wasn't going to report unit sales.  He said no company can treat him like that and get away with it.  He instantly bid good riddance to Apple for that one reason.  If that isn't a knee-jerk reaction, then nothing is.  I would never do something stupid like that.  I can afford to wait and see how Apple's new method turns out.

tht said:

Disagree with this. A consumer Mac for budget seekers is something like a $600 to $700 laptop. The market for desktops is pretty small, and is basically nonexistent in education now? How Apple would get to a $700 laptop is a very good question, and for a lot of people what will be in it will be unacceptable. 

It would be nice if there was a $500 Mac mini, but there just aren’t that many buyers for something like this anymore. Just don’t see it if most of the market is buying laptops and tablets. Look at the Surface Go. Any takers if that hardware was inside a $500 box? An Apple TV with macOS/ARM on it for $400? Is the lack of near term compatible software going to kill it? And would buy it?

For education, I think iPad + Pencil + Services is Apple’s best option for students, and the most benefit for students. Apple really needs to shore up its educational services and iPad + Pencil software, but the triad of iPad + Pencil + Services is the way to go. They need to develop an attractive package for schools. Whether they want to do it, who knows.

A lot of the computer or web based homework I see for my junior high schooler has a real good chance of making students dumber, not smarter. I mean I’m near steaming mad about it. What a waste of time.

Apple doesn't seem hungry enough to compete with other companies going after educational sales.  Apple is always going to set the highest price point and believes schools are going to choose them for quality or ecosystem.  Apple needs to create some loss leader product to crush the competition.  I think that's the only way Apple can get some momentum going when it comes to selling products to schools.  Whether it's worth it for Apple to do something like that, I wouldn't know.  Apple is all about revenues and profits and little else.  Schools have limited budgets and are probably always going for the least expensive offering.  Apple isn't about to work out some special pricing deal.  It's either Apple's way or the highway.  The Chromebooks are always going to win and Apple is always going to lose when fighting for school contracts.