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October 29, 2006
Apple, doin' its thing
When I ran across this article in the New York Times the other day, Apple Profit Rises 27% Stock Jumps, I just knew I had to write a blog about it because, well for one, I just can't help giving a shout out to good old Apple, and secondly it made me think of a post by David Pogue back in September.
On September 20, Pogue wrote a post titled, "When Apple Hit Bottom," citing many of the cynical predictions for Apple's future made by analysts and columnists in 1996. Just for fun, I am including some of the best here:
Fortune, 2/19/1996: “By the time you read this story, the quirky cult company…will end its wild ride as an independent enterprise.”
Wired, “101 Ways to Save Apple,” 6/97: “1. Admit it. You’re out of the hardware game.”
BusinessWeek, 10/16/95: “Having underforecast demand, the company has a $1 billion-plus order backlog….The only alternative: to merge with a company with the marketing and financial clout to help Apple survive the switch to a software-based company. The most likely candidate, many think, is IBM Corp."
Fortune, 2/19/1996: “Apple’s erratic performance has given it the reputation on Wall Street of a stock a long-term investor would probably avoid.”
The Financial Times, 7/11/97: “Apple no longer plays a leading role in the $200 billion personal computer industry. ‘The idea that they’re going to go back to the past to hit a big home run…is delusional,’ says Dave Winer, a software developer.”
Now as Pogue points out, all of these forecasts were incredibly, ridiculously, embarassingly wrong, but just how wrong they were seems to be epitomized by this latest NY times article. Not only has Apple not met its doom, but it is still going and going incredibly strong, a major threat for oh, lets say IBM corp. As the title indicates, strong sales in Mac computers and Ipods (largely stimulated by back to school) led to a 27 percent rise in fiscal fourth quarter-profit (revenues for the quarter were 4.84 billion) - how about that Wall Street, still want to avoid those long-term investments in Apple? In addition Apple added 10 retail stores during the quarter, for a total of 165, and has begun piloting programs to sell Apple products at Best Buy. According to the market research company IDC, Apple's share of the computer market is 5.8 percent up from 4.3 percent in the quarter the year before. For this quarter, Apple is forecasting revenues of 6 to 6.2 billion. Staying true to its roots, maintaining their position as the user-friendly guys, "going back to the past to hit a big home run," has seemed to work pretty well for Apple.
So basically what I am trying to say is that I have always been a loyal Apple customer, even during those dark and gloomy days in the mid-90s, but for all those doomsdayers and skeptics, well, I hope you've seen the errors in your ways. As one analyst has pointed out in reference to the fourth quarter, "They blew away even the highest expectations on the Mac side," and it seems that this is not a fluke, but a trend for Apple Computers, Inc.
Posted by tawr at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
October 25, 2006
Search Tool Blog
Grokker is Crazy Cool!
At first, Grokker looks pretty similar to Google. However, Grokker blows Google out of the water in terms of useful information and great organization. Grokker takes the keywords in your search, goes out and tries to find all of the information it can about each topic, then organizes all of that information into an outline view. You also have the option of seeing your results in a map view, but I personally like the outlined one better. This view allows users to see what specific categories they want to look under and a drop down menu to show the various subsets in each grouping. Once you click on one of the categories, all of the sites Grokker found will appear on the right side of the screen. After choosing which site you would like to go to, you can click on the link and it will take you drectly to that site. Also, you can add specific sites to what is called your working list. This list then keeps track of those sites and allows easy access to them while you continue your search. You can get to your list by clicking on the link on the left side of the screen.
Personally, I found Grokker to be amazing. I have used it to not only look up sites for BIT but also for some of my other interests as well. It is very helpful, especially in terms of organizing all of the necessary information into easy to read and understandable tabs. The capability to have all of the information in an outline view with separate categories still amazes me. I know I have spent numerous hours and attempts to find specific things on Google, only to come up short. On Google, you have to go through each individual site and see if it is actually something you are interested in. With Grokker, it is already organized, so you save lots of time and hassle. Overall, I will probably use Grokker more now because it is more user-friendly.
Example of one search I did on "Poker": The Game of Gentlemen.
Posted by cheek at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2006
Blog for week of Oct. 9
Google Acquires YouTube!
As of yesterday afternoon, Google officially acquired the video-sharing Web site known as YouTube. Google paid an estimated $1.65 billion to add this company to its own. The reason for this acquisition, according to Eric Schmidt Google's Chief Executive Officer, is because Google's mission is to organize every piece of information it can and then make it easily accesible to its users. From YouTube's perspective, Co-founder Chad Hurley is extremely excited because he believes YouTube and its partners will benefit from Google's global reach and technology leadership in delivering a better entertainment experience for all its users. Hurley also as another reason to celebrate: Google will keep all of the 65 employees from YouTube!
This is amazing for both Google and YouTube. I personally use YouTube when I am extremely bored with classes or life in general. It provides a great comic relief to my day. However, I know many people who do not even know the capabilities of YouTube. This is what is so exciting with Google's acquisition. Under Google, YouTube will explode in the amount of hits/day, videos uploaded/day, and advertising revenue. As you know, Google first started off just as a small search engine. Now, they are a publicly traded company, have Google News, Gmail, and many other interesting features. YouTube will be the next great thing from Google, perhaps rivaling some of the other more well-known sites such as Colleghumor.com or ThatVideoSite.com. Plus, who can't be happy that all of YouTube's employess get to keep their jobs!!!
Posted by cheek at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2006
Do Apples get Viruses?
I've been a Mac user since the age of nine, when my family bought our first home computer. My current computer is the PowerBook G4 version that came out in the summer of 2004 and runs Mac OS X. I often get questions from non-Mac users on why Macs don't get viruses, and I never had a really firm answer to give them. Was it because Macs were wonderful, absolutely invulnerable machines, superior to "PC's" in every way, as I liked to believe? Or was it simply that Macs had such a low market share that virus-writers weren't interested in writing a virus for them? Now that I have had a chance to look into the technology industry, I've come up with a few more answers.
It seems that Mac's impeccable record with viruses is due to both its secure operating system and the fact that is not an obvious target for virus-writers wishing to do a lot of damage. The operating system uses an open source UNIX platform which allows its most critical security components to be reviewed by experts the world over. This allows apple to continually make OS X more secure (Macs check for security updates each week automatically, and users can also choose to have their computers automatically download updates). Also, Macs always alert users to when they are downloading programs as opposed to files, and ask for their passwords when downloading programs that would modify OS X.
After releasing a television advertisement boasting about its foolproof system, Apple just recently released a software patch update to fix "vulnerabilities" which may include "remote execution of arbitrary codes or commands, bypass of security restrictions, and denial of service." Before the release of the patch, critics accused Apple of deceiving customers or being slow to respond to weaknesses. I think that in this day and age, no computer system is 100% foolproof, there will always be those who will be able to exploit loopholes if they put forth the effort, and all a computer company can do is rigorously and continuously test and refine the system to make it as secure as possible. That is exactly what Apple does.
See... Chastened Apple Issues Security Patch
And...Macs No Longer Immune to Viruses
Posted by tawr at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2006
Zune
As I was looking through the CNN website, I came across an article about Microsoft launching a new Zune music player. It contains 30-gigabyte as well as an FM radio and wireless connectivity to allow users to beam photos and songs to one another. Each Zune device will come preloaded with an array of songs, music video, images and short films. The Zune offers a greater range of features and seems to be more advanced compared to the market-dominating iPOD.
It will be interesting to see how the Zune will affect the market for Mp3 players, especially since Apple's iPOD has been the most widely used music player for the past five years. Also, I wonder how Apple will respond to this new device, whether they will decided to offer new features on their current iPOD or even create a new technical device.
Personally, I would prefer the Zune over the iPOD, since it provides more features such as a FM radio tuner, the wireless capabilities, and downloading music. Thus, I would think that the Zune would more convenient to the typical music player users.
For more information about the Zune music player visit Microsoft's Zune
Posted by annakrem at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
Blog for week of Oct. 2
Title of Article: Nokia unveils Bluetooth rival
Nokia has spent the past five years researching and developing a new form of wireless chip called "Wibree." This chip will allow an easier connection to smaller wireless components such as watches, wireless mice, and health monitors. The technology behind the chip is said to be 10 times more efficient than the already popular Bluetooth. Wibree is still going through a standardization process, but hopes to hit the market by mid-2007.
Overall, I do not know much about Bluetooth and all of the capabilities that it offers. I do know that Bluetooth is a way to connect wirelessly to portable devices such as cell phones, pdas, and headsets. From reviews, I have heard that Bluetooth works very well and is enjoyed by many. However, it could be put to better use than just talking on the phone.
Nokia's new Wibree (don't understand why they can't think of a better name for it) is said to be 10 times more efficient, therefore allowing it to work with smaller devices. If this technology can prove itself as dependable with a high level of quality, I could definitely see this as becoming a serious comptetitor with Bluetooth. This chip could be used to monitor patients' health at hospitals or athletes' temperatures out on a field all without wires. Overall, Nokia has a lot of people to convince that Wibree can actually do what they say it can do because many people are just amazed and attached to the wonders of Bluetooth.
Posted by cheek at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)