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Maybe you’ve seen some form of the 230 ads. If you haven’t, we’ve embedded it below. The ad – in its various forms – features a bouncing, smiling, and winking electrical outlet that ends up representing the number “zero” after numbers 2 and 3. All of these appear above the numbers “8-11.” So what the heck is it all about?
Posted in Advertising, Automotive, GM, Marketing, Predictions, Speculation
We all love Apple. Well, most of us do. The last few years, especially since the Vista launch, modern media has pushed on us the virtues of owning a Mac. Most of the top names in the tech blogosphere use Macs, and support almost all of Apple’s products. Leo Laporte, Ryan Block, and Peter Rojas are all self-admitted Macs (though they all come clean to using PCs). The “in” thing to do in the industry is to be a Mac. While this may put Apple in a position to become the leader in the PC industry, there are several reasons as to why Apple doesn’t want to and cannot do so.
Apple has long been the underdog of the PC industry. Right before Steve Jobs’ return as iCEO, we can see that this was for a good reason. Apple’s product line-up was a mess and the company was suffering through its worst years ever. Apple started out as a company that was all about the ability to “Think Different.” With Jobs’ return to Apple, this concept was embraced again, and the company started producing computers for the people. The original iMac and iBook are perfect examples: a colored and translucent computer was all about style and appealed to a younger audience. On the other hand, Windows PCs of the day were still considered the computers of choice amongst the tech elite and the business world.
Apple’s lineup of computers is amazing, to say the least. An Apple computer represents the latest and greatest in hardware: processors, graphics cards, RAM, connectivity technology, and enclosure engineering are all top-notch. The Mac lineup caters to both personal and business users and does so with extreme precision. Yet Apple is still the underdog of the personal computer market, having approximately 10% of U.S. market share. And this is exactly where the company needs to and wants to be, give or take a few percentage points.
One of Apple’s greatest strengths is its ability to manufacture both the software and the hardware that combine to make an amazing piece of machinery which outperforms all competition. But this level of performance comes at a price: the company’s second-greatest strength is the margin it enjoys. The last bevy of financial reports have pegged profit margin in the area of 30% or higher. Compared to rival companies such as Dell and HP, that’s an astounding number! It has turned Apple into a company that’s not only debt-free, but one that also enjoys tens of billion of dollars in the bank (and other short-term investments). But why can Apple charge so much more for its computers while other companies try so hard to earn even a 5 percent margin? Read more »
Posted in Apple, Business, Decisions, Featured, Mac, Marketing, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Predictions, Software, Speculation, Windows 7, Windows Vista
There is no doubt that the killer app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is the iTunes App Store. Downloads have surpassed 100 million apps back in September, only a few months after the launch of the store. The success of the App Store has been a benefit for everyone involved, a symbiotic relationship of sorts that’s so desirable in business: developers make money selling applications while Apple takes a cut of sales revenue; developers focus on making awesome apps and let Apple take care of billing, distribution, and bandwidth. This much we know.
But the real beauty behind the app store is its simplicity and convenience: find an app you like, hit the install button, and the next moment the app is ready to use; it’s really that simple! Looking ahead, the time is right for the success of the app store to be translated to desktop computing: I believe that Apple will release a version of the App store for the Mac in the next year. Read more »
Posted in Apple, Business, Decisions, Mac, Marketing, Predictions, Software, iPhone
After a long and drawn-out battle by many a tech enthusiast and digital rights management opponent, the utopia that is DRM-free music has finally arrived. Proponents of a DRM-free music world finally sighed a breath of relief when Apple announced early in January that the entire iTunes music catalog will be void of the restricting and inconvenient technology. But what about DRM-free video? It looks like that’s an entirely different bowl of spaghetti: consumers aren’t interested in downloading video as much as they are in consuming it via streaming. Here’s the lowdown. Read more »
Posted in Apple, Apple TV, Business, Decisions, Marketing, Predictions, Solution, Wish List
On a grand time line, podcasting today is still in its infancy. Looking down the road, however, can listening to podcasts become a requirement to landing a job? Read on to find out. Read more »
Posted in Business, Decisions, Podcasting, Predictions
‘Tis the time again. WWDC is coming in less than 12 hours (that’s half a day!), and the Apple fan club here at TechNest Report and around the world is waiting… waiting what shiny new gadgets uncle Steve will give us the opportunity to buy. What useful, sexy, and Apple-branded products will we learn of tomorrow? Here is Alex’s prediction run-up so far:
Posted in Apple, Decisions, Mac, Predictions, Wish List, iPhone