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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito who wrote (43201)	2/16/2005 8:07:14 PM
From: William F. Wager, Jr.	Respond to of 213173

Nasdaq Most Active too......................................... 15 Most Active NASDAQ Stocks EPS Rel Acc Closing Group Vol Vol% Rnk Str Dis Stock Name Price Change Str (mil) Chg 95 99 A+ Apple Computer 90.13 +1.72 A 29.07 +60 93 15 C Symantec Corp 22.76 +0.51 C+ 27.35 +5 86 60 C+ Dell Inc 40.60 +0.40 A 21.17 +57 2 80 B+ MC I Inc 20.87 +0.32 E 29.92 +303 4 97 D– Sirius Satellite 6.04 +0.07 C– 38.42 –53 25 97 B Altair Intl Inc 4.28 +0.07 B– 23.42 +283 87 55 B Oracle 13.33 +0.04 A– 27.97 –44 66 25 B+ Applied Materials 17.50 +0.01 C+ 57.71 +61 21 19 C+ Sun Microsys 4.25 –0.02 A 30.68 –36 8 1 E JDS Uniphase 1.91 –0.11 E 75.11 +80 45 38 D+ Microsoft 25.79 –0.14 B– 56.71 –24 .. 40 D+ Nasdaq 100 Trkg Stk 37.98 –0.14 D+ 78.50 –15 81 11 D Cisco 17.71 –0.21 B 54.04 –16 39 20 B Intel 24.14 –0.33 B 69.95 –1 91 87 B Network Applnc 31.73 –2.63 A– 29.98 +418

To: Cogito who wrote (43201)	2/16/2005 9:07:37 PM
From: Henry J Costanzo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213173

<<.....starting to look like a bubble to me...>> ...and speaking of bubbles.......a little interesting perspective..... Posted few days ago charts of AAPL and RIMM, side by side..Should have posted direct comparison, too.....and am doing that now. Both started moving up about the same time in 2003......but RIMM had a much more rapid.....and extreme.....ascent. Even now, after levelling off in the past 3 months or so, RIMM's climb still about double the percentage climb AAPL has had. Blackberries any better than iPods...???.....<G> home.twcny.rr.com

To: Cogito who wrote (43201)	2/17/2005 9:24:35 AM
From: William F. Wager, Jr.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213173

Walt Mossberg, The Wall St Journal...Mac Switch not for everybody................... [Note: Walt is a real Apple evangelist. If you care to comment, his address is at the end of the article. He has, in the past, responded to my email where I have either agreed or disagreed with a premise of his. Bill] While Switching to Mac Will Improve Security, It Isn't for Everybody February 17, 2005; Page B1 Over the past year, I have advised readers who are fed up with the plague of viruses and spyware on Windows PCs that one way out of the mess is to switch to Apple Computer's Macintosh. There has yet to be a report of a successful, real-world virus for the Mac's current operating system, and there is little or no known spyware for the Mac. I stand by that advice, and also by my positive reviews of recent Mac models, especially the impressive iMac G5. But, as I have noted in the past, switching to the Mac has downsides, and it isn't the best course for some groups of Windows users. So here's a brief guide to which types of users might find switching inadvisable. In general, the best candidates for a switch to the Mac are those who use their computers overwhelmingly for common, mainstream consumer tasks. These include e-mail, instant messaging and Web browsing; word processing, spreadsheets and presentations; working with photos, home videos and digital music; and playing and creating CDs and DVDs. The Mac is as good as Windows at these core tasks, and in many cases better. Still, you certainly shouldn't consider switching to the Mac if you are happy with Windows and you aren't much affected by viruses and spyware. Even if you aren't happy with Windows, don't consider switching to the Mac if you are resistant to learning new ways of doing things. The Mac and Windows are close cousins, but there is a learning curve that comes with switching. For instance, Apple uses a one-button mouse without a scroll wheel, which takes some getting used to. There are differences in the way menus and desktop windows behave. And the standard delete key on a Mac works like the backspace key, not the delete key, in Windows. Mac desktop keyboards have a second, Windows-type delete key, but Mac laptops lack one. And don't consider switching if your budget covers only the cost of the Mac itself. There will usually be extra costs. To maintain compatibility with the Windows world, you will probably want a copy of the Mac version of Microsoft Office, which isn't included by Apple. And you may want a standard two-button, Windows-style mouse, which works fine on the Mac but isn't included. Also, Windows users who rely on specialized business or technical software, or on custom software supplied by their employers, should be wary of switching. That's because the Mac can't run Windows software straight out of the box, and these kinds of specialized Windows programs are rarely available in Mac versions. You can enable a Mac to run Windows programs by buying a $240 program from Microsoft called Virtual PC. It creates a pseudo Windows computer on a portion of a Mac's hard disk. But I don't recommend relying on Virtual PC if you use multiple Windows programs frequently, because it's slow and susceptible to the same viruses and spyware as a real Windows PC. People who depend on their company's IT department to manage and support their home computers may find themselves locked into Windows. Most corporate computer staffs support only Windows and know little or nothing about Macs. Similarly, if the principal use of your home computer is to remotely link up to your company's Windows network, stay with Windows. The Mac has gotten much better at doing these remote linkups, but they are still easier on Windows. If you love Microsoft Outlook, you should also probably stick with Windows. There is no version of Outlook for the current Mac operating system. Instead, Microsoft includes an e-mail and organizer program called Entourage in the Mac version of Office. It's similar to Outlook but just different enough to bug Outlook lovers. If you use your PC mainly for games, avoid the Mac. While there are more games for the Mac now than there were a few years back, the number still lags behind Windows badly. And the hottest computer games come out first, and sometimes exclusively, on Windows. People who rely heavily on financial software may be unhappy with the Mac. Microsoft Money doesn't come in a Mac version. The Mac version of Quicken isn't identical to the Windows product, and converting Windows Quicken data to the Mac is a bear. Many specialized financial-analysis and stock-trading programs aren't available for Macs. If you need an ultralight laptop for traveling, you're out of luck with Apple. The Mac laptops are great, but the lightest one weighs 4.6 pounds, compared with three pounds or less on the Windows side. If you use a portable music player other than Apple's iPod, or love the major subscription music services, Napster and Rhapsody, which work only on Windows, you won't be happy with a Mac. Of course, you can overcome most of these obstacles if you buy a Mac as a companion to, rather than a replacement for, a Windows machine. But then you'd still be battling Windows viruses and spyware, and having to spend money and time to maintain dual platforms. The bottom line is that the Mac is a great alternative for mainstream consumers doing mainstream tasks who are sick and tired of the Windows security crisis. But it isn't for everybody. Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com