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

To: Rick Julian who wrote (56333)	8/25/2006 7:04:28 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213183

If, in fact, this is their brand strategy, it will be a craptacular failure. If I had Microsoft's marketing dollars, I wouldn't bank on out-hipping Apple with a "we're cooler" positioning This is exactly what SNDK tried to do with that sheep message... which bombed horribly and now they are back with Lil Monsta. Trying to outcool apple is a horrible positioning strategy and especially for MICROSOFT, its an impossibility.

To: Rick Julian who wrote (56333)	8/25/2006 7:12:29 PM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 213183

I wouldn't bank on out-hipping Apple with a "we're cooler" positioning snip..... The iPod is a wonderfully elusive moving target. The key to your comment is the "moving target" part. The iPod sort of reminds me of Nike....it is very hard to be cool when your parents are buying/using the same device (who wants to be wearing the same shoes as their dad? <g>). The fact that Apple has been able to continually refresh their design has been the key. I expect the same for this Christmas. A move towards video will help refresh the brand and the design. However, this doesnt come without risks. The iPod has had essentially the same design and interface since the first generation. The improvements have generally been refinements rather than anything revolutionary. They will be able to take a huge lead on their competitors if they manage to create a compelling touch-screen video iPod or they will open the door for competitors if something about the design doesnt "work" for consumers. I really see the new product introductions for Apple over the next few months as crucial. The computer business seems to be doing well but Apple will perform signficantly better if they can get both the iPod and computers businesses performing well simultanously. Slacker