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

To: rhet0ric who wrote (10447)	3/30/1998 11:43:00 AM
From: Alomex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

I've been thinking lately about the similarity between AOL and Apple. There's an obvious analogy: AOL is to the Internet as Apple is to Wintel. Similarities: AOL and Apple have proprietary technologies, they're facing a faster-growing, open-standards competitor, they have strong brand recognition, they charge slightly more, ease-of-use was their strongest selling point, and they have integrated a degree of compatibility with their competitor into their own technology. Differences: Apple's technology was superior (and will be again), while AOL's was inferior; AOL marketed better than Apple, and went after market share early in the game; and Apple's user base is fanatically loyal, while many AOL users hate the service. Good points. I think the AOL-AAPL comparison is useful. Have you ever been long or short AOL? I never shorted them, but I sure was bearish. They surprised me with their ability to become a gateway to the Internet for novice users and their smooth transition from service provider to content providers. Their marketing strategy is first rate (AAPL take a cue). I do believe that the Internet has space for dedicated content providers that serve as filters and moderators of information. Would AOL be among them? I don't know. Similarly the computing world has space for specialized solutions: network servers, graphic workstations, low cost computing devices, PDAs, among others. Apple has a shot at some of this markets. Let's see how they do...