Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: LauA who wrote (24646)	5/7/1999 12:55:00 PM
From: WebDrone	Respond to of 213177

LauA- you are not hearing me. Apple's margins are holding up, unlike any other boxmaker. CPU is getting wiped out by low margins on cheap, nasty boxes. INTC is getting hurt by el-cheapo boxes. Maybe I would buy an el-cheapo box for a dedicated application. I would even consider learning Linux for fun. If I needed to get a small business up and running fast, I would put Imacs on a mac server. Maybe you think that is expensive, but you should see what people get paid per hour to keep an NT network simply running at a frustrating level of ickyness. If I tell a friend to buy an iMac, I know they can handle it. If I tell a friend to buy an Emachine, I have to charge them for their time because simply buying the stuff is a several day long discussion, not to mention setting it up, and training them in Windows. It's part of the cost of the cheap box. Now, more to the point- TAKE A LOOK AT LAPTOPS! I can not live with less than 1024 resolution. Just the way I work. Try to find a better laptop than a 233 Mhz powerbook. 14" monitor, 64MB ram, SCSI, modem, IR port, etc- $1800 There is NO competition at this price point. Why? Lombard and P1 are coming. Either of these could be "must have" toys. Web

To: LauA who wrote (24646)	5/7/1999 1:02:00 PM
From: Mark Palmberg	Respond to of 213177

My concern about AAPL has been that they face a major software transition. Then a CPU transition. Meanwhile there are all these pricing pressures. It's probably worth noting here that Apple has been selling the hell out of the iMac since its intro, and the machine has never been under $1K new. Meanwhile, Compaq got its butt chewed trying to sell sub-$1K boxes during the same time period. My sense is that the software transition will be mostly transparent to the end user (at least in terms of ease of use), as will the CPU transition (I assume you're referring here to the G4/Altivec transition?). Other than, of course, Macs will be a lot faster and a lot more stable, but I can deal with that. I've got two iMacs sitting on a desk at home right now, and I can say from experience that they are great machines. eMachines...or ANYONE, for that matter, would have to come out with one hell of a compelling hardware form factor to make up for having to use Windows. The iMac's success tells me (and even many analysts have figured this out by now) that price ain't what it's all about. I try to live my life by simple rules. When it comes to stocks: Up good; down bad. When it comes to computers: Whatever Steve Jobs says, goes. Haven't been steered wrong yet. Best of luck to you, LauA. Mark

To: LauA who wrote (24646)	5/7/1999 2:38:00 PM
From: Richard Habib	Respond to of 213177

Lau, eMachines is taking the value market by storm but iMacs have also been selling well to the higher end market. Apple sells to a much smaller market so in absolute numbers eMachine will sell far more units. I agree with you that most people can buy any computer plug it in and it works just fine, eMachines included. You always encounter a bias on SI since people here are generally computer inclined and tinker with their boxes which is a whole different experience from the majority. Also you might find if you look closely at the numbers, that margins are not declining significantly for the quality PC boxmakers either and Intel's margins have actually increased to 59%. The point being that forecasts that the value market will kill the PC industry remain overdone. As to the software transition, that should be a net positive for Apple and may get them some positive press since it will be the first unix version available to the average consumer. I do think its possible that OS X will slip to 2000 and that may result in a stock decline on Tuesday. The CPU issue is an issue despite some opinions on this thread. The question is whether it is managed well in which case it could be a positive or whether its handled badly in which case Apple stock is in serious trouble. Can't answer that but I'd point out that I'm a trader not a long term holder so uncertainy offers me opportunity. Rich

To: LauA who wrote (24646)	5/7/1999 3:11:00 PM
From: nommedeguerre	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

LauA, >>If you want to raise the ante, just wait a few weeks for similar kind of pricing on a Linux white box. Does everything you are talking about on a modern kernal, open architecture. Talk about expansion! performance wise it makes a Mac look like a YUGO. With FireWire and USB why would a consumer need internal expansion slots? Sony has the right idea about interconnectivity, why add an internal CD when I should be able to use my DiscMan for the same purpose? Really high-end users may require slots but if consumer devices add either a USB or Firewire data port and use common data formats there would be no real need for a consumer to ever open his box. Cheers, Norm