Despite a strong wind from the NASDAQ with the potential to dislodge Apple and send it tumbling as an economic drop-out; the company has had its own windfall in the States recently according to figures released by US market watcher NPD: The figures indicate that Apple made an impressive 20% of all retail notebook computer sales during July and August of this year, 2008.

The MacBook range of laptops appear to have gone down well with parents buying for their kids for the new school year, as well as with students. I perceive the dollar-signs lighting up so bright in the eyes of Jobsweh; god of all things Apple, that they nearly cause a fire as he curls his talons around his increasing capital assets:-

The 20% figure is for stock turnover. The revenue percentage of market share is 35%: Whoever suggested that Jobsweh had priced himself out of the market?

Of course, as I mentioned in another article, the MacBook line is due to be refreshed about now or in the very near future – Yet even just clearing the old stock has set the cash-registers ringing merrily across America.

The “anti-Vista lobby”; IOW a large percentage of (ex-)Windows users, must have helped account for the unexpected fortune of the company – switching from Windows notebooks now mainly only available pre-installed with Vista, to MacBooks with OSX installed. Despite the relatively high-costs involved it seems the American public on the whole feel that it’s a price worth paying.

Can this boom continue or is it merely a lucky blip? Despite the economic misfortune that now bites the world economy, it appears that Apple have had such an effective marketing campaign that consumers will still buy MacBooks despite the extra price tag and the cheaper Linux-bearing alternatives.

It would be wise for Apple to drop their profit-margin somewhat on the upcoming ranges though, as competition is still rife and economic future trends would appear to favour lower-cost devices. If the price of the new lines are right then Apple have the chance to make another massive windfall, rather than breaking where their growth is stemmed, and dropping from the money-tree to become fodder for the foragers and scavengers of recession.

Do you think Steve Jobs (Jobsweh) can resist overpricing his wares?

We’ve heard moans twice from Apple Fanboi Michael Arrington; but we want to be convinced that it’s not just one voice in the darkness.

Well here it is: The post you never expected to see from one of the new Apple fanboys:-

“Apple Showing Warning Signs”
Posted Aug 28, 2008 by David Risley 

“As many of my readers know, I have converted pretty much everything to Apple products. I am now a Mac user and recently I switched to the Iphone. As of a few days ago, even my keyboard is built by Apple. I am a fan of the company and their products, but I am seeing big red flares that are showing signs of trouble on the horizon.”

(I think that’s meant to be iPhone; but ‘easy typo either way.)

-So David says; and I quote “I am a fan of the company and their products“. Fair enough: Each to their own. He continues:-

“Why I Like Apple“

“It continues to be funny when I witness the emotional reaction Apple can get out of people. A lot of non-Apple geeks are quick to dismiss me as a “fanboy” because I like Apple. Such a reaction is really asinine and, ironically, often comes from people who would buy Apple if not for monetary reasons…”

Help me Wikipedia:

“By 1990 the term was being used in popular music and science fiction circles, and as electronic entertainment gained popularity, the term became increasingly applied to computers and video game consoles – with people often developing an obsessive loyalty towards one platform or brand.”

“Current subjects of such obsessive loyalty include areas of: TV shows; movies; music; anime; comic books; cars; video game consoles, video games and MMORPGs; and computer operating systems, hardware and software—and more recently politics.”

“”Fanboy” was added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in 2008.^“

Next:

 

 

“…But, There Are Warning Signs”

“While I have admired the user-centric design of Apple products, the company has been showing some signs of losing touch. Some examples:

1. Iphone battery life has been a complaint, and it seems really stupid not to have it be user replaceable.
2. The Iphone software has been a bit buggy, worse for some than others. I’ve had my Iphone crash many times. I’ve had it slow down or features stop working that required a restart to fix.
3. No copy & paste on the Iphone? Stupid, stupid stupid. This is OS design 101.
4. The MacBook Air hasn’t been that high quality and many have been reporting stupid problems with it.
5. MobileMe has been a huge ball of fail since it launched, showing once again that Apple is horrible when it comes to anything on the Internet. And the fact that they’re charging money for it when it can all be done for free elsewhere is dumb. Apple tossed users some free time for their troubles, but all that is is free time using a barely functional service. Also, the fact that all the .Mac customers were automatically moved into this crappy service is a case of very poor customer service.
6. There have been complaints about decreased built quality on the MacBooks and MacBook Pros. “

                    Fail                                                   Better

“What I’m sensing is a bunch of Apple users who really want to continue liking Apple, but are having to find ways to explain the parade of bonehead moves and buggy products coming from the company.”

That last sentance was very well written and extremely spot-on-target: Those people are called “Apple fanboys/girls”.

Of course, not being a fanboy himself – and any suggestion that he might actually be a fanboy being “really asinine“; David doesn’t fit anywhere near into that category:

“In all fairness, most computer companies release crappy stuff. I guess Apple is held to a higher standard because of their marketing and the loyal following that they have. Perhaps Apple is just showing us one thing: they’re a computer company just like any other computer company.”

Of course; that’s not actually anything like “ways to explain the parade of bonehead moves and buggy products coming from the company.” : It’s just an excuse for darling Apple’s incompetence – ‘All companies cock-up from time to time: Apple are no different; in fact they’re much better at cocking up than any other company.’

Exactly; just one of the many things they do better than anyone else, isn’t it?

You read it first here; unless you read it first there: Apple cocked up – As admitted under a veil by an Apple…non-fanboy himself.

My analysis? Apple have lost it: I foresee a lot of their market-sector gains dwindling slowly back to much how they were. I see the crown falling from Jobsweh’s head. As a Microsoft fan I don’t see any immediate advantage to Microsoft. I would say that Linux will continue to make small gains from both M$ and Apple, at least until Windows 7 is released.

Do I see Linux reaching 10% market-sector impact? It’s possible but unlikely in my estimation. I won’t rule it out altogether, but Linux had its day; in fact around 3650+ of them. Ubuntu have made inroads in a sense; but the various distros are still proving difficult to give away; even in the light of Microsoft’s shot in its own foot with Vista.

??

Mystery Advert
Click Here 

This; direct from Apple:

“Why is Apple granting a 60-day subscription extension?
The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was rockier than we had hoped.”

First understatement.

“While we are making a lot of improvements, the MobileMe service is still not up to our standards. We are extending subscriptions 60-days free of charge to express appreciation for our members’ patience as we continue to improve the service.”

How generous of Apple to realise that they cocked up – Again!

“Am I eligible for the 60-day extension?
You are eligible if you are a MobileMe member whose account was active as of August 19, 2008 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time.”

Ah I knew there was a catch!

“What if I am currently in a free trial period?
If you were in your free trial period on August 19 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time, your free trial will be extended an additional 60 days.”

Blah blah…Ah: Is this another crafty catch? :

“I have an activation key. Will I lose my extension if I apply the key now?
If you are currently in your trial period, you will lose the remainder of your trial period —including any extensions— as soon as you apply your activation key.  If you already have a paid subscription, you can enter your key at any time and Apple will automatically apply the key to renew your subscription after your extension period expires.”

Remind me to fire my Advertising Executive

In his blog entry entitled “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges” he goes on to say:

“My obvious enthusiasm for Apple products is fairly evident to readers of this blog. But recently I’ve had a string of bad apples come my way, so to speak. It’s time for Apple to stop screwing around and start paying attention to product quality.”

He then goes on to speak about the single hour of battery life he gets from his iPhone , as well as certain Apps vanishing at the behest of the great Jobsweh with his lever of power; before, in usual fanboy style, declaring his undying love for his dead battery iPhone; symbol of the divine nature of the great Jobsweh. (Waste of time, costs you a fortune, sub-standard.)

- As his following commentary notes, under the heading:

“Mac Mini, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook, All Failed“

* – Read the rest of “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges“. – *

Some of my online associates say that I’m anti-Apple: I disagree; I’m not in any way prejudiced against Apple because they’re not Microsoft, even though you could say that I’m a Microsoft fan. I’m looking deeply into the eyes of Apple and seeing a culture of control, company domination, and exploitation of customers: In fact I see a kind of Pagan-istic-ish fundamentalist cult religion appearing; one where the faithful hang on every word of and would be willing to give their life for, Jobsweh, the god of all things Apple.

- And even though this cult-following; like a flock of ante-Linux zealots, is happening; the faithful are being sold utter substandard crap for a small fortune as massive amounts of profit appear in Jobsweh’s pockets.

A friend commented that I could be cruising for a lawsuit to be filed against me: Quite obviously Apple strongly discourage the expression of opinion through free speech; but in trying to sue me they’d have to interface American law with British law and probably apply for an extradition warrant, only to end up being paid any settlement from my limited funds at about £1UKP a week.

How many $million was that? Oh well it’ll be paid one day – I can imagine being connected to an Apple-funded life support technology to keep me alive indefinitely until the debt is paid in full; like some frankenstinian contraption from the backrooms of science-fiction in the great Jobsweh’s research laboratories  – Until suddenly the entire thing fails and I begin to rapidly age and die as technicians rush about to resolve the issue:

“Holy shit: We used an iPhone battery to power this thing! That’ll add another £ 55 (includes VAT), plus £ 7.29 shipping and handling, includes VAT.”

“Don’t worry about cost right now; she’s dying, and Jobsweh will be mad at us if he doesn’t get his money!”

“Man are you serious? We’ll have to take all this equipment to an Apple store and wait 5 working days plus shipping time!”