Disqus - Latest Comments for Constable Odo

Re: Apple owns the touchscreen phone conversation

Constable Odo — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:45:15 -0000

Impressive features, no doubt. It doesn't have to be an iPhone killer, it only has to be a handset that users enjoy and are able to use all of it's functions with a minimum of fuss.

The iPhone is in a different class and will never likely have the cutting edge features that some handsets offer. Apple loves profit margins and those higher end features would put the iPhone's price into the stratosphere and would cut down on overall sales. Apple has to keep a fine balance between price, features and ease of use. I'd only be looking for a slightly higher quality camera, much better battery life and a faster graphics processor.

Re: Sacrilege! Zunes pollute iPod display at Wal-Mart

Constable Odo — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:03:27 -0000

O....M....G.... How could they do something so horrible. I know that the term iPod has become generic for mp3 players, but still.....

Hey mister, could you let me take a look at that iPod Zune? If the guy buys it, wait until he tries to log into the iTunes Music Store with the Zune.

If Steve sees that, Wal-Mart could lose it's Apple product selling license.

Re: Strong Windows XP sales on netbooks could hurt Microsoft’s bottom line

Constable Odo — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:44:39 -0000

I think Microsoft is cutting its own throat by catering to netbooks. Microsoft should have just held out and let the netbook craze go by. If MS had made it painful for people running Windows on the netbooks, the whole netbook industry would probably be running out of steam by now. Now MS wants to keep supporting them and it will make the whole computer industry suffer with running under-powered, low-priced computers.

Microsoft is truly greedy. They could have let Linux have that small market for a while and only a few users would have been happy with Linux and eventually bought a regular-powered notebook with Windows. I think Microsoft made a mistake that it will pay for through lowered revenue for another year.

Re: Survey: Will Apple Blow Out iPhone Numbers?

Constable Odo — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:09:04 -0000

Three million sold already? That really doesn't seem likely. I remember last week or so Gene Munster couldn't believe Apple sold even 500,000 iPhones in three days. I don't even want to guess at how many iPhones have sold so far, but I doubt if it's even 2 million. I'm sure they're having supply problems. I'll bet peak demand was much higher than expected and it's probably overwhelming Foxconn's assembly line. So Apple has to distribute them in dribs and drabs. All the sites that were discussing iPhone availability or lack thereof seemed to keep talking about a 10 to 20 day waiting period. I just can't believe that three million iPhones would have gone so fast and still have so many people waiting on them. I wish it were true, but really hard to believe. I don't think it matters to a lot of people that so many iPhones are being sold. They probably just think it's cutting into iPod sales and it's more or less of a tradeoff. WS isn't impressed this early on because nothing short of 15 million iPhones sold this year will even remotely get their attention. I doubt WS takes Apple seriously. They probably view it as a company that makes devices for overgrown children. Nothing like the mighty RIM that empowers all businessmen everywhere.

If Apple were to sell twice as many iPhones as RIM sold BlackBerrys, I still think RIM would be held in higher regard by WS. Looking back, I still can't imagine how the iPod impressed WS and yet the iPhone doesn't, even though it's in high demand. Oh well, I'm just puzzled about WS expectations, so I don't want to think too hard about why Apple's stock is so weak. Another thing is App Store downloads. I'd think that should be making a bundle of money for Apple, but WS doesn't notice that either.

Re: Apple Investors Is There a Bottom in Sight?

Constable Odo — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:43:21 -0000

Well, I guess you're going to be blamed for pulling Apple's stock price down since you said it had a good chance of dropping. You'll have to bear a lot of responsibility for this one. Apparently a number of analysts are letting investors know that Apple investor's dreams of $200 by the end of the year have gone up in smoke. Huberty giving a target price of $115 and Citi giving a target price of $170 down from $287. Apple zealots really believed Apple was going to $250 or so and were claiming it was undervalued at that price. Wow! Anyone that tried to tell them the stock was going down was considered an Apple hater. We all have opinions and it doesn't mean we hate something just because our opinions are somewhat negative or pessimistic. I bought most of my 1000 shares of Apple before the split, so I'm not going anywhere and I'll just weather this downtrend for six months or so (I hope it's only that long).

Anyway you turned out to be correct as Apple traders bailed out on lowered expectations. LIke they didn't see that one coming by just looking at the overall state of the economy. I'm really disappointed on the recent turn of events since I also had 100 shares of RIM I had bought at $106. Maybe some of these people will learn a lesson about not being so arrogant when they hear the terms "sure thing" and "recession-proof." I guess it's just part of being a zealot to be defensive if somebody says something they don't want to hear. You tried to warn them, but they wouldn't listen.

So be on the lookout for getting blamed for Apple's stock decline. They'll say you caused it. Just own up to bringing the whole stock market down by writing your opinions of why a stock might go up or down. Glad I'm not in your shoes. Hopefully a few people will learn to listen to what you are saying and won't end up throwing all their money away on false hopes. Just keep plugging away with your advice.

I'd like to believe that Apple will recover quickly when the economy recovers since it is a sound company that is expanding with it's retail stores all over the globe. Market share will continue to increase. They are still hiring even in this time of layoffs. I'm not overly concerned in these bad economic times, yet I'm unhappy that it's going to take longer to see that $200 a share price anytime soon.

Re: iPhone light years ahead of the BlackBerry on almost every count

Constable Odo — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:47:28 -0000

Apparently being able to manage tens of thousands of iPhones from a central site doesn't mean much to you. It's been said that an iPhone can't be secured as well as a BlackBerry because Apple hasn't released certain APIs that developers can get their hooks into for total security (such as turning off the camera remotely). It really still appears that IT for law firms and banks are not allowing iPhones to be used and that's not good for Apple. As of yet, the BlackBerry has little to fear from the iPhone when it comes to being pushed out of large corporations. Whether the iPhone is light years ahead in certain aspects, it's still lagging behind in many other areas. RIM investors don't seem to be concerned at all.

Re: Mobile Me - A Polished Turd?

Constable Odo — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:08:55 -0000

Why even bother to call it a polished turd. How about an unfinished turd. Give Apple a couple of more months to get it working properly. It's not like it's something that can't be fixed. I doubt any product or service that comes out doesn't have some teething problems. If you are getting free access, then you're not paying for it. Give Apple plenty of feedback and maybe it will get fixed sooner.

Of course you can always chuck your iPhone, get a BlackBerry and sign up for a six client BlackBerry Enterprise Server package for about $500. I hear it's perfect except when it goes down from time to time.

Re: Why Apple’s ‘Billion Apps Downloaded’ countdown is a lie

Constable Odo — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:27:36 -0000

Doesn't mean a thing to me. I just submitted my entries and whenever it happens I might win something. This is just advertising, that's all. Apple does what it needs to do to keep the hype in full swing. If Apple predetermined the counter, then why not have it reach a billion downloads before earnings are announced? Whether it's faked or not, it's not going to change the fact that the App Store is doing well and will continue to drive Apple hardware sales for the iPhone and iPod Touch. What difference does it really make whether the App Store reaches a billion downloads this week or next? None, whatsoever.

Re: Silliest Apple iPhone lawsuit yet

Constable Odo — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:18:56 -0000

I hope he loses the lawsuit and has to pay the roaming charges. Force him to write on the blackboard a thousand times "I must read the fine print in carrier contracts."

If he's unhappy with the AT&T bill, then he should sue AT&T, not Apple. He must be about the only guy in the world who didn't know that AT&T was the exclusive carrier for the iPhone. No exceptions.

Re: American 3G iPhone works with AT&T pay-as-you-go cards!

Constable Odo — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:42:42 -0000

What I don't understand is that don't you already have to sign up for a contract in order to buy the iPhone. So isn't this PAYG SIM card extra on top of what her basic contract already includes?

If I could just purchase the iPhone without a standard two year contract and put in a PAYG SIM card that would be great. However, I'm sure without the subsidy, the iPhone would be a few hundred dollars more expensive.

Re: iPhone vs Palm Pre: Why Apple Shouldn’t Worry

Constable Odo — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:23:58 -0000

Almost everyone agrees that Palm has a huge mountain to climb and I'm not just talking about the mighty Mt. Everest iPhone. Even the little foothills of WinMo and HTC. The Rockies of Nokia and RIM are even way out of reach for the Palm Pre. Palm is a financially weak company paired with another financially weak company known as Sprint. Between the two of them any minor collapse can turn into a major disaster. Let's give the Palm Pre a six month trial opportunity. If they can't sell a million Pres by then, let's bury the Pre and move on to some other almost but not quite iPhone wonderphone.

Re: Spotted: First In Line for The Pre

Constable Odo — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:56:08 -0000

He's smart. If he can pick one of the first few Pres, he can eBay it and turn a very nice profit. If this guy is on vacation, out of work or just waiting on-line for somebody else then it doesn't really make him a loser since only he knows his situation. I wouldn't do it, but that's because I don't want a Pre, but if somebody paid me to wait, I would probably consider it. The Pre is going to be in short supply for some time, so it makes sense to get on line if you want to be one of the first few to get one.

Re: iPhone Screenshots Show Front Facing Camera

Constable Odo — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:31:04 -0000

Maybe that's just a spot of gravy. But if it isn't, I'm ready for that camera and whatever else comes with it.

Re: Apple Is The Best Run Company In America

Constable Odo — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:31:47 -0000

It's run pretty well, I'll give them that, but it sure hasn't done anything for it's stock price. Lots of cash reserve, increased market share, plenty of retail outlets and plenty of employees to keep customers satisfied. Well-engineered, diverse products that are selling relatively well.

Yet, most of this is lost on WS and potential investors. Long-term investors don't get a thing out of it except the fact that company won't be closing it's doors anytime soon. Even though money is flowing back into the market, Apple's stock price isn't rising faster than any other stock that doesn't have nearly the revenue resources of Apple. It gets as beaten up as any stock on a down market day. Apple stock was the first to fall and will probably be the last to rise. Of course, this doesn't take away from a company that's doing it's best to protect itself and it's employees. It's just a shame that the world of finance doesn't see it that way. I know they'll make it through the recession just fine which is a big relief.

Re: Apple's Tight Rein On iPhone App Store To Boost Nokia?

Constable Odo — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:01:22 -0000

Oh, yeh. Nokia is just going to walk right in and steal the iPhone's market share because of a few pulled apps. Meanwhile, probably a hundred apps have taken their place. Someone must be forgetting that Nokia had a clear shot with N-Gage a couple of years back and it didn't do a damn thing with it.

Everytime Apple attempts to keep reign on something, it's called an anal attempt to control everything. Why not just call it a safety net. Or maybe disciplinary action so things don't get too far out of control.

Re: Can Apple Hit 10 Million Target With 3G iPhone?

Constable Odo — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:02:57 -0000

Now just a minute. Right now the iPhone is being sold officially in say six countries. For the introduction of the 3G iPhone, it will be sold in about 67 countries through multiple carriers. This is not even yet counting Russia, China, Japan and Korea. The iPhone will have 3G, possibly true GPS and dual cameras, many SDK apps that will be ready through the App store (including many third-party business apps and GAMES). The Microsoft Exchange Server capability will open it to the corporate world. There are rumors of subsidies ($299) and upgrading from older to newer iPhones.

After all this an analyst is going to say that Apple can't sell ten million iPhones by the end of the year. That is plain BS. Apple should sell a million a month easily with a huge spike around the Christmas holidays.

Re: Google's Android Mobile A Hard Sell?

Constable Odo — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:47:54 -0000

I doubt if it will compete with the iPhone right out of the gate. It really has to play catch up to both Apple and RIM. It would have to run on some spectacular hardware in order steal away much market share from either. I think Android will basically eat into WinMo market share. Android will have to have some decent video and music playing apps. I don't know if many games wll be ready for Android when it hits the streets, either. But being so new, I wonder if they'll have the same teething problems that Apple seems to be having. Android is going to have to be near perfect or it's just not going to catch on any time soon.

Re: iPhone Sales In Eastern Europe: Not So Good

Constable Odo — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:23:35 -0000

I don't mind them reporting the truth if this is how it really is. They did report the upside numbers, too. I, for one, would like an honest report of how the iPhone is doing around the world. I'm sure numbers for India will be low, but possibly the numbers for South America as a whole will be unexpectedly high.

Surely you don't think that the populace in every country in the world can afford to buy iPhones in quantity, do you? You should hear people bitch about the cost of a $3 app in the App Store. The iPhone overall is selling very well and you should be satisfied with that.

Re: South Koreans May Lose Subway Mobile TV As Broadcasters Face Cash Crisis

Constable Odo — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:02:29 -0000

Boy, the Koreans don't know how lucky they are to get free TV in the subways. In NYC a couple of years back, they were talking about wiring the subways with WiFi and how easy it was to do one station at a time and not cost riders a penny. We're still waiting. Apparently, this project has been long forgotten. It's probably better to not have started the project then end up like the S. Koreans who had it and now are having it taken away. That's a terrible blow to all those Korean drama watchers. They've got some terrific dramas over there with KBS and MBC in HD. My condolences to all of ya in SK.

Re: Microsoft To Match Apple's Revenue Split In New App Store

Constable Odo — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:58:01 -0000

Why does Microsoft have to build the exact same model as Apple when it comes to selling apps? Microsoft is much bigger than Apple and should be able to give developers a break such as 80/20. Microsoft figures that there are going to be about 100 million WinMo devices floating around by 2012, so they should still be able to make a bundle of cash and in the process, pull more developers away from Apple.

Microsoft should continue with their philosophy of if you make it cheap enough, everyone will want it, so they should only charge $.79 for their cheapest apps. Apple only has a bit of a jump on Microsoft at selling apps and MS should do everything possible to pull people away from Apple. Imagine, MS has had the WinMo platform for about nine years and only now are they starting with selling apps and Ballmer thinks that Apple's iPhone platform is nothing to be concerned about. Insane.

Re: Japan's Softbank Cuts iPhone Price As Sales Flag

Constable Odo — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:37:45 -0000

Pffft. Heck of a lot of good Aya Ueto did in boosting iPhone sales. None. Maybe Softbank should have gone with Nanako Matsushima, instead. I guess it wouldn't have mattered who they got to push the iPhone. It was doomed to failure from the start. Promoting things in Japan must be very tough. There's always so much competition and the Japanese don't have much of an attention span for any product.

Re: iPhone Price Cut To $99 Will 'Kneecap' The Industry

Constable Odo — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:06:16 -0000

The iPhone won't kneecap the phone industry, just the smartphone industry. That's good enough because that's where the profit margins are. I would think that the new smartphone user (the average non-techie) would pick any iPhone over any OTHER touch-screen handset for ease of use and availability of tens of thousands of apps.

Agreed that data plans are too expensive for people that barely need a handset. I'm more concerned about AT&T running out of bandwidth than almost anything else. I just know people are going to be snatching up those 8GB iPhones like crazy just to say they got one. They'll know in about six months whether they can actually afford to be iPhone owners.

Re: Nokia Looks Beyond The iPhone

Constable Odo — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:46:29 -0000

Well, at least he understands that lots of features don't always translate into a easily used product. Some users will be able to take advantage of most of the features and they'll be happy, but the average user will just end up frustrated and buy something simpler to use next time. The top-of-the-line Nokias are feature for feature some of the best handsets offered if you're willing to pay for them and take the time to learn how to use them. Nokia has nothing to be ashamed of. It's just that those handsets are only suited for a select few that have the money and expertise to take full advantage of them. There will always be a niche demand for those types of handsets and I'm glad Nokia builds them.

Re: Apple Building Its Own Chip For iPhone?

Constable Odo — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:31:40 -0000

The iPhone definitely needs some exclusive features to keep it from directly competing on same hardware value. Those WinMo, Symbian and various other brand handset are going to continue putting features that are available to every manufacturer on their handsets. They'll all be high-featured clones. If Apple can build handsets with features no other companies can match then that will be great. They won't be able to be compared on a feature for feature basis. Good move and it will keep the other companies guessing what Apple is coming out with next. Those other companies will always be a step behind.

Re: Digital Chocolate Latest iPhone Convert

Constable Odo — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:02:33 -0000

I doubt if the iPhone and iPod Touch will always be tied to a computer. I believe that once the SDK is developed enough, everything will be able to be bought and downloaded right over Apple mobile devices with an iTunes app without any physical connnection using 3G, WiFi or in the future WIMAX.

Re: Palm Pre May Sell Less Than Half What The iPhone Sold In Its First Year

Constable Odo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:35:44 -0000

So what if they sell about half as many Pres as Apple did iPhones. That will still translate into a decent number of sales for Palm. Focus less on being an iPhone killer and keep the Palm Pre as a handset that will bring revenue into a struggling company. Apple is a behemoth compared to Palm and yet Apple is still having to fight to get iPhone acceptance in Asia. Apple is being dissed by India, China, S. Korea and Japan. The near future outlook isn't very good, either. Apple is not willing to give up any control and I think they're right.

A company such as Palm could probably make a few concessions and flood those countries with Pres. You never know how quickly things can be turned around.

Re: Apple 'Indifferent' To Launching iPhone In South Korea

Constable Odo — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:49:22 -0000

I'm fairly certain Apple is indifferent to any country where the carriers think they can run the whole show. If those countries want to stay in the stone age where carriers try to bleed users to death with charges for everything, that's up to them. There are a number of illegal iPhones in S. Korea and users can download free apps to their iPhones through iTunes and surf the web using WiFi. It saves those users from having to pay outrageous data rates charged by the carriers. If the carriers don't want to give up control and keep S. Koreans from surfing the internet as much as they want, then that's too bad for them.

Re: Mac Pro Benchmarks (Early 2009)

Constable Odo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:50:36 -0000

I sure wish they could be compared to at least one Windows-based computer so I can see if the Mac Pro has any edge whatsoever over a computer that costs half as much. I keep hearing about the mythical stats of low-cost high-powered Windows computers that run rings around the Mac Pro.