4aapl
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Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 20, 2023 15:45:32 GMT -8
What are your thoughts for this site?
Often we have 30 or so logged in users visiting the site, but around 400 guests. Some of those guests may be bots indexing the site, but I feel a lot are people interested in AAPL, Apple, and Finances. Maybe they never bothered creating an account. Or maybe they have an account, but just don't always decide to log in, since we have it set up so that the most on-topic sections of the site don't require that you log in. Mostly it doesn't matter too much.
But where it does matter is on interactions, observations, and viewpoints. Apple and AAPL have grown tremendously over the decades, so we don't really need to sit outside Apple stores to see how many boxes go out the door. And yet it really helps to get data and viewpoints from a wider set of investors, so that we are a little less likely to become the "echo chamber" that one person recently mentioned.
So, while there isn't a way for those that choose to not have accounts to reply, for those that have accounts or want to set up one (it's simple) to give their input:
What do you want to see here?
What would get you to participate more often?
What other ideas do you have about the site and growing the user numbers and participation?
We're in a US presidential voting cycle again. In general we have kept away from off-topic politics, while our last site poll was to remain that way but not be overly strict. Is there any change to that stance, thinking we could have a special area for this but manage to have it be additive to the site? Or do we want to try to keep clear of off-topic politics, remembering that there are plenty of other places for that sort of discussion?
Are there other things that we want to add, or delete? I didn't think we needed a forsale area, but if there is interest we could add that. We have a jokes area, even if it hasn't been used lately. We could have a "good morning from my town" section, to hear of weather or whatever from across the nation, continent, and globe. I've found the book reports and movie reviews sections to be helpful (I can't remember if guests can see those). We also have taxes, general finances, and splurges areas, though they have been quiet lately.
But the short of it is "what do you want to see here, and what will get more participation?".
Thanks
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Post by macster on Dec 20, 2023 17:23:14 GMT -8
What are your thoughts for this site? Often we have 30 or so logged in users visiting the site, but around 400 guests. Some of those guests may be bots indexing the site, but I feel a lot are people interested in AAPL, Apple, and Finances. Maybe they never bothered creating an account. Or maybe they have an account, but just don't always decide to log in, since we have it set up so that the most on-topic sections of the site don't require that you log in. Mostly it doesn't matter too much. But where it does matter is on interactions, observations, and viewpoints. Apple and AAPL have grown tremendously over the decades, so we don't really need to sit outside Apple stores to see how many boxes go out the door. And yet it really helps to get data and viewpoints from a wider set of investors, so that we are a little less likely to become the "echo chamber" that one person recently mentioned. So, while there isn't a way for those that choose to not have accounts to reply, for those that have accounts or want to set up one (it's simple) to give their input: What do you want to see here? What would get you to participate more often? What other ideas do you have about the site and growing the user numbers and participation? We're in a US presidential voting cycle again. In general we have kept away from off-topic politics, while our last site poll was to remain that way but not be overly strict. Is there any change to that stance, thinking we could have a special area for this but manage to have it be additive to the site? Or do we want to try to keep clear of off-topic politics, remembering that there are plenty of other places for that sort of discussion? Are there other things that we want to add, or delete? I didn't think we needed a forsale area, but if there is interest we could add that. We have a jokes area, even if it hasn't been used lately. We could have a "good morning from my town" section, to hear of weather or whatever from across the nation, continent, and globe. I've found the book reports and movie reviews sections to be helpful (I can't remember if guests can see those). We also have taxes, general finances, and splurges areas, though they have been quiet lately. But the short of it is "what do you want to see here, and what will get more participation?". Thanks Special Apple Finance Board member privilege for read only at Elmer Dewitt’s Apple 3.0 board posts. lol…seriously, run it by Mr.Dewitt
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Post by CdnPhoto on Dec 20, 2023 17:47:35 GMT -8
What are your thoughts for this site? But the short of it is "what do you want to see here, and what will get more participation?". Well, we do have our new contest. 11 days left to put your mark on where you think AAPL will end in 2024. Get in early before someone takes your strike point.
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 20, 2023 18:08:21 GMT -8
What are your thoughts for this site? But the short of it is "what do you want to see here, and what will get more participation?". Well, we do have our new contest. 11 days left to put your mark on where you think AAPL will end in 2024. Get in early before someone takes your strike point. Darn, someone put a prediction just a buck above mine. Using price is right rules, I don’t have much of a chance at being the closest underbidder. Thanks for getting that going!
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aapl
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Posts: 179
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Post by aapl on Dec 20, 2023 19:00:51 GMT -8
Special Apple Finance Board member privilege for read only at Elmer Dewitt’s Apple 3.0 board posts. lol…seriously, run it by Mr.Dewitt Why do you think his posts and member replies are worth reading but aren't worth paying for.
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Post by Luckychoices on Dec 20, 2023 19:37:08 GMT -8
Special Apple Finance Board member privilege for read only at Elmer Dewitt’s Apple 3.0 board posts. lol…seriously, run it by Mr.Dewitt Why do you think his posts and member replies are worth reading but aren't worth paying for. You make a really good point...and why would PED want to give AFB members access to something for which others have to pay? I've only been subscribed for a couple of months but links to the articles and member conversations are worth the annual payment, IMO.
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4aapl
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Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 20, 2023 19:47:53 GMT -8
Why do you think his posts and member replies are worth reading but aren't worth paying for. You make a really good point...and why would PED want to give AFB members access to something for which others have to pay? I've only been subscribed for a couple of months but links to the articles and member conversations are worth the annual payment, IMO. In a similar vein, if we choose to continue not charging anything for people to read or post here, does that make our member's conversations priceless, or worthless? We don't really have any NEED to charge anything here, and so we don't, and don't have any plans to. But it is always an option, if it would somehow make the site and group better. Personally, unless wanting to keep things private for some reason, I'd allow non-subscribers to read the info but on a time delay. Like many things in life, from weather predictions to sports games to stock news, the most value is in getting them in a timely manner. But showing it to everyone, even with some delay, helps show that value.
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mark
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Posts: 1,552
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Post by mark on Dec 20, 2023 20:50:20 GMT -8
Often we have 30 or so logged in users visiting the site, but around 400 guests. Some of those guests may be bots indexing the site, but I feel a lot are people interested in AAPL, Apple, and Finances. Maybe they never bothered creating an account. Or maybe they have an account, but just don't always decide to log in, since we have it set up so that the most on-topic sections of the site don't require that you log in. Mostly it doesn't matter too much. As far as "guests", because of the oddities of this site, I am very often a guest. Why? Because I almost always read and write comments on my mac, and I am logged in on my mac all the time. But when I am out and about, if I get an email from the site "You have updated threads" then quite often I'll click on it to see what was added, that could sometimes be twice a day (like yesterday with the hearing aid discussion). And since I am never logged in on my phone then I suppose those count as "guests". Well, we do have our new contest. 11 days left to put your mark on where you think AAPL will end in 2024. Get in early before someone takes your strike point. Darn, someone put a prediction just a buck above mine. Using price is right rules, I don’t have much of a chance at being the closest underbidder. Thanks for getting that going! We definitely shouldn't use PIR rules! Closest number wins, higher or lower.
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4aapl
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Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 20, 2023 23:19:56 GMT -8
As far as "guests", because of the oddities of this site, I am very often a guest. Why? Because I almost always read and write comments on my mac, and I am logged in on my mac all the time. But when I am out and about, if I get an email from the site "You have updated threads" then quite often I'll click on it to see what was added, that could sometimes be twice a day (like yesterday with the hearing aid discussion). And since I am never logged in on my phone then I suppose those count as "guests". That is part of it, but the numbers are so lopsided that it shouldn't make that big of a difference. Here's the current numbers. So with 28 logged in members and staff, if we all used 3 other devices that we didn't log in to, there would still be nearly 300 other "Guests". I don't know the algorithm proboards uses to calculate that. Like many places they probably use a cookie, though I would think they would use the IP if cookies weren't allowed (such as private mode). Throw in multiple IPs from a portable jumping onto different wifi networks (I don't actually know how it works on a cellular network, of what unique characteristics are passed onto a web server and if it is sticky or not), and I can see ways the same portable device that isn't logged into an account could be counted multiple times. But I think that is the edge case rather than the standard. We did see a jump in "guests" when I posted our URL on the proboards help board. It could have been people from there, but I thought there were other posts there about indexing bots, though I don't remember if that was proboards related or a search engine. Either way, we have some number of "guests", and some number of logged in users, while also some number of posts on an average day. While I'd be happy to see "guests" increase, feeling that some portion of them are individuals that are interested in the site's topics, what I think we could all benefit from is getting more people to log in and post. ( EDIT Wow! I didn't expect that. Firing up Firefox, using defaults and not using private browsing, it looks like each page load and even most page refreshes cause that "guest" number to increment! On my Mac with an IP that isn't changing. I really didn't expect that. To try to keep it nice, proboards really does do some things in interesting ways. A friend helps us out with her Minnesota nice comments sometimes, and I think one for this would be " Wow, I never would have thought to do it that way.") I do get a kick out of some of the usernames (SomeJuan, yudonome), even if they don't post very often. And I know some other people tend to read the site but only log in occasionally to post. There's some others that I think still read it ("Walter White", I had to search "tv show albuquerque drug making" to remember the username.). And I hope some of the names from the past still read up at least occasionally, but realistically we know that people move on and even age out. It is an interesting site that I feel I have gotten a lot out of over the years, but admittedly it is a strange situation sharing thoughts and ideas over many years with a relatively small and specific group, most or even all of whom you have never met in person. That's another thing we could change, if there was interest. Back with a previous group, a few of us met up after a shareholder meeting. I've yet to even make it down to see the new campus, but while a tour might be tough, a visit to their store could be easy. Or we could meet up in the Bay Area, LA, or San Diego (more than half of our users seem to be in CA), whether at a park, restaurant, or something else. Or maybe we are just happy with how things are, with a small but consistent group coming to the site on a day to day basis, often with a very manageable 5 to 15 posts, and then an uptick around earnings, big product announcements, or new ATHs. Since LoveMyiPad stopped running the site, I see this as "our site" instead of belonging to anyone. So what do we want to see?
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Post by hledgard on Dec 21, 2023 6:22:16 GMT -8
I think this is a great topic, 4aapl.
I would like to see more people post. It sometimes feels like a club, with about 8 or so members, those who post often like you, Mark, and CdnPhoto.
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chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
Posts: 4,429
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Post by chinacat on Dec 21, 2023 7:06:07 GMT -8
Well, my opinion is quality over quantity, and I think we do relatively well here, especially now that politics and other sociological topics are relatively rare; likewise for personal attacks. So I value the opinions of those who either post seeking more knowledge or those who provide new or insightful perspectives. We can all read the widely published opinions of the “experts”. But I often find that the real world experiences of members provide more valuable information.
So I guess I am not really invested in attracting a lot more participants unless that increases the value of what is posted, and as we all know, quantity does not guarantee quality. I also do not view participation in this site as some kind of competition; quite the opposite. I view the sharing of opinions and ideas as the reward for attempting to contribute to the overall knowledge and insight of my fellow participants.
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Post by macster on Dec 21, 2023 8:23:33 GMT -8
Why do you think his posts and member replies are worth reading but aren't worth paying for. You make a really good point...and why would PED want to give AFB members access to something for which others have to pay? I've only been subscribed for a couple of months but links to the articles and member conversations are worth the annual payment, IMO. Umm… the breath of knowledge gained from the members there is very interesting compared to this board. Not to knock this board down too far lol, but here is like a good old boys and girls club compared. You say how would I know. Well like others I’ve spent a lot of time there before Elmer pay walled the comment reading. It’s obvious Edit…there was a lot of politics at Apple 3.0 at the time. Hopefully not so much today but I’m not paying up to listen to left leaning political opinions and wanting to cast my voice into it objectively on an Apple board. Likewise you can read the post headlines and go off and read the topic elsewhere. Not worth paying up imo but the technical viewpoints were interesting and many of the big boys live there.
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Ted
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Posts: 882
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Post by Ted on Dec 21, 2023 9:16:41 GMT -8
When the board is politics free it's a joy to be here and read what people post. I'm not that into pro sports, so AAPL becomes my team to root for. Still I'm not sure what we could do to enhance the forum really. As my bud and occasional poster PaulS once said to me, "AFB is kind of over. I mean Apple went way UP and everybody got wealthy. What more is there to say there?" Well, our activity here since then belies that view mostly, but I'm at a loss as to what else we could do to make our forum more interesting or vital. 🤷🏽♂️ More people wouldn't necessarily make the site "better." Competitions on price targets couldn't hurt for those into guessing the future . . .
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Post by CdnPhoto on Dec 21, 2023 9:25:44 GMT -8
That's another thing we could change, if there was interest. Back with a previous group, a few of us met up after a shareholder meeting. I've yet to even make it down to see the new campus, but while a tour might be tough, a visit to their store could be easy. Or we could meet up in the Bay Area, LA, or San Diego (more than half of our users seem to be in CA), whether at a park, restaurant, or something else. I'd be up for a meetup in the Toronto area.
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Ted
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Posts: 882
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Post by Ted on Dec 21, 2023 10:03:42 GMT -8
Now if we could get Horace Dediu to join the board *that* would be pretty cool. 😉
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Post by Luckychoices on Dec 21, 2023 10:34:13 GMT -8
You make a really good point...and why would PED want to give AFB members access to something for which others have to pay? I've only been subscribed for a couple of months but links to the articles and member conversations are worth the annual payment, IMO. Umm… the breath of knowledge gained from the members there is very interesting compared to this board. Not to knock this board down too far lol, but here is like a good old boys and girls club compared.You say how would I know. Well like others I’ve spent a lot of time there before Elmer pay walled the comment reading.It’s obvious Can't really agree with this part too much, macster. The AFB is still the second place I head to in the morning before I check out PED's site. The first place of course is finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/ Edit…there was a lot of politics at Apple 3.0 at the time. Hopefully not so much today but I’m not paying up to listen to left leaning political opinions and wanting to cast my voice into it objectively on an Apple board.I agree completely with you on this point. If I had to wade through comments about TFG and other ridiculously inane comments, I'd ask for a refund...I certainly wouldn't resubscribe. Likewise you can read the post headlines and go off and read the topic elsewhere. Not worth paying up imo but the technical viewpoints were interesting and many of the big boys live there.I'm not sure who you mean by "the big boys". Some of the commenters at Apple 3.0 seem to be very technologically savvy...other, perhaps less so. So far, I'm seeing responses similar to what I might see on AFB. There are two or three individuals whose comments I make a point of reading whenever I see them...but that's also true on AFB. In any case, have no fear of finding extremely political comments at Apple 3.0...PED would be foolish to allow them because it would cause many subscribers to end their subscriptions...as would allowing others, like AFB members, to view the site for free.
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ems
Member
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Post by ems on Dec 21, 2023 18:03:57 GMT -8
I just logged in since I browse a lot But don’t post much. Figured at least get the stats correct. I think the site is in a good place, good signal to noise ratio.
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Post by aaplcrazie on Dec 22, 2023 2:11:02 GMT -8
A day doesn't go by that I don’t spend some time here, this Board was and is formative in my Investing Education in all things AAPL. From shared knowledge to holding the line to BTFD! and not forgetting understanding Options Expiration week and triple whitching.
Love this Board in its current form tho daresay an 🍏 “ForSale” section might be interesting for gently used Macs and associated bits and pieces.
Happy Hols and Cheers to one and all 🎄☮️🌎
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4aapl
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Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 22, 2023 7:16:12 GMT -8
Thank you everyone for your input so far! I find it refreshing that no one that has posted so far wants to see more politics. People come here to see what people here want to share. And that, though we don't tie a cost to it, is seen as even more valuable than sites that do charge a price. I do worry about our numbers sometimes, not so much of if we have enough people posting now, but at what point we might not. But like chinacat stated so well, it's good to see quality over quantity, mainly when comparing to a non-targeted site like Yahoo and seeing the posts there. Like most of us as we keep adding on the years, I do think fondly of the past, and on this site that includes the higher volume and some of the individual personalities and ideas that were posted in years past. What about dancing penguins? Would adding a dancing penguin emoji really bring in a few extra high quality posts from people with slightly different ideas that have viewpoints we value? Maybe that is all it would take? Thanks to everyone who posted their ideas! For those who haven't yet, please add yours. And Happy Holidays!
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aapl
fire starter
Posts: 179
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Post by aapl on Dec 23, 2023 18:51:58 GMT -8
<snip> What do you want to see here? <snip> Thanks I'd be thrilled with a 'jump to latest' button at the top of every thread.
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Dave
Member
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,103
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Post by Dave on Dec 25, 2023 12:20:49 GMT -8
Looking back, The Apple Finance Board originally piggy-backed on The Mac Observer site which was really the way most people discovered the AFB, and that includes me. And The Mac Observer has grown into a very nice news source for people to visit for all things Apple. So the question is, how would anyone discover the AFB today unless they are specify looking for that name? The surprising thing is that we have as many visitors as we do. The next question is, does anyone here really want this forum to grow? Considering the number of people that have been made to say, feel very unwelcome, I would guess that the answer to growth is no. This is a club, an echo chamber with very little true discussion. It would be interesting to know what the age span is here. I would guess that the AFB is now made up of mostly Baby Boomers, so as we age out this board will slowly disappear unless some steps are made to make it more appealing to those younger than we are. But there's nothing wrong with this staying a club, if that is really what everyone wants. The world she is a changing and so much of that change could likely affect Apple and our portfolios in an unfavorable way. So, does everyone want to ignore the change that's happening or do we want to have a discussion about it and the possible benefits that can be derived. Notice that I said discussion, not argue.
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Ted
fire starter
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Post by Ted on Dec 25, 2023 12:43:36 GMT -8
Looking back, The Apple Finance Board originally piggy-backed on The Mac Observer site which was really the way most people discovered the AFB, and that includes me. And The Mac Observer has grown into a very nice news source for people to visit for all things Apple. So the question is, how would anyone discover the AFB today unless they are specify looking for that name? The surprising thing is that we have as many visitors as we do. The next question is, does anyone here really want this forum to grow? Considering the number of people that have been made to say, feel very unwelcome, I would guess that the answer to growth is no. This is a club, an echo chamber with very little true discussion. It would be interesting to know what the age span is here. I would guess that the AFB is now made up of mostly Baby Boomers, so as we age out this board will slowly disappear unless some steps are made to make it more appealing to those younger than we are. But there's nothing wrong with this staying a club, if that is really what everyone wants. The world she is a changing and so much of that change could likely affect Apple and our portfolios in an unfavorable way. So, does everyone want to ignore the change that's happening or do we want to have a discussion about it and the possible benefits that can be derived. Notice that I said discussion, not argue. Well I don't know what constitutes "true discussion," but I don't think anyone here wants to avoid hard talks about the threats facing Apple or possible benefits to be derived. Feel free -as always- to bring up your concerns. Merry Xmas to all.
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mark
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Post by mark on Dec 25, 2023 15:03:29 GMT -8
I just logged in since I browse a lot But don’t post much. Figured at least get the stats correct. I think the site is in a good place, good signal to noise ratio. I wonder if each time we login. when we load the first page, if it counts as a "guest"? That would mean that each time someone logs in, first they register as one guest, and then they login and register as legged in thereafter (until they have to login again).
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4aapl
Moderator
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 26, 2023 20:34:57 GMT -8
Not that it should matter too much, but not everyone here is a boomer. Maybe a third are from gen X, from those of us that give s birthday, or an estimate.
That said, your general worry of a small and shrinking group, with too similar of a viewpoint, is my worry at times. But a lot of it depends on what I hope to see, and how far out I look.
Otoh, I’ve found the discussion and links very helpful, especially in the last couple weeks. Things vary. But as far as the here and now, things are good. Just like with AAPL.
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Dave
Member
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,103
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2023 2:54:07 GMT -8
Not that it should matter too much, but not everyone here is a boomer. Maybe a third are from gen X, from those of us that give s birthday, or an estimate. That said, your general worry of a small and shrinking group, with too similar of a viewpoint, is my worry at times. But a lot of it depends on what I hope to see, and how far out I look. Otoh, I’ve found the discussion and links very helpful, especially in the last couple weeks. Things vary. But as far as the here and now, things are good. Just like with AAPL. But you started this thread and asked the questions about growing the membership and participation. But if everyone here is satisfied with the status quo then that is where it will stay, which is okay. One gets what one settles for.
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Post by hledgard on Dec 27, 2023 6:17:41 GMT -8
The status quo, even as is, is fine ! But a little growth, variety, and new participation sure would be nice !
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Dave
Member
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,103
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2023 6:43:17 GMT -8
The status quo, even as is, is fine ! But a little growth, variety, and new participation sure would be nice ! So, how can growth occur when this website can not be found unless you already know the name? We are all but invisible. But be careful of what you ask for as you may not like the variety that respond to the invitation.
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Jan 18, 2024 12:56:22 GMT -8
The status quo, even as is, is fine ! But a little growth, variety, and new participation sure would be nice ! So, how can growth occur when this website can not be found unless you already know the name? We are all but invisible. But be careful of what you ask for as you may not like the variety that respond to the invitation. Doing a couple quick google searches, or actually using Duck Duck Go after changing my default maybe a month ago, it seems like it is hard to find any active AAPL specific board. Ped doesn't come up. Appleinsider does, but it was down a ways and doesn't have much on it. Redit comes up with a couple sub redits, but they don't look very active. Switching over to r/wallstreetbets, there was an AAPL related post about Apple Pay surpassing Mastercard, and I was hopeful. Looking through the replies there is some thought to some of them. But then I looked at the link and found it was written 1.5 years ago, and it wasn't until down maybe 50 responses that someone mentioned this was old news. Plus the general ideal on wallstreetbets is the here and now and just going for it, damn the consequences. Even if that is a false face, it's still hard to get past. It was interesting to jump over to TMF. At least a few months back they basically got rid of all of their open forums, making them just one giant thing, and then putting tags on them. So there's an AAPL tag. AWLabrador, a username I remember from long ago, had posted a reply to someone posting a slew of stocks she was interested in with the new year. His reply and info was great, more matching things we are used to here of a very long term perspective, being through the ups and downs, and not letting these small and short term moves get to him. But the short of it was that I didn't really find any active sites that were specific to Apple and investing in AAPL. I'm sure they are out there. Maybe I was just using the wrong terms, or maybe Duck Duck Go just wasn't finding things (in playing around with it for a month things have been fine, but you always have your doubts when using a lesser known product as to if it works as well, like buying an off-brand item on Amazon). The reddit posts that I saw remind me of Yahoo but with more attitude, while having some good posts mixed in there but also a lot of other stuff. So I guess one question is if we wanted to grow membership while keeping the quality up, how would we do that. And another is if there is still interest in a platform like this for people not already entrenched in a specific board. Are there people out there searching for something like this, or wanting something like this? There's a chance that things are just changing without us noticing. Obviously those wishing for more of a lottery ticket type stock aren't likely to be as interested in AAPL. But on platforms, maybe the masses or newer investors have moved to the likes of youtube, or even shorter format like TikTok? I've never looked up AAPL related videos there, but other videos across a variety of subjects sometimes have plenty of replies, so the whole concept of replying isn't gone. What do you guys think? Are there active boards/forums out there that have as many or more people than 5 or 10 years ago? What about stock or investment related? And what about AAPL related? We could advertise, cross post, or just add some key words if that's what it takes to be found by people searching for a place like this. But if things have mostly moved on, whether that is Stock investing in general, AAPL specific, or just to another type of format, it is good to understand so we don't just spin our wheels. (EDIT: three other places, when including forum and discussion, are stock twits, yahoo and silicon investor, both known names. SI has a few less posts than we do, though stocktwits and yahoo have a lot. But to say it nicely, the quality is varying. Ped seems to be the best comparison so far, getting there by slowly building the base through consistent posts and cross posting, but charging a fee to help pay for things and maintain quality. FWIW comments sections on many various sites on articles (such as SFGate and TahoeBonanza, and at times Yahoo) have shut down over the years, seemingly due to the need for moderation when the posts get crazy. By charging at Ped, he gets verified and named members. While here and at most other places, one can pick a name to use, I see the potential value of both methods. I do find it interesting that TMF, who was a huge stock forum back long ago, has pivoted many times over the past 26 years I have followed them, and now their public forum is nearly non-existent. The link to it is even hidden in the third column of the About Us section. To me this is a reminder that things have changed a lot over that timeframe, and aiming for what I might think of as the ideal from the past just might not be plausible. But add in a few years of a bull market, and things might be different.)
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Dave
Member
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,103
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Post by Dave on Jan 19, 2024 7:03:39 GMT -8
To me it looks like PED is offering access to subscription news sites for the cost of his own news site. I haven't added it up, but I'm guessing that PED's subscription is cheaper than buying subscriptions to each individual site. But, I would guess that some of those same stories can be found here for free. Also, I think that the social media sites like Facebook have killed the forum format. A one stop shop for information. Also investing sites like Robinhood have made a big impact on where people go to learn about which stocks are hot or not. It's the dissuasion that I think makes the difference. Just a thought.
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Jan 19, 2024 8:54:16 GMT -8
To me it looks like PED is offering access to subscription news sites for the cost of his own news site. I haven't added it up, but I'm guessing that PED's subscription is cheaper than buying subscriptions to each individual site. But, I would guess that some of those same stories can be found here for free. Also, I think that the social media sites like Facebook have killed the forum format. A one stop shop for information. Also investing sites like Robinhood have made a big impact on where people go to learn about which stocks are hot or not. It's the dissuasion that I think makes the difference. Just a thought. In the past PED often wouldn't post the whole article, though his snippet might have been longer than most. But you're right, there is some offsetting value, with that or other things. One thing I remember is that he often posted info from analyst coverages. Some of that shows up elsewhere, but possibly not right away. We've had a poster or two here that have put up gift links, giving free access to an article that is behind a paywall. Each place is a little different. But you're right, if the likes of Facebook and Robinhood gobble up most of the people, not only do fewer look elsewhere, but also it is harder to find other places. I thought Silicon Investor was a bustling place like TMF at one time. It's amazing to see what they are now, though at least with TMF a lot of that change happened 10 or even 15 years ago. For them, switching from free to paid did not work out well, even though they got rid of the cost later. As a side note, so many of these paid things could be done well with a time limit or a time delay. Imagine PED's site, with a 12 hour time delay for those that don't pay. What about Facebook or TMF, with a 1 hour delay, or a 1 hour daily time limit. Or a local weather site and ski conditions forecast, with a 1 day delay. The work is the same, and those that value it pay, but it continues to show that value to the users who have not yet paid. For instance I don't keep up with PED, so while I know the types of things and value of what was there 9 months ago, it's slowly fading. The same thing goes on here, and at other discussion boards I've been at over the years. While engaged, I might be really into it. But maybe work or life is busy for a while, and I didn't go to the forum for a while. Slowly it migrates to being out of your life, and you might not reengage. We do get a small surge of longtime users here when something exciting happens, like today's Apple Vision Pro ordering bringing in a few more people. But in general, like in normal life, things can slowly drift apart.
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