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Post by CdnPhoto on Jan 17, 2024 4:21:37 GMT -8
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Post by CdnPhoto on Jan 17, 2024 4:22:59 GMT -8
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Post by CdnPhoto on Jan 17, 2024 4:24:43 GMT -8
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Jan 17, 2024 9:07:48 GMT -8
It's interesting to watch the Fed do their thing. They meet and vote only every 5-6 weeks (I think it is 10 times a year), but they keep constant pressure between the meeting, the more detailed notes to the meeting at roughly the midpoint between meetings, and then various people from the Fed talking. Sometimes those are voting members, but other times they are non-voting members. It might seem slow and boring, but when some in the market hyper analyze the output for general tone or even single word changes, it's still an important enigma to some which makes it important to many. I thought this part helped show that point: December retail sales top estimates to cap strong 2023
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Jan 17, 2024 9:38:05 GMT -8
Has there been a good comparison somewhere of this current ~30% fee to what it used to cost to put a box on the shelf and sell it at CompUSA? I know my direct costs were low distributing the shareware I wrote, maybe putting it on a couple FTP servers, and getting the likes of BMUG and AMUG to add it to their CD. OTOH, for the few shareware payments I got, it was a check in the mail, which then still has a time cost to deposit. And then there is the whole marketing thing, which I basically didn't do and so barely received any shareware payments. The easier comparison is for a low, mid, and high volume software box that sat on a store shelf. There are real costs associated with that, and most can be translated over to what an App store offers, though it is a little improved by better marketing and searching, wider audience (don't have to be local to a store), prechecking the software for issues and compatibility, and the software update mechanism. But it's tough to put a dollar figure, or percentage, on the overall picture. Apple has, and others are nearly the same. At first blush many think the number is high, but it's likely that many would consider it high no matter if it was 50% or 10%, since once set up it is something that seems to just work in the background and not have much cost to run. We know that is not entirely true, but it is hard to understand and fairly evaluate the costs and fee structure, at least for an outsider looking in. And that's a problem that Apple should try to contain. It's the basis of a whole mindset thing, whether a few, many, or most people think of Apple as a bully. It's a thing for all of these big lawsuits (Epic, Masimo, Battery) and governmental issues, a push that Apple isn't doing the right thing, or that it is following Google's path of not following the "don't be evil" motto. I'm not the best at these marketing or social network type things, but it seems like Apple needs to make a big push there. They've tried to do this in some ways, like pushing their data privacy policies. In a way this is time for another round of I'm a Mac ads, not necessarily doing an A/B test against a specific company, but more of a montage of other companies out there, aiming for doing the right thing. In "How to drive your competition crazy", one thing he talked about was just doing the right thing, consistently. While written based on a whole different era in the tech area, the premise still stands. But from the public perception standpoint, it could be good to remind people of these instead of letting them slowly figure them out on their own.
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Post by duckpins on Jan 17, 2024 12:45:12 GMT -8
My Cash Cows indicator shows only 5 or 6 -still changing- of the best stocks-those with the most money on hand- are up today. That means 32 out of 37 of the richest companies are down. If they are down what about the rest of the pack? Won't stay this way long. Lately we have had negative January. So we will see if Feb. now directs the market. Apple periodically is lambasted with bad news over and over. Looks like we are there again. Just as the gizmo is launched, hope they are woking on the hearing aid project. what is the super bowl rule, if AFC wins down?
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Post by CdnPhoto on Jan 17, 2024 16:50:41 GMT -8
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Post by CdnPhoto on Jan 17, 2024 16:55:46 GMT -8
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Jan 17, 2024 18:11:33 GMT -8
FWIW it looks like Costco's normal price is $10 off the one at apple.com, but they have an additional $60 discount right now. Add in $5 for shipping, and you're still getting a nice $65 discount on the 41 and 45mm Aluminum options, in most colors (red is sold out with the normal band). So a 45mm GPS model is $365 shipped, with a normal band or sport band. Tempting, though I haven't worn or needed a watch since I stopped running.
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Jan 18, 2024 9:53:04 GMT -8
FWIW it looks like Costco's normal price is $10 off the one at apple.com, but they have an additional $60 discount right now. Add in $5 for shipping, and you're still getting a nice $65 discount on the 41 and 45mm Aluminum options, in most colors (red is sold out with the normal band). So a 45mm GPS model is $365 shipped, with a normal band or sport band. Tempting, though I haven't worn or needed a watch since I stopped running. And for those that prefer Amazon over Costco, there are similar prices there and it's possibly even a few bucks less. Personally I like the extra warranty time and ease of returns at Costco, but if I weren't a member or if they were out of a certain color or style, Amazon would be a good next choice. It's likely that there are other good options out there. Some of the Apple sites often keep track of this sort of thing, like AppleInsider. I had to search a bit to find it, but here is their list, with amazon and best buy having many styles with a $70 discount: prices.appleinsider.com/apple-watch-series-9
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