Newton Poetry

• Apple statement on MobileMe delay (Macworld UK)
• TUAW’s liveblogging
• Bad weather in Chicago (Ars Technica – and it’s headed my way!)
• iPocalypse (Gizmodo)
• Failures halt, delay iPhone sales (iLounge)
• My report on Macenstein (the Doctor never did show up)
• iPhone launch-o-mess-o-rama (Macalope)
• AAPL stocks down a bit as of 3 p.m.
• Even Facebook is affected?, and Six million iBricks…and counting (BuzzYA!)

UPDATE: Gizmodo just posted a possible fix to the iBrich problem. Engadget posted a video unboxing, for those who want more iPhone porn along with all this bad news.

Made it home safe and sound, and finding out news about the server crashes have spread like wildfire. I helped break the news over at Macenstein, but I think everyone eventually got the message.

The iPhone 3G launch was a worldwide event. Something had to go wrong. It’s too bad that “something” was of this magnitude.

More… »

Do you know how hard it is to stare at this and wait for Apple to upload their Quicktime video of the WWDC 08 keynote?

Do you?

I told myself: no checking the blogs, no checking the live feeds. Wait until you get home and watch the keynote via Apple’s Quicktime upload. That way, you’re watching it unfold like everyone who was there.

But no. No video uploaded yet as of 5:42 p.m. Eastern time Monday night.

C’mon…

Something along the lines of what the Cult of Mac guys are thinking: that the 3G iPhone will just be a warm-up.

It’s kind of like right before last year, when the iPhone was first announced. The buzz was feverishly high. Remember that? And all those mockups and predictions came across the blogs, and everyone was going nuts.

Then Steve Jobs gave the demo, and it was better than anybody came close to imagining.

I think WWDC on June 9 will be just like that. All this hyper-excitement over the new iPhone (and well-deserved, I might mention), when all this time Jobs and his crew are planning something that blows us all away. As usual.

Daring Fireball did some digging on something called “Mobile Me,” and I think that might be the key everyone is ignoring (except Gruber, of course). But who knows? No one but a few Apple employees.

So a week from now, I have a feeling we’ll all have something new and exciting to talk about besides a 3G iPhone.

That’s all I got.

Today I learned that, really, I know nothing about investing.

I reached this conclusion earlier today after, despite all the good news that came our way earlier this week, the word “caution” was thrown around on investing sites like a circus midget.

All this before Apple released its second quarter report:

On Tuesday, Shaw Wu, of American Technology Research, cut his rating on Apple’s stock to neutral from buy. Wu called the move “a very tough decision as we have been bullish on Apple for the past several years.” Wu said he had concerns over the run-up in Apple’s share price after it rose more than 45% in the last two months, saying the stock is “no longer inexpensive” as it traded at 32 times his 2008 calendar year earnings estimate of $5.30 a share. Wu also said there is a chance Apple could experience a product “vacuum” as it prepares to launch new products late in the summer, such as a refreshed line of Mac computers and the anticipated launch of a third-generation iPhone that will run on a faster network that AT&T Inc.’s current network.

So, am I to understand that this kind of “concern” comes from…what…Apple being too successful? Or a calm before the 3G iPhone storm?

I just don’t get it. Yesterday it was “Buy AAPL!” Today’s it’s “well, shares are no longer inexpensive” and “results might not meet expectations.”

What we can all learn is that anyone who puts their brain on AAPL stock immediately loses all sense of focus, self, and sanity. Some call it “volatile,” I call it, “we just did some acid and got on E-trade to mess around.” It makes no sense.

That E-trade baby? The one who pukes and jokes and hangs out with clowns? Even that’s funny compared to this.

And I’m not looking at this as a concerned investor who might get his money back after a stupid gamble. What I don’t understand is how a company’s self-worth is determined by one guy whose quotes enter the financial echo chamber and amnesia sets in – much as a black-out drunk forgets the night before – and everyone behaves as if the day before never even happened.

Have these people no sense of decency? Is this why Alka-Seltzer does so well in the American marketplace? Is it any wonder why Prozac remains in production?

Speaking of Prozac, I think mine’s wearing off…

We’ll see how the shit-fit settles in tomorrow’s market. In the meantime, consider my investing waywardness and day-trading daydreams officially over.

Here’s an idea.

Since Europeans are worried about the overstocked pre-3G iPhones they won’t be able to sell after the 2.0 iPhone is released, how about we sell the old models at a fraction – say, 1/3 – of the price. Cheaper than refurbs, even.

And the refurbs? How about $99 each.

It’s hard to understand second-gen iPods still going for almost their original price now that the video versions are out. Same with several-years-old Apple notebooks.

My feeling is, Apple should sell the outdated versions at rock-bottom prices for no other reason than to get Apple products in the hands of non-Apple customers. I love Mac refurbs. I love the idea behind them. But those white iMacs just aren’t going to sell like they used to. Get them out of stock, onto the desks of poor Windows users, and spread the Apple virus.

Same with iPhones. When the 3G model comes out, practically give away the EDGE iPhones just to (a) get rid of them and (b) get them into the hands of eager teens or soccer moms or whoever else hasn’t ponied up $399 for a brand new model.

// Found via Slashdot