Apple's Q2 FY09 is in: 6 percent growth YoY

I agree with backbeat as well as Chris

I think that Apple’s marketing team is outstanding, and furthermore, I think that Apple has designed the best rounded platform for both Computers and Phone OS. I think that there are some features on the iPhone that we would like, but I mean they’re miniscule in my opinion, (except for MMS messaging, seriously what the hell were they thinking not allowing that?!) anyways, I think that Apple is going to be incredibly successful in the future in developing as a business because they work towards the needs of their customers, which is something I feel a lot of these companies have failed to do. However, I do agree with bb bold as well, since Jobs has been MIA they’re products seem lame, I mean the biggest thing that’s come out of Apple since his departure is the iPod shuffle redesign which was dumb, in my opinion… If Steve isn’t coming back, they need to let us know, he’s the design genius behind this company and Apple’s doing a shitty job of letting shareholders aware of their companies biggest assets health… C’mon Apple, we don’t need a full report, we just want to know Steve is ok?

Verizon Wireless kicks itself in the ass YoY.

@ChrostopherCox: Actually, I was referring to MS in general, not just specific to WinMo. On the WinMo-front you’ve got a good point, but the reality is that it is where it is due to Enterprise, not consumer use. With continued expansion of Exchange Server capabilities and security, it will hold its own in that space.

On the consumer-side, it’s just my opinion that 6.5 and 7 will not attract a high degree of interest from established WinMo users, but will likely gain some -new- WinMo user infusion.

All of which is to say that I agree with you that MS is stagnant and in real need of reinventing themselves, which is -NOT- something MS has ever done.

Apple is establishing itself as the business model to follow. Being just a software and/or platform company is not enough in today’s climate. Those defined as such are either the shark or the fishkill.

I don’t know what you’re smoking, but close down the Mac line?

With nearly a 36 percent profit margin?

You really have no clue.

The results are not that surprising, especially in the gadget department. Apple’s marketing is fantastic. The iPod will do well because the average person calls an MP3 player “an iPod.” This will almost always buy them a new customer’s purchase. After that they have an immediate brand loyalty.

In a similar sense the iPhone is the average “not particularly techy” person’s first smartphone. It wasn’t the first smartphone or the first with a good touchscreen, but it was marketed the best and Apple took advantage of a market that most people thought didn’t really exist, US customers that wanted a high end phone.

Apple’s marketing team knows exactly when and how to jump on their new products. It’s very well run.

@Janus,
Whats funny is that a lot of the things some people complain about the iPhone are some of the same things people don’t like about Windows Mobile. For example, almost EVERY non techy consumer I have ever known who has purchased a Windows Mobile phone has complained about stability. They say it slows down and crashes all the time. Techies know it is because they aren’t managing their background apps and closing programs to free up the ram … but WinMo never came with an easy way to do that. Unless you got a 3rd party app. iPhone doesnt allow background apps even though it runs atop one of the best platforms for multitasking (A unix-like kernel) for this reason. I am glad there is no multitasking on the iPhone. The new push notification features should make it much better come 3.0 because apps that don’t run in background can still let people know of changes.

General consumers don’t like to manage background tasks and manage their phone. The phone is supposed to manage their lives not the other way around. This is where Apple got it right by limiting the phone.

I absolutely agree with you for the general consumer. If you are buying your first smartphone the iPhone is a solid choice because of its easy interface and user friendliness.

Now myself personally, the lack of things like multitasking and its locked down nature (along with the average camera) are what keep me from buying an iPhone. I want to play around with apps that can do more.

Whether Apple got it right by limiting the phone is up for debate. It cost them my business, but for everybody like me that wants a more unlocked phone there is probably 2 or 3 that are happy with it’s more user friendly nature.

Apple chose the path with more money at the end of it and as a business I can’t fault them for that.

I would like them, however, to make multiple models and not just 1 new one a year. How bout one with a high end camera and video? How bout another with background apps and multi-tasking?

That’s what I want, but I realize that having a single model helps their brand identification.

@Janus09
When push features come out for 3.0 there is no reason to multitask outside of background music, and every advantage. Things like IM can notify you of changes WITHOUT running in the background using the radio or processor thread time, thereby improving battery. I know on my BlackBerry, when I have beejive IM running it takes down my battery noticably. Outside of pure notification, what benefit does multitasking give you except the added headache of phone management, decreased battery life, and higher memory usage? The way apple is going with the notification serices, not requiring the apps to run in the background, is the way to go and gives SEVERAL advantages.

@christopher

Maybe you can answer a question for me about 3.0.

I’ve used a buncha different phones including the gen1 iPhone. I settled on the G1 and it has a couple apps that can’t be made on the iPhone that I consider essential. Apps like Locale can adjust settings on the phone based on location time battery life, etc.

So when it’s 8-5 on a workday, my phone is automatically on silent, when the battery is low, gps is off and screen timeout is lower, etc.

Can apps like these be implemented in 3.0?

Also, the G1 keyboard is kinda priceless. I’ve tried apps that directly port the iPhone soft keyboard and I type probably half as fast.

@Janus09
I have played around for the G1 for a long time … with a leaked cupcake. The keyboard is NOWHERE near the iPhone keyboard … and I am sure anyone who has compared the two will agree. Its soft keyboard is what I imagine the iPhone keyboard would be if the OS or processor was slower and the screen was not as responsive. They way the iPhone works is flawless in the keyboard area.

Battery based profiling would not be possible due to the sandboxed nature of applications. And yes, there is a HUGE advantage of sandboxing (some people call it jailing) over the way any other platform works as far as security and file structure sanity is concerned.

Something I COULDNT do with my winmo devices was run a ton of background apps that poll the radio in the background for fear it would deplete my battery. Another thing not possible? Lots more apps can notify you in the background over what is possible in winmo. Games like mobwars (just an example) can notify you of updates like an IM program would … and NOT run in the background taking up battery or memory. That can’t be done on winmo without constantly running the app. And for medical use that would be helpful to be notified immediately of prescription changes or as a doctor, patient record updates without having to rely on email. The medical app can just notify you without running 24/7. Winmo apps would have to constantly run or rely on email.

Push notification has TONS of advantages over backgrounded apps.

I’m not surprised the cupcake soft keyboard was laggy. I’ve read that early builds (especially the HTC build) so far have lag.

But what I was using was the app ChompSMS which is essentially the iPhone keyboard and it has zero lag. It’s not lag that slows my typing it’s just the standard lack of the “feel” of the keys that slows it.

Another disadvantage of a G1′s soft keyboard though is simply screen size. That affects typing accuracy a bit in comparison.

I’ll be very interested in where the iPhone is at post 3.0 as that update seems targeted almost specifically at all the complaints about the phone. That’s some nice (albeit a bit slow) customer service by Apple.