I wish I had a video camera so all of you could see how frikkin slow this PC has gotten.

Now if I try to go beyond seven Firefox tabs, it just about dies.

Hello! I need to have six Fox tabs open to begin with: YMail, two for the WordPress blog, two for the Blogger backup blog, and my Bookmarks page!

So now I’m left with one tab to do other sites in!!

Someone — probably several someone — needs to be beaten with a baseball bat at Microsoft. How can they shove update after update down the pike without any regard to how much additional RAM they’re confiscating from users? I should be charging you pig bastards rent on this PC! How many of these goddammed updates do I actually really need?! What obscure shit have you shoved into my PC that I won’t actually ever freakin use?!

A year ago this PC was agile and nimble. I could do work on it pretty quickly. It might not have been the fastest thing on earth — but it was fast enough not to aggravate me!

Now all it does it torment me moment by moment!

I can no longer have Firefox and the My Pictures folder open at the same time. If I want to do some lite image editing, I have to bail out of Fox to do it!

I have no choice but to shut everything down all day tomorrow and do another thorough scan of this machine.

Yes: All day tomorrow. That’s how long the last one took!

I hope you are utterly destroyed, Microsoft. I hope your company is eviscerated by governments across the globe. You deserve it. You’ve earned it.

You’re robbing me of an entire day tomorrow.

Die, you bastards!

The mysterious and very interesting mj has loaded WordPress for iPhone onto his 3G baby and done a test post.

GM, Ford `On the Verge of Bankruptcy,’ Altman Says (Update2)

July 22 (Bloomberg) — General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the two biggest U.S. automakers, have about a 46 percent chance of default within five years, according to Edward Altman, a finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“Both are in very serious shape and the markets reflect that,” Altman, the creator of the Z-score mathematical formula that measures bankruptcy risk, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The model shows that these companies are “on the verge of bankruptcy,” he said.

Emphasis added by me.

More:

The Z-scores for GM and Ford give both a bond rating equivalent to a CCC ranking, though GM is in slightly worse condition than Ford, Altman said. GM reported a $38.7 billion loss in 2007, the biggest in its 100-year history, and hasn’t posted a profit since 2004. The scores are based on the companies’ finances at the end of the first quarter.

Moody’s Investors Service said July 15 it may cut GM’s Caa1 senior unsecured debt rating because the Detroit-based automaker’s plan to raise at least $15 billion by suspending its dividend, cutting management payroll by 20 percent and selling assets may not be enough to offset losses. Standard & Poor’s also said in June it may lower GM’s B rating. Altman said the plan to raise $15 billion may improve GM’s outlook.

Emphasis added by me.

Oh boy.

I will just say this. One of these companies is hinted at in Ominous Rumors.

Yeah, it’s that bad.

What I want all of you to be aware of is this aspect: everyone tends to think of these two companies as manufacturers. If they were just that, they wouldn’t be in the middle of the ocean about to drown. They are both also financial giants, which in the past made more money from financing than they made from selling their cars.

I hope Seeking Alpha will forgive me if my quoting has gone over their requested 400-word limit, but I hope they can see I’m trying to add value to what they’ve given all of us with their transcript!

Look at this very telling quote:

Andy Hargreaves - Pacific Crest Securities

And then I wonder if I could just ask about Apple TV really quick and wondering if you can give us any clue or any indication on the number of video rentals or how the launch of that service has impacted hardware sales?

Timothy D. Cook

We started shipping Apple TV, as you know, in February and we’ve been pleased with the sales that we’ve had. However, the Apple TV remains a hobby, as we call it, because it’s not — this business is not nearly as large as the Macintosh business or the music business and does not have the potential of the iPhone business. However, we are very excited about the potential of it and continue to invest in it.

Emphasis added by me.

People who read — who really truly read — own more books than they own videos (VHS/DVD).

Music is a special case that everyone wishes they could get into: a short file that can be pumped out to jillions of people at low cost which has the potential to create a fan base for repeat sales.

Hey, wait a minute!

That’s the ebook business too!

An ebook file is even smaller than an MP3 file. It can be pumped out to jillions of people at even lower cost. Authors come with fan bases just like music bands. And they have the potential to create repeat sales.

Don’t quibble about music bands producing an album while authors create one book. I can easily argue that one album is equal to one book that each track on an album is equal to a chapter in a book.

And here’s the ugly secret that the iTunes Store has exposed: people are more likely to buy a single song from a group instead of an entire album.

Show me where people would likewise purchase one chapter of a book instead of the entire book!

Books are better than music. Music falls out of fashion. There are tracks I listened to ages ago that I now can’t stand to hear again.

This has hardly ever happened with a book I’ve read. Raymond Chandler will be as compelling twenty years from now as he is today. Tell me that the same can be said for music. How many of you are listening to music that was popular when Raymond Chandler’s books were originally published?

As for video, it has its own limitations. There are people out there who absolutely refuse to watch anything that’s not in color. And now things are moving to HD. How many people will refuse to rent or purchase anything that’s not in HD? And even within HD, how many who can process 1080i will refuse anything that’s only 720? How many people who have widescreen capability will refuse anything that’s in TV’s once-standard aspect ratio?

Books lack the limitations of music and video.

Books are a ginormous business just waiting for a company like Apple to come along and revolutionize into electronic editions.

The Sony Reader was pummeled (unjustly, I still think!) by the Amazon Kindle. But despite Jeff Bezos’s braying about how swell Kindle sales have been, no hard numbers have been produced to back up that claim. What we’ve gotten instead are nebulous percentages of sales of Kindle ebooks versus print books. A figure that says nothing!

It’s inevitable that Apple will do ebooks. It’s the only area they’ve yet to touch. It’s the only area that remains an unsettled digital frontier just crying for standardization, legitimacy, and the kind of global visibility the Apple imprimatur would convey upon it.

Anyone who wants a low-effort glimpse at just how horrible the ebook business currently is should read this post and then visit the rest of my one-shot The eBook Test blog.

Lastly, as good as the iPhone can be with ebooks, a better experience can be had with a screen that approximates the size of a mass-market or trade paperback print book.

And that’s where the iPod Air will come in.

That would be a product transition.

I’ve been tooling around the Net reading some of the — ahem! — “analysis” of the Apple Mystery Product(s) hints and one of them suggested Apple will be slashing prices to gain more market share.

How frikkin tragic is that tinythinking?

Especially when Apple itself has said that’s not what’s going to happen in the conference call transcript:

Mark Moskowitz - J.P. Morgan

Thank you. Good afternoon. A few questions; Peter, I want to get back to David and Keith’s question regarding the commentary on margins going forward. Is it safe to say then you are kind of suggesting, without announcing your new products, that Apple could introduce a more flexible pricing structure across the product lines in terms of not having the reputation of being the high-priced configuration provider of old? And maybe being a lot more volume driven, particularly on the Mac side of the house?

Peter Oppenheimer

Again, I can’t get in to what we will do in the future but as I look at our products today, I think we are incredibly well-priced from a competitive perspective. With the iPod, we start at $49 and go up to about $400, with many choices in between for customers, and I think we are as competitive today on the Mac as we’ve even been in the 12 years that I’ve been with Apple, so I’m very comfortable with our pricing.

Emphasis added by me.

And how did all these brilliant minds who are paid to write their — ahem! — “analyses” miss this gem? –

Katy Huberty - Morgan Stanley

Thanks. Peter, I understand this is a low base, but inventory did increase 50% sequentially, so is it fair to assume that that number normalized post the 3G launch?

Peter Oppenheimer

Katy, the increase in inventories related primarily to a buy ahead we did to — largely related to the launch of the iPhone 3G.

Emphasis added by me.

He almost let it slip. Almost!

How much more clearer could Apple be that it’s not about price, it’s about something Really Freakin New? –

Yair Reiner - Oppenheimer & Company

Got it. And on iPods, ASPs obviously down quite a bit in the quarter because of the higher Shuffle mix. Is this the mix that we should look at moving forward? And how do you see the overall iPod business developing now that it’s clearly getting some competition, at least, from the iPhone?

Peter Oppenheimer

We don’t provide guidance at the product level. We were very happy with our iPhone sales in the June quarter. We grew 10% in the U.S., 15% internationally, gained share internationally, which we were very happy with.

As a result — as regards the iPhone, it’s hard to precisely tell but there likely was some element of cannibalization and our view is that if there is going to be iPod cannibalization, we want it to be from the iPhone.

Yair Reiner - Oppenheimer & Company

Got it. Just a final question on the gross margin guidance for the following quarter; I understand the comments about new product innovation. I don’t quite understand why that would impact gross margins rather than OpEx and the R&D line; if you can help us think through that, it would be great.

Peter Oppenheimer

Sure. We have been introducing state-of-the-art new products that have technologies and features that our competition just can’t match. And when we do that early in introduction, our costs are higher and then we work to bring costs down over time with value engineering and with volume manufacturing.

Yair Reiner - Oppenheimer & Company

So just to be clear, this implies that these new products will actually be shipping or being built in this quarter?

Peter Oppenheimer

I can’t get into our new product pipeline but I have told you regarding the September quarter, that one of the reasons that we see gross margin being down sequentially is because of a product transition, yes.

Emphasis added by me.

Product transition. Product transition. Product transition.

Slapping a touchscreen onto an OS X notebook is not a product transition. Pulling the optical drive out of an OS X notebook to market it as the MacBook Air is not a product transition.

Taking an iPod Touch, making it bigger — and adding a bundled productivity suite — is a product transition. How much clearer can it be?

This is what Oppenheimer said earlier this year:

“We view the iPod market as bigger than the market for simple music players,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer. “We believe one of the iPod’s future directions is to become the first mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform.”

Net Pad. Net Pad. Net Pad!

The iPod Air.

How do these people manage to get a paycheck every week when they can’t figure out something as basic as that?

Previously here:

And So The iPod Air Is Coming After All!

Even though I evicted Windows XP SP3 from this computer, Microsoft has apparently managed to still slip in the worst aspects of it via Windows Updates. Performance of this machine is sending me towards Heart Attack City for all the frustration I’m having. It keeps getting slower every day! What used to be a fairly nimble PC a year ago has turned into an autistic nightmare (I keep screaming at it, “Why aren’t you paying attention to what I want you to do?!!?).

So I went into the Control Panel to see if there was anything I could do about it and I discovered a little gift there from Apple:

Click= big

Close-up:

Clicking on that displays this:

I think Apple slipped this in when I updated iTunes or QuickTime. I didn’t specifically ask for it nor did I see it offered as an option.

Personally, I find this to be absolutely hilarious!

I love how Apple is using Microsoft against itself (as if Microsoft needed any help after its Vistaster!).

I know as this PC gets slower and slower and slower, I’m asking myself why the hell don’t I just dump all of this and go completely Mac.

And I’m certain other people have been asking the same damned thing.

That’s why Apple had record sales last quarter.

And will probably do so again next quarter.

Microsoft is turning out to be the best advertisement for Macs!

What Is Apple’s Mystery Product?

Quick recap: During Apple’s fiscal third-quarter conference call this afternoon, CFO Peter Oppenheimer warned of falling margins for the next quarter and fiscal 2009. He gave three reasons, but one really stood out: a future product transition that “I can’t discuss today.”

And:

Apple plans mystery “product transition” before September’s end

The new, unnamed product will continue to have “technologies and features that others can’t match,” according to the CFO.

Previously, I wrote:

In about a month, I expect the rumor mill to start grinding out whispers of Apple placing an order for screens they’ve never used before, perhaps screens between five to seven inches diagonal.

It’s a month later!

We haven’t had people track down component orders yet, but Apple itself — a month later to my prediction! — has stated Something New is coming.

I will reiterate the salient points here:

1) Apple will produce a larger-screen iPod that is best suited for ebooks. I’ve been calling this device the iPod Air.

2) Apple will enter ebooks, thus legitimizing them and liberating writers from short-sighted print publishers. (I’ve just recently sussed out some rough details that I’ll flesh out in another post days from now. Some research remains to be done. Let me just say Apple already has many pieces in place.)

3) The iPod Air will also be a productivity tool. The missing Bluetooth keyboard connection we’ve been waiting for the iPhone to get? The iPod Air will have that (I’m not certain if it will migrate down to the iPhone, however. It might not!). If you don’t believe a small-screen device can be an actual productivity tool, have your jaw drop with this post: When An Expert Uses An iPhone.

4) This device will cannibalize sales from low-end MacBooks because it will be Functional Enough — with its iWorks suite — to replace one yet much more portable. With its touchscreen, it will also be much, much fun to use. This will be the first true Cloud Computing device in that people will use it to interact with the Internet more than they currently desire to do with existing notebooks and even Asus EeePC-like “netbooks.”

5) Apple will count on very high volume sales and its initial price will offer very, very thin margins (especially for Apple!). Apple will count on four things:

a) Economies of scale dropping component prices

b) Sales larger than the iPhone

c) Apple-created software sold via the App Store (iWorks will be bundled, but Apple will offer more optional software too), and

d) Even more Mobile Me subscriptions.

Those of you who witnessed the lines for the iPhone 3G simply don’t know what a real line is like. Think iDay 2007 — at least doubled.

As far as I’m concerned, Apple has just frozen the netbook market to me. Asus 901? MSI Wind? They no longer matter to me. Do I want to spend money and time on one of those when I’m now certain Fall will bring an iPod Air? No! I’m now certain something dramatically better will be coming from Apple. The only thing I’d buy now is an iPhone 3G.

And all of you out there deciding on a current netbook? Forget them. Save your money. You’ll get much more from Apple. And what you get will once again change the world.

Oh, one more thing: Thinking of a Kindle or a Sony Reader? Change your mind!

They’re dead, Jim!

Previously here:

eBook On An iPhone: One Example
iPhone Wireless Printing?
Reference: iPhone/iPod Touch Screen Size
More Of That Non-Existent iPhone Effect
When An Expert Uses An iPhone
iPhone eBook Reader Stanza Available
Memo To Steve Jobs: iPhone Owners READ!
iDay 2008 + 1 = LONG Lines!!!
eReader On iPhone: What It Looks Like
Southern NYC iDay 2007 In 56 Photos!
Flashback: iPhone 2007
MSI Wind = Ten-Inch Screen MacBook?
Video: eBooks On iPhone/iPod Touch
What Apple Better Not Miss About eBooks
For God’s Sake, Get eBooks Going, Steve Jobs!
iPod Air: See You In September?
A Gadget Too Far
No iPod Air Next Week
American Tech Companies: Wake Up!
It’s Now All Down To Apple Vs. Google
Apple: You’ll Get It When You Can Sync It?
What eChanges Will High Oil Prices Bring?
Reference: iPhone/iPod Touch Backup/Sync
An Example Of iPhone/iPod Touch Keyboard Lag
The iPod Air Will Be Better …
I Said Apple Sync Was Important: Here’s Proof
eInk eBook Readers: They’re All Dead, Jim!
What’s This? iPod Air Next Month?
iPhone Continues To Swallow The Internet
Apple’s Sync Strategy Finally Arriving?
Now We Know Why Apple Bought A Chipmaker
Amazon: Already Toast
Future iPods: Piper Jaffray’s Blind Spot
Writers Don’t Fear The Future: Publishers Do!
The Lesson Of Apple Isn’t New, But It Works
The Three Companies Apple Should Acquire
Apple Has Magic The Others Don’t
Apple And eBooks: Why The Delay
For The Record: Apple and eBooks
Memo To Steve Jobs: People DO Still Read!
The Three Big As: Apple, Amazon, Adobe
Peak iPod: Has Apple Reached Its End?
One More Time: Apple And Ebooks
Is Apple’s Tablet The iPod Air?
Why Apple’s Design Is Excellent
Steve Jobs Is Up To Something. Probably Big.
Does Apple Want To Be King Of Ebooks?

An ad I saw moments ago at my Yahoo homepage:

And now this:

Wachovia has $8.9B loss, cuts 6,350 jobs, dividend

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Wachovia Corp. lost $8.86 billion in the second quarter, and said Tuesday it was slashing its dividend and cutting 6,350 jobs after losses tied to mortgages soared.

Even excluding one-time items, the results substantially missed Wall Street estimates, and shares sank to mid-1991 levels in premarket trading.

“These bottom-line results are disappointing and unacceptable,” Chairman Lanty Smith said in a statement. “While to some degree they reflect industry headwinds and weaker macroeconomic conditions, they also reflect performance for which we at Wachovia accept responsibility.“

Emphasis added by me.

And yet Smith did not tender his resignation after making that statement! So who is accepting repsonsibility? I’d say the 6,350 people who are losing their jobs!

The nation’s fourth-largest bank by assets says it lost the equivalent of $4.20 per share in the April-June period. In the same timeframe last year, the bank earned $2.34 billion, or $1.22 per share.

Emphasis added by me.

How bad is the bloodletting?

During the quarter, the bank boosted its provision for loan losses to $5.57 billion from $179 million a year ago, and added $4.2 billion to its reserves for bad loans.

Wachovia has been suffering from its 2006 acquisition of Golden West Financial Corp. The bank paid roughly $25 billion for the California mortgage lender known for exotic loans.

The so-called “Pick-a-Payment” loans, which Wachovia inherited from Golden West, have proved a headache for the bank and a lightning rod for shareholders, defaulting at higher rates than other mortgages.

Emphasis added by me.

So was Wachovia greedy to begin with or — like Golden West’s victims — was Wachovia wooed by a Something For Nothing pitch?

Here’s something I mentioned earlier this week:

Late Monday, Wachovia announced plans to leave the wholesale mortgage lending business. And beginning Friday, the company will no longer offer mortgages through brokers, joining other lenders making similar moves to exit the troubled sector.

Big banks, such as Bank of America Corp. and National City Corp., have stopped making loans through brokers entirely, relying instead on their loan officers. National City said it was forced to do so by a continuing downturn in loan demand, while Bank of America said it saw better “long-term opportunity” in working through its own loan officers.

Emphasis added by me.

So, they all have loan officers after all!

That means there’s simply one explanation for this mess: Sheer Naked Greed!

Rot and collapse, you toxic bastards!

Where’s your money today?

Educate yourself!

Moments ago …

… replaced moments later with:

Update: Replaced moments later while I was posting this with this:

WordPress for iPhone

I have not iPhone.

Thus, sad.

It does make me wonder if WordPress bloggers will now want to get an iPhone when they really had no prior plans for one.

Where’s WordPress for Windows Mobile? For Symbian? Oops! Ain’t none. Loser OSes!