Uh Oh...

I glanced at my Google homepage this morning, which contains a few stocks of interest (this actually started as a game with my friends Mirko and Brandon to have an imaginary portfolio to see what would happen with $10,000), and noticed something interesting that I haven't seen before. The stocks for both Google and Microsoft were listed as being "null" at $0.00. It looks like the epic battle between the two giants has caused an implosion that no one was expecting. Based on this listing, Apple (AAPL) and Yahoo! (YHOO) are clearly reaping the benefits of this.

A Little Over a Year Later

So, just over a year after the picture below with my nephew was taken (the one with his sights set on me), I took this picture. Any hope that his desire to take me down had subsided is surely gone. Before, he used his powers to simply manipulate time and space independent of anyone or anything else around him. Well, apparently he has learned to channel those energies and take this to the next level. If you look closely, you'll notice the open hand in this picture, just moments away from using the force to send that water bottle into my face. Look at the determination in his eyes... It's definitely the end for me.

Apple Unleashes the iPod Fury

What do you do next with a product when you already have the most market saturation? If you ask Microsoft and Apple, you'll get two totally different answers (look at Vista, and this new line of iPods as evidence). In any case, Apple unleashed a new line of iPods yesterday. The Nanos are now "phatty" little video iPods, the old video iPods have increased storage, and there is now an iPod Touch (which is essentially an iPhone without the phone). I have no interest in buying a new iPod (since the one I currently have has plenty of room and functions properly), but what I'd really like to see is an "iPhone Nano" in the sense that it's an iPod and a Phone, but none of the other stuff that's on the iPhone (I don't need web browsing, etc.).

Secondly, Apple dropped the price of the iPhone by $200. That's a pretty big drop considering the product has only been out for 2 months. But at the same time, it makes perfect sense with the price point they were setting for the iPod Touch. Either way, I guess a lot of people (early adopters of the iPhone) felt ripped off, so Jobs has responded with a $100 credit to the Apple Store for all of them. Here's his response. That's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

All the while Microsoft is not worried, and is planning to stay on their current track for the Zune (if you haven't heard of the Zune, you just proved my point). In any case, here's an article about Microsoft's response to yesterday's event. Microsoft has their work cut out for them. Not to mention the negative feedback Vista has received, but that's a whole 'nother story.