At today’s WWDC keynote we heard blah, blah, SDK and then blah, blah, App Store for about 1 1/2 hours. Then Stevie finally got to the part everyone wanted to hear, the new 3G iPhone.
But the problem wasn’t the faster 3G network or the thinner edges. It wasn’t the shiny black plastic back or the all-metal buttons. The problem was Apple’s stock price direction; DOWN!
Blasphemy
Now fan boys, don’t stone me with your outdated EDGE-only iPhones until I explain. Apple stock opened this morning at a price of $184.92, which is like 60 points higher than it was three months ago. However, Apple stock closed at $181.61. So as excited as Stevie said he was about his announcements, if he went home and checked the money bin tonight (which is really just a bunch of Apple stock) he would discover he’s poorer tonight than he was yesterday. That’s gotta suck.
What happened?
If you still want to stone somebody with those worthless old iPhones you can take aim at Jim Kramer. Can you believe the guy actually went public before WWDC with a recommendation to sell Apple stock? SELL? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Apple is still sticking with AT&T. Maybe it had something to do with the new $199 and $299 prices (though a great deal for you, those prices mean less $$$ for Apple because honestly, you would have paid the same prices for a 3G iPhone.)
The moral of the story is thus, no matter how “cool” the new 3G iPhone may be, the stock score card did not have high marks today.
During the season everyone could fairly easily agree that the Western Conference of the NBA was better than the Eastern Conference. Except for the Celtics and the Pistons that is. These two teams entered the playoffs with the two best records in the NBA. Yes people said that the Western Conference teams cannabalized each other and that is why Detroit and Boston could pull off such gaudy records. But their opponents were quick to point out Boston’s excellent record against Western Conference teams. So where do we stand now?
Eastern Conference Playoffs
The East was so bad this year that Philadelphia and Atlanta made the playoffs with LOSING RECORDS! The Golden State Warriors were how many games over .500 and two losing teams make the playoffs in the East. What a joke. So you have the two best records in the entire NBA matched up against two teams with losing records. These should have been two sacrificial lambs, yet here we have both Detroit and Boston tied 2-2 in their respective series. So what does this tell us?
Overrated
Yep, I’m gonna say it loud. The Celtics and Pistons are overrated. Sure they both compiled great records against mediocre competition, but in the playoffs they’ve looked very vulnerable. Maybe they’ll snap out of it and make a run at the NBA championship, but I don’t have a lot of faith right now.
I’ve never personally pulled a hamstring, but the picture of Chuck Liddell’s leg linked here makes me never want to tear any muscle. This would be why the Iceman won’t be headlining UFC 85 in London. I would have put the picture up on my blog, but I honestly felt myself getting a little uneasy as I looked at it. Therefore, to spare my readers with weak stomachs (and prevent vomit from getting in your keyboard) I have only linked to the picture and story. OUCH!
About 60 seconds ago on ESPN Scott Van Pelt said “That must have pissed off the folks…” on air. He immediately caught himself and acknowledged he shouldn’t have said it, but it was too late. I don’t think it’s a big deal but I’m sure it will become a controversy in the coming days with Scott having to apologize and all that garbage. Let me rephrase that. I think it is hilarious that he said it. Go Scott!
Today at the Accenture Match Play Championship, the world once again witnessed why Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world. Facing J.B. Holmes, Tiger fell behind on the first hole and struggled all the way through the 13th hole. Then Tiger did what only a true champion can do; he found a way to climb out of 3 down with 5 to play (for those of you not really familiar with golf this is like being down 3 runs in the 9th inning).
Starting at the 14th, Tiger Woods played the last 5 holes in 5 under par. This was not Mr. Holmes going all Jean van de Velde and blowing the lead. To the contrary, J.B. played solid down the stretch. However, Tiger kept his drives in play, hit his irons tight, and made putts from all over the greens to move past the 64th-seeded Holmes.
A Lesson To Michelle Wie
Tiger’s mental toughness and ability to win against seemingly impossible odds is what sets him apart. Michelle Wie’s lack of these attributes is why she’ll never amount to more than a publicity stunt at PGA tournaments. Tiger spent his late-teen years learning how to win (3 US Amateurs, 2 British Amateurs, and later an NCAA championship). Ms. Wie has spent her late-teen years trying to barely make cuts and get a paycheck. Honestly, she should be on the amateur circuit learning how to dominate. There is no replacement for mental toughness and that is why Tiger Woods is Tiger Woods.
Toshiba has officially announced the death of HD-DVD. They decided to just eat the millions of dollars they’ve invested and calmly bow out to the Sony-backed Blu-Ray.
Fallout
Of course there are going to be a lot of ticked off HD-DVD owners out there who bought those $30 movies. Too bad for them. My advice is to go down to your local electronics store and buy an extra HD-DVD player, which should be on sale now, so that when your current one breaks you can still watch you high-def movies. Oh, and when the sting wears off, I also recommend a Blu-Ray player since that’s the only way you’re going to be watching any new releases in the high-def you have grown to love.
The Other Loser
Yes, Toshiba is the clear loser, but I want to mention the other big loser today. Microsoft! Why you might ask? Because Microsoft was the big, bad, bouncer trying to bully HD-DVD to the top by making the Xbox an HD-DVD player too. So this announcement also gives Microsoft a little bit of a fat lip and leaves Xbox users with a machine that won’t be able to play any newly released high-def movies. Oh well, at least I don’t have any HD-DVDs.
I’ll admit, I thoroughly enjoy Celebrity Apprentice and tonight was amazing. To start things off Donald put a match with dynamite by putting Omarosa on the same team as Piers. That of course was just a publicity stunt and it worked to perfection.
Start the Fireworks
Omarosa led it off by spelling Piers’ name wrong on a meaningless sheet of paper. Piers made a big deal out of it. Omarosa couldn’t admit she was wrong and resorted to below-the-belt insults about Piers and his poor role as a father. On and on it went. That woman just spews venom. The other team worked as a team and did very well. The saddest point of the whole night was when they were forced to announce that Hydra won (based mostly on Piers connections and their deep pockets.) Thus the quandry for the Trump.
The Dilemma
Faced with an impossible decision Trump started looking desperately for outs. First he baited them into finger-pointing by asking each person who they thought hadn’t worked “as hard” as the others. All four of them recognized the trap and refused to point the finger of blame. Next Trump asked if any of them would resign, to take one for the team. Again they all took the high road and decided to stick in their for their charities. So what did Donald do? He did the right thing. He allowed all four members to stay until next week.
The Moral of the Story
I don’t mean to get all mushy or philisophical, but this was a great lesson that I’ve always hoped for but never seen in previous seasons of The Apprentice; that giving your all, working as a team, and being a true human being makes you a winner even if the scorecard says you’re a loser.
Congratulations to all of the Dallas Mavericks fans out there. You almost got a championship caliber point guard, but one thing got in the way. Devean George. Oh the irony! The Nets were going to get young talent, expiring contracts, and draft picks. The Mavericks were going to get the point guard they’ve coveted for so long. Now nobody gets anything because of a mediocre player that neither team wants. Don’t you just love some of the stupid rules that the collective bargaining agreement came up with? My condolences to Mavs fans and Nets fans everywhere.
That’s right folks, the Writer’s Guild finally has reached an agreement with the studios and will return to work. While this information delights me because I’ll get to watch new episodes of The Office, I think there is a lesson or two that we should learn from this situation:
Lesson #1 - Greed sucks! This whole thing was caused by everyone getting greedy.
Yes, I said everyone.
The studios got greedy and tried to cut writers out of revenues on new media (internet broadcasting, downloads to iPods, cell phones, and computers, etc.) In return for their greed they lost millions of dollars in advertising revenue while reruns ruled the airwaves and people just stopped watching all that reality crap.
The writers got greedy by demanding that they be compensated in the same way they’ve been getting compensated for old media. The internet is a different marketplace where free is name of the game and monetizing a site can take a long time. They got what they wanted, but I’ll guess that in a few years they’ll wish they’d gone a more progressive route and may strike again to change the deal (can we say having your cake and eating it too?)
Lesson #2 - People don’t care about TV shows as much as the networks thought.
This is by far the most important lesson to the networks and studios. People complained a little, whined for at least a couple of new episodes, and then moved on. Movie theatres picked up some traffic, the Barnes & Noble down the street got a little busier, and people may have even spent time BEING SOCIAL! Yes, with other people even. Now that will give a studio executive nightmares. However, salvation has come to both the executive and TV junkie alike in the form of the newest episode of The Office.
If you’re a little queasy do not follow this link, but if you have a morbid sense of curiosity….
Yes, that is Richard Zednik getting hit in the neck with a skate. He severed his CAROTID ARTERY and yet still managed to skate to his bench without passing out. That is one tough cookie.