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Foxconn may have contract to manufacture Apple netbook

By | April 20, 2009, 10:45am PDT

Summary: The Inquirer is reporting that none other than Foxconn Electronics may be manufacturing a netbook for Apple. According to the piece Digitimes and several Russian hardware sites are quoting Chinese-language site Commercial Times, which in turn is quoting sources from the component supply chain. The sources indicate that Apple has struck a deal with contract electronics [...]

The Inquirer is reporting that none other than Foxconn Electronics may be manufacturing a netbook for Apple.

According to the piece Digitimes and several Russian hardware sites are quoting Chinese-language site Commercial Times, which in turn is quoting sources from the component supply chain. The sources indicate that Apple has struck a deal with contract electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry (a.k.a. Foxconn Electronics) to manufacture Apple netbooks.

Details are extremely thin, but it’s not unrealistic. Apple has been looking very closely at the growing netbook market with some sources suggesting that Steve Jobs may be leading Apple’s netbook efforts while working from home during his six-month hiatus. Foxconn has manufactured iPods, iPhones and MacBooks for Apple in the past, so it’s feasible that they’d bid for the contract to build a netbook for Apple.

I just hope that the Apple netbook comes in at less than $500 - a psychological barrier for many consumers. But something tells me that it’ll cost $599. Don’t ask me why.

What’s your take on an Apple netbook? Would you buy one?

Concept image: Isamu Sanada via Techeblog.

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Topics

Apple Inc., Netbook, Inquirer, Details, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Hardware, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: Foxconn may have contract to manufacture Apple netbook
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0 Votes
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Foxconn may have contract to manufacture Apple netbook
Loverock Davidson 20th Apr 2009
Look on the bright side, if they use a Foxconn motherboard you won't be able to run linux on it. The purchase of one of these will depend on price. Remember that Apple is the same company that charged $600 for an iphone which is much smaller and less capable than a netbook.
0 Votes
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Economics of scale
use_what_works_4_U 20th Apr 2009
The iPhone also was a new piece of hardware not a re-bundling of
existing technology, as a Netbook. Capacitance operated touch
screens, for example, were not in common usage until after
the iPhone appeared. Also, you are talking about (at the time) a
phone with no subsidization from the carrier. Would you like to buy a
Treo 800 directly from Palm without changing your contract? $599.00

Now it's debatable the overall utility of one over the other, I never
used a Treo so I won't engage in that debate. At the time, though, an
unsubsidized phone/PDA/email/Internet device cost about $400 -
$600.

Having said all of that, I think that Apple's netbook (IF there is one
coming) will in fact be more expensive than anyone else's and I think
Jason's estimate is about right. I also believe that it will be targeted at
a different market, one that will pay for a glass trackpad, unibody
construction, likely a smaller overall volume and weight than most,
and a 10 inch diagonal LED backlit screen. Being Apple it will have
Bluetooth which is an option on most netbooks.

Now, the question is will they actually sell any? At $599 I think they
will. Not because it's the best value on the planet but because it will
be more than capable enough for most people's needs and will define
a new entry point for the product line.

Will I buy one? Not right away at the least. I already have an iPhone
and an original Macbook which suit my needs very well for portability.
I don't need to purchase on price as I have no need to upgrade. If and
when I decide that I need new portable computer, then I might be
tempted but frankly the 13 inch Macbook is as small as I would want
in a screen (1280X800) for any "real" computing. I will always have
some phone that lets me do casual surfing and email so that's not an
issue.
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i would consider it at that price.
lostarchitect 20th Apr 2009
at $500-$599 they have a good chance to sell me one. i have almost bought a dell mini 9 for around $300 about ten times, but the lack of a multitouch trackpad has stopped me. i have come to love the multitouch pad on my macbook pro so much that it is difficult to consider getting any notebook that isn't capable of its functionality. i think it alone is easily worth the price difference, not to mention the value that a native OSX device has for me.
0 Votes
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what?
doh123 20th Apr 2009
I don't get why you wont be able to run linux if it uses a Foxconn
motherboard? There are lotsa Foxconn made motherboards that run PCs
with Linux...
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Well...
Jeremy W 20th Apr 2009
since it will use the Apple OS-X, it will be worth more. You will
not need to pay the M$H!T tax every year to install $ymantec
AntiVirus, AntiSpy, AntiBotnet.

Moreover, when you drag and drop 15 folders from one
directory to another, it will actually do it instead of asking a
plethora of silly interrogatories, start the process and then
freeze at mid-point.

Anyone who values his time above minimum wage will profit
from an Apple device. For others, there is W7, WinMo, Zune,
PlaysForSure, Xbox, Encarta, Vistaster, and LiveSearch.

In computers as in most things, there is the Best and the Rest.
Buy a Dull or an HP and waste time, money, get the Rest and
pay endless M$H!T taxes to others for M$H!T failings.
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do you really need to say things like "M$H!T"?
lostarchitect 20th Apr 2009
it makes all of us mac users look bad. we would appreciate if you knocked it off. thanks.
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Add my vote to lostarchitect's suggestion (NT)
snberk341 20th Apr 2009
nt
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I am placing my vote as well!
Geuseppi 20th Apr 2009
I love my mac... but to hear a loon go overboard like that... makes anyone who prefers Macintosh and OS X look like idiots.
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Loyal Mac Evangelist for 25 years
use_what_works_4_U 21st Apr 2009
And i say CUT IT OUT!

This kind of vitriol only drives public opinion away from the Mac
community. No one attacked you, PLEASE be civil.
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I think ...
de-void-21165590650301806002836337787023 21st Apr 2009
... the other commentators hit the nail on the head regarding your immature opening and closing paragraphs.

To the rest of your points ...

In Windows, the only time you'll be prompted whilst copying files is if you're trying to copy files to a protected portion of your filesystem. For example - copying files to c:\windows requires admin priveliges ... and for good reason - that's where Windows itself is stored and Windows is trying to prevent the likes of my Mum accidentally overwriting crucial system files. Silly? I think not.

What have Windows Mobile, Zune, XBox, Plays For Sure, Encarta and Live Search got to do with the discussion of the merits of OSX and Windows?

FWIW, I earn a very good living, and have done for over 18 years, writing software for Windows, just like the many millions of other people forming or working in companies making products for the Windows ecosystem.

Before you berate the Windows ecosystem, consider that without a mass market like the one that formed around the first PC's, none of us would be enjoying the amount of computer power we now carry in our pockets, backpacks, briefcases and have sat under our desks.

Even Apple is now taking advantage of these economies of scale by (finally) permitting 3rd party peripherals to work with Mac's.

You may choose not to use Windows - that's your choice, but have some respect for those who choose Windows instead. Most of us don't experience the stability, reliability and security issues that the press and fanboys/girls the world over would have you believe we do.

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"Finally allowing 3rd party peripherals to work"
use_what_works_4_U Updated - 21st Apr 2009
Where have you been? Ever since Apple popularized USB with the iMac
in 1998 I have had absolutely zero problems with 3rd party
peripherals. Prior to that I was using printers from Epson and Canon
with no issues whatsoever. There were (and still are) a few hardware
vendors that refuse to write drivers for OS X, but that is not Apple's
problem. Choices abound and have for a very long time.

Sherman, set the Way Back Machine to late 1999. I enrolled in
MCP/MCSE classes and bought an HP Pavilion desktop computer. At
the time the current certifications were for NT 4.0 (Win 2000 courses
started shortly thereafter). My HP desktop had a NIC that NT did not
support. I researched and I bought a replacement card that Microsoft
listed on their Hardware Compatibility List for NT 4.0. The card
manufacturer listed the card as tested and compatible with HP Pavilion
models. From the time that card went in until the time it came out I
would get BSODs a half dozen times a day. Now tell me, what sort of
3rd party compatibility is it when MS and the card maker have both
tested and certified the use case I am concerned with and the result is
an unusable system? As soon as that card came out the Pavilion went
from my worst Windows experience to my best up to that point.

Eleven years of interoperability hardly qualifies as "finally allowing 3rd
party (anything)". You are spouting horrendously inaccurate and
outdated FUD either because you have an agenda or you simply
don't know what you are talking about.
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Plato's Cave
allhaileris Updated - 21st Apr 2009
What you describe is a deficiency of the user, and not the platform. I have never had issues with any pc resembling what you have described. I can pay $60 or even $100 a year for virus protection till the cows come home, and never approach the money necessary to enter the Mac market.
Further, if something should go wrong, I have myriad vendors from which to choose replacement parts, and can repair the computer myself. And remember, Macs represent a tiny fraction of the world's in-use computers. This is why they aren't targets for hackers. As they grow into wider use, you can expect problems yourself.
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Bring it on!
David Blomstrom 20th Apr 2009
I'm dying to buy a Mac netbook.

I predict that both the MacNetbook and Android will make a huge splash in the netbook arena, and Linux may yet emerge a winner as well.
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Less than $1K = too pedestrian for Apple
T1Oracle 20th Apr 2009
Anything under $1K is not elitist enough for the Apple crowd. Imagine if a poor person who has to work two jobs and live pay check to pay check could afford one? That would ruin Apple!
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then why...
doh123 20th Apr 2009
they why do they already have computers under 1k?
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FAIL - they have ONE computer under $1000
de-void-21165590650301806002836337787023 21st Apr 2009
One that has no screen (for the $1000 price), limited performance and expandability and is aimed at niche scenarios. It's great for those scenarios, but it's NOT a netbook/notebook and you wouldn't want to do serious work on it.

I am sure Apple's netbook, if and when it arrives, will be beautifully styled, perfectly marketed and will press all the "want it" buttons that Apple knows how to manipulate all too well. But it will still, no doubt, be several $100 more than the competition.

Apple has never and will never get into a price competition because they don't need to - they have no competition because nobody else can (legally) run OSX and nobody else offers a completely integrated experience.
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you failed math
doh123 21st Apr 2009
$999 $1000

plus they still sell other computers, like $899 iMacs, and older model
units that are under $1000.

anyways.. even if the Mac mini was the only computer model under
$1000, my statement was still grammatically true... they sell computers
under $1000.. yes the Mac mini is more than a single computer.. they
sell multiple of them.
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what would an apple netbook look like?
MrAlan 20th Apr 2009
I'm excited to see what an Apple netbook would look like. The $599 price point seems about right, but that's the market Apple goes for anyhow.
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$250 OS X Dell Mini 9 vs $500 Mac Netbook? I'd get the Mac.
Urkel 20th Apr 2009
I just got a Dell Mini 9 w/OS X and it's incredibly impressive for the price, but I am curious enough about the Mac that I may return it just to get my measely $250 back and start a Mac Netbook fund.

My Dell really is awesome but there are things to complain about with the screen/keyboard. And that's why I may return it. Obviously Apple will charge more, but their perfectionist attitude will result in a machine with less compromise.
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Please remember...
wolf_z 21st Apr 2009
...Apple *HATES* keyboards. And that's the central input device on a netbook. Not to mention the real estate for a multi-touch touchpad may not be there.

Netbooks have their own challenges because of size, and I'm not sure Apple can play there--lets not even talk about price.

For the record here's my desired features:

$200 price point
Keyboard you can type on (full speed!)
At least a 9" screen, no bigger than 10"
Cell modem built in
Blue tooth for a phone headset
Runs terminal server client (either XP, Win 7, or Linux I don't care)

Give me that and I could buy 10 of them tomorrow for our regional managers who spend 50%+ of their time out of the office and who don't like 15" laptops because of weight and fragility.

Come to that even a 13" is pushing it--not to mention the abuse they subject their laptops to.

Much easier to sell the brass on a $200 netbook than an $800 laptop too... happy
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As I said above ...
de-void-21165590650301806002836337787023 21st Apr 2009
... chances of Apple competing on price are 0:1.

Since they have no competition - no other company can legally ship and support machines running OSX - they don't have to compete on price.

I am sure their netbook will come within range of the upper end of the netbook market.

I agree that $599 sounds like the Apple netbook price sweet-spot.
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Keep in mind the Mac Book Air
snberk341 20th Apr 2009
If true, a Mac Net Book will need to be substantially
different than an MBA, in order to not cannibalize sales of
the Air. Or they are about to discontinue the Air.

An Air already has the minimum number of ports to be
useful (though some may argue Apple has gone too far in
that regard) so a Net Book will have roughly the same
number.

Its possible that they could just make an Air that was
smaller, and then sell a 10" and a 13" Air, but then the
$599 price point doesn't make sense, since they would
likely sell an "Air Light" for much closer to $1300 (or else
lose a lot of MBA sales.)

So, the question is.... what functionality can Apple remove
from an Air, and still have a viable system? My guess is
the keyboard.

Apple has a history of filling niche markets. The all-in-
ones (iMacs) and the Minis when they came out. Make a
system that does one thing really well, and people who
very much want that one thing done will not quibble about
the price. For any profession that needs a touch-screen
tablet to enter information using checkboxes and sliders,
then a tablet makes sense. Tie that together with OS X's
ability to display media files and the progress Apple has
made with Multitouch....

Imagine doctors bringing up patient files, and scanning
through x-rays, and using multitouch gestures to zoom in,
or to swipe through a stack of images, etc. Use a stylus to
write notes, etc

I'm sure there is more. My point is, I think that the market
Apple has identified is a small one, but they aim to provide
a product that is a "must have" and therefore they will
dominate that market. From there, the product will move
to other areas.

IMHO of course.


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Another nice made-in-china product
croberts Updated - 20th Apr 2009
that is taking Americans' hard earned money and shipping it overseas.

America is now like the quintessential prostitute. Everyone wants to take their turn, but in the process and over time there is less and less to take.

Good job.
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American Consumers have made their choice...
snberk341 20th Apr 2009
Long time ago, American consumers made their choice. They would
rather base purchase decisions on price, rather than on value. Now its
time to pay the piper.
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Is it that easy?
James Quinn 20th Apr 2009
Recently one of our long time employee's had an anniversary at work.
She started in 1984 and our general manager brought out some data
on what 1984 was like. The average pay in 1984 was 21.600.00 per
year. Then he listed off a bunch of costs like the average apartment
was like 350.00 a month. he went on to list movie tickets 2.50 and
other things like gas, milk and a car all average costs. Now today I
make around 32,000.00 a year and everything he listed has at very
least doubled and or tripled or more. Heck I'm betting her medical
benefits were much better than mine our now and her out of pocket
costs for health care were far less. So are we shopping at Wal Mart
and Dell because we want to or because we have too? My purchasing
power today is far less than it would have been in 1984 at a lower
income.

Pagan jim
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No, of course its not that easy...
snberk341 21st Apr 2009
But I could argue 3 things:
1) that since 1984 US companies have put pressure on their
employee's wages and benefits, keeping them low to compete with
off-shore companies.
2) that people now buy a lot of cheap things, over and over again.
Instead of keeping household items for years, they end up buying the
same thing again in weeks or months. Think about things like mops
and brooms, kitchen gear, garden tools. Yes, there will be many
people who talk about the $50 trowel they bought that will last them
a life-time. But I would argue that these are the exception. Most
stuff is now pressed soft-metal with plastic glued on.
2) that health benefits/insurance add a significant amount to the
wages of a working American. Countries that don't have a free-
market health-care system (essentially all the other industrialized
countries) have a cost advantage. They spend considerably less per
person, and get better results (if you use infant mortality, longevity,
and general health and happiness as valid markers). Since 1984 the
American health system has gotten more expensive, and more
countries have gotten away from free-market health care.
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1984... or so
neon.moon 21st Apr 2009
In 1985, I purchased my first 'factory' computer, an Apple ][c and peripherals. It was only $2400. Look at what you can get from Apple today for the same dollars. Or what you can get for today's dollar equivalent. Apple may appear to be overly expensive compared to PC's, but the bang for the buck has grown exponentially. As a side note, the IBM PC that we bought at work, cost about the same as the ][c.
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Back in 1984 ...
de-void-21165590650301806002836337787023 21st Apr 2009
... I received my 2nd computer an Acorn BBC Micro (HUGE in Europe at the time) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro.

It cost ?399 - approx $500 at the time.

It had the same CPU as the Apple IIe but clocked at 2MHz rather than Apples 1.3MHz and came with 32KB RAM to Apple's 64KB RAM.

Essentially these were VERY comparable machines.

So it's clear to see that the price differential between my $500 BBC-B and your $2500+ Apple IIe still reflects Apple's whole M.O.

It also clearly illustrates why Apple never reached mass adoption - Apple machines were always just that bit too expensive and too far out of reach of the many.
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Welcome to the global economy
use_what_works_4_U 21st Apr 2009
(NT)
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RE: Foxconn may have contract to manufacture Apple netbook
GraceSuarez 20th Apr 2009
I would absolutely pay $500, and probably would pay $599, but not happily. I have the Dell Mini 9 and have become a big fan of netbooks. I just took mine for a weekend trip and felt perfectly comfortable leaving it in my hotel room. It also served as a charger for my iPhone and Kindle. I could charge all my gadgets using only one outlet!

Of course I keep thinking about just hacking the Dell ....
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Microsofties posing as Mac lovers?
David Blomstrom 20th Apr 2009
Bill Gates and Microsoft are famous for corruption, exploiting workers and their own customers, screwing children, and on and on and on. Yet we can't even call them names, because it makes Mac lovers look bad???

Frankly, I find all this phony civility as disgusting as Bill Gates' phony philanthropy. Some people use "alternative" software simply because it's better. Some use it for socio-political reasons. I'm one of the people who embrace Apple, Google, open source software, etc. for both reasons.

Just because I chose a superior computer doesn't mean I surrender my right to free speech and my duty to revolt against corporate corruption. Screw M$.
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What?
MrAlan 20th Apr 2009
Did you get fired from Microsoft or something? You buy Apple products to save the world then... Come on.
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Huh?
David Blomstrom 21st Apr 2009
Your post makes no sense at all.
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How we look is important
use_what_works_4_U Updated - 21st Apr 2009
I can't count the number of times i have been told over the last
decade alone (out of 25 years using and loving Macs) that somone
would never buy a Mac because of the image of Mac users as rude
holier-than thou elitists .

Having said that, what about common civility? i don't belittle your
right to free speech but exercising it at the cost of common manners
is offensive and unnecessary. I use M$ and Micro$oft all the time and
there is no one who doesn't get my point. When people lead
off a discussion with terms like Micro$hit and CrApple then the
first thing I do is move on since the discussion is already degraded to
school yard name calling. That kind of social ignorance usually
indicates that intellectual ability will be disregarded in the ensuing
back and forth.

The reason our society is called "civilization" is the presumption that
one can express an opinion (or act in general for that matter)
civilly.

Grow up and join those of us who learned manners in kindergarten
and teach them to our children today.
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Here's how you look to me...
David Blomstrom 22nd Apr 2009
"I can't count the number of times i have been told over the last decade alone (out of 25 years using and loving Macs) that somone would never buy a Mac because of the image of Mac users as rude
holier-than thou elitists."

Sounds like Microsoft FUD to me. Frankly, if I worried about what stupid people think about me, I'd be as pathetic as they are.

"Having said that, what about common civility?"

How about a littlel common SENSE?

"i don't belittle your right to free speech but exercising it at the cost of common manners
is offensive and unnecessary."

If Microsoft can ignore civlity (if not the law), then why can't I? Sorry, I'm not a big fan of double standards.

"I use M$ and Micro$oft all the time and there is no one who doesn't get my point. When people lead off a discussion with terms like Micro$hit and CrApple then the first thing I do is move on since the discussion is already degraded to school yard name calling. That kind of social ignorance usually indicates that intellectual ability will be disregarded in the ensuing back and forth."

You know what I notice about your post? You sound just like a politician in that you don't discuss any ISSUES. You're just obsessed with civility. Frankly, you sound rather clueless.

"The reason our society is called "civilization" is the presumption that one can express an opinion (or act in general for that matter)
civilly."

Our society? Are you talking about the society that's murdering people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan? The society that lets Microsoft exploit children? Ah, that's some civlization.

"Grow up and join those of us who learned manners in kindergarten and teach them to our children today."

Thanks, but I'm not a liberal p*ssy. I have a brain and backbone.
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your opinion is noted
use_what_works_4_U Updated - 22nd Apr 2009
You know what I notice about your post? You sound just like a
politician in that you don't discuss any ISSUES. You're just obsessed
with civility. Frankly, you sound rather clueless.

Your "can't I say what I want" BS rant is the issue that you raised
in comment number 10 so I am, in comment 10.x.x exactly
on topic or are you trying to duck the issue?

As for the commentary on the blog post, I believe you will find my
thoughts cogently listed in comments 1.1, and 2.2.1. Also 8.2 which
is a comment on a comment, but I like it for it's sense of brevity. happy

If Microsoft can ignore civlity (if not the law), then why can't I?
Sorry, I'm not a big fan of double standards.

You can, that is your right. Most people in a position to affect change
will ignore you, and a large number of those who don't will de-value
your opinions as pure rants. You will not do much to further your
cause. Notice how your effective your insolence has been so far.
Obviously everyone cares about the technical merits of your
case! wink

Let me take the last 2 out of sequence:

Thanks, but I'm not a liberal p*ssy. I have a brain and
backbone.
I'm not a liberal either. I am also not feline. wink
I have a backbone, and I say what is important to me, often in very
passionate verbiage (ask NonZealot sometime, he'll tell you). As for
having a brain? Well that is the trait which enables me to make a
good, strong, argument that people usually pay attention to the
salient details of without resorting to cussing and sandbox
name calling. Having a backbone does not require you to be a verbal
bully and being one does not demonstrate that you have a backbone.

Our society? Are you talking about the society that's murdering
people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan? The society that lets
Microsoft exploit children? Ah, that's some civlization.

I agree that the Government of the United States has done many
things which are abhorrent. The Government is NOT the Society,
the people are which is why when the people are ugly, it
paints the society as ugly. Yes, bad things happen, yes, they need to
be addressed. Write a cuss-filled letter to the U.N. and see how far it
gets you, though.

BTW: That was a pretty Liberal diatribe you threw in there. See? All
of us can be liberal from time to time

NOTE: Edited for spelling
(twice! I really must need coffee)
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Mr. Blomstrom ...
de-void-21165590650301806002836337787023 21st Apr 2009
... may I suggest you go and seek help. Your issues are evidently too much for you to manage.

Your claims, also, are not only bordering ... no ... actually ... ARE utterly childish, but are also wrong. For example

Your claims are also unbalanced.

Do you *really* feel comfortable knowing that a commercial business that knows more about you and your habits, your tastes and desires, which gathers all that information and allows its staff unmonitored access to this data is to be trusted? And the fact that they are willing to release said information to your government doesn't fill you with dread?

And you're blind enough to infer that Microsoft (a business) is interested in money and profit? What a shocker! They're a business. That's what they're there for. Just like Google. Just like MySql/Sun/Oracle. Just like Apple, who, if I may point out, are currently sitting on more liquid cash ($25Bn)than Microsoft ($20Bn). Google is sitting on $17Bn). These are businesses - they exist to make money and to generate a return for their shareholders.

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:GOOG
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:MSFT

Also, I know many people who work at Microsoft and none of them screw children. I find that accusation offensive.

I suggest you think a little before posting in future. You're not helping yourself or your cause.

Perhaps once you've grown up a little you'll understand that calling people names gets nobody anywhere ... except into trouble.
0 Votes
+ -
Mr. de-void (of logic)...
David Blomstrom 22nd Apr 2009
"Your claims, also, are not only bordering ... no ... actually ... ARE utterly childish, but are also wrong. For example

Your claims are also unbalanced."

Lemme see if I have this straight...your belief that my claims "are also unbalanced" is an "example" that they are "actually ... [ARE] utterly childish, but are also wrong."

Dude, I'm not the one who needs to seek help.

"Do you *really* feel comfortable knowing that a commercial business that knows more about you and your habits, your tastes and desires, which gathers all that information and allows its staff unmonitored access to this data is to be trusted? And the fact that they are willing to release said information to your government doesn't fill you with dread?"

No, I'm not at all comfortable with Microsoft. Haven't I made that clear?

"And you're blind enough to infer that Microsoft (a business) is interested in money and profit? What a shocker! They're a business."

Microsoft isn't just a business; it's an extraordinarily corrupt and destructive corporation.

"These are businesses - they exist to make money and to generate a return for their shareholders."

And I exist to hold them accountable.

"Also, I know many people who work at Microsoft and none of them screw children. I find that accusation offensive."

I'm offended by the things Microsoft did to my students. But since you care more about business than children, that probably won't resonate with you.

"I suggest you think a little before posting in future. You're not helping yourself or your cause."

Are you sure about that?

"Perhaps once you've grown up a little you'll understand that calling people names gets nobody anywhere ... except into trouble."

Dude, I've been calling corrupt individuals names for over a decade, and I've never got in trouble. It's called free speech - and accountability. If you can't handle it, then go back to your computer games.
0 Votes
+ -
Wow!
use_what_works_4_U 22nd Apr 2009
Do you not understand that the " commercial business that knows
more about you and your habits, your tastes and desires, which
gathers all that information and allows its staff unmonitored access to
this data is to be trusted? And the fact that they are willing to release
said information to your government ... ?" is a reference to your
trusted Google? Ever use Google's auto-suggest feature? How do you
think that works anyway?

I understand that you are not comfortable with Microsoft, that you
view them as extraordinarily corrupt and destructive and that
you want to hold them accountable. I think we ALL get that, it's your
valued opinion to which you are entitled and which you are entitled to
espouse. I agree with most of it myself.

Where we lose you is the vitriolic tone which, whether you see it or
not, makes you come off like a lunatic standing on the corner with a
"sky is falling" sermon about those weird blue skinned aliens with the
ray-guns.

"Dude, I've been calling corrupt individuals names for over a
decade "

OK, now I get it. You're what, 25 years old? Or are you someone who
waited so long to start venting his spleen that you just have to spew it
all out there at one time, manners, etiquette, and mature vocabulary
be damned? I'm nearly 40 (still quite young thank you) and if you've
been at this for "over a decade" then I say welcome to the
party! You might do well to consider that those of us with more than
twice that experience MIGHT have found some successful tactics along
the way. No, we haven't won the war (Utopia is elusive) but we have
been around enough to know tactics that advance the strategy and
tactics that fail.
0 Votes
+ -
Blah, blah, blah
David Blomstrom 22nd Apr 2009
"You can, that is your right. Most people in a position to affect change will ignore you, and a large number of those who don't will de-value
your opinions as pure rants."

Most people in a position to affect change don't even vote or vote stupid - and few of them have a clue about pol-IT-ics. (By the way, I de-value YOUR opinions as pure rants.)

"You will not do much to further your cause."

So what have you and all your friends combined done to further the cause?

"Notice how your effective your insolence has been so far."

Controversy generates publicity. I'd say it's been quite effective.

"Obviously everyone cares about the technical merits of your case!"

Actually, most of my critics obviously don't give a damn about technical merits. All they care about is civility. They'll drone on and on and on about civility until the day they die, leaving them little time to discover a real cause, let alone fight for it.

"As for having a brain? Well that is the trait which enables me to make a good, strong, argument that people usually pay attention to the salient details of without resorting to cussing and sandbox
name calling. Having a backbone does not require you to be a verbal bully and being one does not demonstrate that you have a backbone."

Calling Billysoft names makes me a verbal bully??? Calling a spade a spade is an example of ACCOUNTABILITY, not bullying.

"I agree that the Government of the United States has done many things which are abhorrent. The Government is NOT the Society, the people are which is why when the people are ugly, it
paints the society as ugly."

So the government is ugly, but the society that theoretically supports that government (we are, after all, technically a democracy) is innocent. You sound like the makeover artists who are trying to convince the world that Microsoft and Bill Gates are two separate entities, the latter now reincarnated as a "philanthropist."

"Yes, bad things happen, yes, they need to
be addressed. Write a cuss-filled letter to the U.N. and see how far it gets you, though."

OK, so what have you and all your friends combined accomplished in this regard? Nuff said.

* * * * *

"Do you not understand that . . . is a reference to your trusted Google?"

I don't have blind trust in Google, but I don't distrust it nearly as much as I do Microsoft. On the corruption scale, Google can't begin to keep up with M$.

"Where we lose you is the vitriolic tone which, whether you see it or not, makes you come off like a lunatic standing on the corner with a "sky is falling" sermon about those weird blue skinned aliens with the ray-guns."

And you sound like a typical apathetic zombie who's so insulated from the truth that when he hears it, he assumes he must be listening to a lunatic. Either that, or you're just a propagandist working for Microsoft. Either way, your rant doesn't sway me in the least.

"You might do well to consider that those of us with more than twice that experience MIGHT have found some successful tactics along the way."

Oh, really? So what are some of your successful tactics, and what victories have you won against Microshit?
0 Votes
+ -
Thank you for amusing me
use_what_works_4_U Updated - 23rd Apr 2009
In the end you have added nothing to the discussion of this article
which was about Foxconn, Apple, a contract they have, and the
implications it may have for the future of technology. It's a shame,
because I think you do have relevant opinions (see the following
paragraph).

What you have attempted to do is to enflame the readership against
the Evil Empire of Micro$oft. What you have accomplished is to
successfully divert attention from your 2 brief, polite, and insightful
comments on the topic at hand, which I found to be very astute
indeed. I would point out that the only person to use the word
Microsoft before you was me, and I was criticizing them for publishing
false compatibility claims - politely, and to the point.

No one is going to remember your salient comments on Monday
morning. If they do remember your discussion here it will be in the
context of an obnoxious loud-mouth asserting his rights to be rude.
In other words:
Good intelligent opinions on Apple and netbooks + rude
attacks on polite discourse = FAIL.
This is particularly sad since you were not the person who originally
offended so many of us. you were apparently looking for a place to
put your soapbox.

Successful tactics - here's one "small" example: petitions, phone calls,
letters to Congress and the FTC eventually buoying the case against
Microsoft to the point where they were found to be illegally leveraging
their monopoly power in a court of law. All done civilly and
successfully. Or do you think that the Government spent all that
prosecution money to fight a technology partner out of a sense of
chivalry?
Oh, wait that's right it was a response to the 4 letter words you and
your cohorts were yelling in the streets! I remember now! wink

Thanks for playing along, I have been truly amused at the lengths you
will go to in order to prove me correct.
happy
0 Votes
+ -
Mr. Idiot...
David Blomstrom 23rd Apr 2009
"In the end you have added nothing to the discussion of this article which was about Foxconn, Apple, a contract they have, and the
implications it may have for the future of technology."

Actually, I have. It isn't my fault if you're too lazy to look for my various posts on the thread.

"No one is going to remember your salient comments on Monday morning."

BINGO - But they WILL remember the name calling. In other words, they will remember that there are people out there who really hate Microsoft, which will make them doubt some of the feelgood M$ propaganda the corporate media constantly churn out.

Ironically, it is you and your message - whatever it was - that will be forgotten.

"Successful tactics - here's one "small" example: petitions, phone calls, letters to Congress and the FTC eventually buoying the case against
Microsoft to the point where they were found to be illegally leveraging their monopoly power in a court of law. All done civilly and successfully."

Successfully? Yeah, M$ was really held accountable after George W. Bush rescued it from justice. And the M$ monopoly is just the tip of the iceberg. You're not going to inspire a lawsuit against M$ for exploiting children until you make lots of people realize it IS exploiting children. That's accomplished via public relations, not writing letters to corrupt Congressmen.

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Who's not reading?
use_what_works_4_U 23rd Apr 2009
Actually, I have. It isn't my fault if you're too lazy to look for my
various posts on the thread.

Actually I gave you praise for your comments about the future of
Apple in the netbook space in the very post you just replied to.
From my 2nd para: " from your 2 brief, polite, and insightful
comments on the topic at hand, which I found to be very astute
indeed. "

Either you can't take a compliment, or you are intentionally trying to
censor me hoping that no one would notice. Nice.


"BINGO - But they WILL remember the name calling. In other
words, they will remember that there are people out there who really
hate Microsoft, which will make them doubt some of the feelgood M$
propaganda the corporate media constantly churn out "

Once again, that is relevant how? You're fighting a good fight on the
wrong battlefield.

"Ironically, it is you and your message - whatever it was - that will
be forgotten."

LOL


I'm done with you.
0 Votes
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RE: Foxconn may have contract to manufacture Apple netbook
cruzdude 21st Apr 2009
Now if only it would run iPod Touch OS-X and have access to
the app store and be able to run apps. True, format different
but may not be difficult upgrade for app vendors. But it
really would need a GPS inside then it would be worth $599.
0 Votes
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Buy!
mayadanteamihan 21st Apr 2009
It will be the best out there, and it won't even be just a plain
netbook.
0 Votes
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Apple open your eyes... Don't miss this opportunity!
flyerbry 21st Apr 2009
If Apple brings out a netbook at $599.00 they would be absolutely stupid! I have no doubt they would sell plenty of units at that price but where Apple products like the IPod, and IPhone differ from their traditional computers is market share. Their lower-priced products despite still being a little pricey absolutely blow away the competition. Apple has an opportunity to bring out a netbook that is on the high-end of its category in terms of price where it will steal sales away from the best netbooks already on the market. What this does is it creates more converts to Mac OSX and the full-size Mac lineup. In my mind it makes more sense to offer an "entry" unit with a minimal hard drive and memory priced around $399.00 that compares (in terms of hardware) with the $250.00 to $350.00 netbooks currently on the market. At the same time, offer a model with a 200 Gig HD and additional RAM for $499.00. Keep it cheap enough to be competitive and you build market share which is what Apple has always struggled with. In my opinion, if Apple prices themselves out of the netbook market they will only be selling to the die-hard Apple customers and fail to introduce new customers to OSX - failing to grasp a perfect opportunity.
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Keep it clever
jay.macmaster@... 22nd Apr 2009
I agree with other respondents about offering models at, perhaps, two price levels but I believe Apple should give the more expensive one lots of bells and whistles, or options for them such as SSD. Too many other netbooks are like grown-up cell phones and are very limited as a regular computer, meaning one has to consider buying a laptop as well.

But a clever netbook with expansion ports could fulfil both functions and be priced accordingly. Make it really sexy, as Apple can, and charge 80-90% of a MacBook price.
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Apple Netbook(s)
David Blomstrom 22nd Apr 2009
I predict that Apple will eventually produce two or more netbook models. The netbook market is simply too hot and diverse to plug with a single machine. Asus may have gone overboard with its seemingly endless Eee series, but producing a single netbook is going to the other extreme.
0 Votes
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RE: Foxconn may have contract to manufacture Apple netbook
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
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