Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:58 pm

	Quote:
	Apple's a real battleground. When you have a $500 price point and a potential "vaporware" system that's pushed out six months, why bother to own the stock? What's the data point that will get the bulls to romp and the bears to hibernate?

Besides needing to review sixth-grade grammar*, Cramer seems to forget that Apple makes much more than the phone.

*Why do journalists insist on starting sentences with "And," when it indicates sloppy writing, at best, terrible ignorance, at worst?

Edited to clean up the quoted material.

Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:45 pm

He's right about world domination though. Apple's deal with Cingular put them into the largest US network for cellular devices there is. And the price point is a HUGE deal to the other cell makers who have been WalMarted into dumping their phones for cheap and thus their bottom lines have suffered. All praise the overlord who can bring back high margins to a bottom of the barrel cell phone market.

I love the people who predict that the iPhone is Vaporware. They obviously don't know much about Apple. Nor have they paid attention to their track record for the past six years. It's called success. Cold hard cash. In the bank. $10 Billion of it. They may have spent less than 2% of that on the iPhone R&D. Pre-sales figures are supposedly astronomical. And tieing in with Cingular, now AT&T, has given them access to the nation's largest cellular subscription service. Hmm. Not so dumb afterall. Quality of the cell service aside (which I'm pretty sure they're all equally bad considering the overwhelming need for towers nationwide), it was still the best move they could make.

Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:23 pm

	gslusher wrote:
	*Why do journalists insist on starting sentences with "And," when it indicates sloppy writing, at best, terrible ignorance, at worst?

I know. I hate that. "You should never use And or But to start a sentence". That was drilled into me in the third grade.

Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:22 am

In regards to Cingular not being that big of a network, they are big in urban areas where most cell calls are placed. That could change now the Baby Bells have morphed into Ma Bell, again, they will be looking for more pieces of the pie and move their cell service into rural areas as well as upgrading the system.

I have my DSL and land line service with AT&T and they are installing fiber optic all around town to sell cable TV. It won't be long before they will be offering a nice bundle for land line, cell phone, CATV and either DSL or fiber optic internet connection. I would love to have an Apple iPhone. In about a year I may let my Sprint cell contract run out and then switch to AT&T.

Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:31 am

	Guest wrote:
	It's perfectly fine to start a sentence with "And." In fact, it shows more writing skill that simply following a third grade rule. Or maybe you haven't advanced beyond that level in your writing and thinking skills? Or maybe you think you can't start a sentence with "Or" either? Welcome to high school!

There is a significant difference between writing vernacular, especially dialogues and more formal writing such as that used in reports and journalistic articles. Spoken English is by its nature more fluid and flexible than formal written English. If the journalist had been quoting someone who started his sentance with And, or But, or, yes even Or, I would not have objected. The sentence in question "And the man most likely to make this market share grab..." was not a quote and started a paragraph. As such it was quite poor form to begin with 'And the man most'. By starting with 'The man most...' the sentence would have been tighter and flowed better.

[/OT]

Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:03 am

geoduck wrote:

Guest wrote: It's perfectly fine to start a sentence with "And." In fact, it shows more writing skill that simply following a third grade rule. Or maybe you haven't advanced beyond that level in your writing and thinking skills? Or maybe you think you can't start a sentence with "Or" either? Welcome to high school! There is a significant difference between writing vernacular, especially dialogues and more formal writing such as that used in reports and journalistic articles. Spoken English is by its nature more fluid and flexible than formal written English. If the journalist had been quoting someone who started his sentance with And, or But, or, yes even Or, I would not have objected. The sentence in question "And the man most likely to make this market share grab..." was not a quote and started a paragraph. As such it was quite poor form to begin with 'And the man most'. By starting with 'The man most...' the sentence would have been tighter and flowed better. [/OT]

Oh man are you [sic]

As to cell phone coverage I was saying that while Cingular is currently not that big of a network, it could expand now that they are part of AT&T. I read about a plan to put cell phone equipment in hot air balloons and let them drift over Montana and/or The Dakotas. After it had passed over the state the balloon would descend and the equipment would be recovered.