Social media sites are rushing to have their IPO’s as they are trying to strike at a time when demand is high. Social media companies deserve credit for learning lessons from early social media sites that failed to strike while the iron was hot. No company reflected this aspect of bad timing more than MySpace. MySpace was once valued at $580 million dollars when Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation bought the network back in 2005. Some investors believed the company was worth more than a billion dollars in 2008. So, how much is Myspace worth today? [Read more...]
A Technology Loser That Needs To Pay A Higher Dividend
April 13, 2011 By 1 Comment
The technology sector is normally a hit with Wall Street analysts and risk taking investors. You can always find some expert that is bullish on the futures of Google and Apple and for good reason. Technology stocks have massive amounts of cash that they reinvest into their company’s growth which give investors the chance for capital appreciation. There are some large cap tech stocks that have failed to live up to the sector’s reputation. Let’s take a look at a technology stock that has been a laggard for so long that the company may need to become a dividend stock so that investors can get some kind of return.
What Is Feedburner?
December 23, 2010 By 6 Comments
Have you ever heard of RSS? You have probably seen it all over the place but may not know what it is. What is Feedburner exactly? Do you see that little orange box to the left with the dot and the two curved lines on it right below the subscription options bar? It’s the first icon on the left. It looks like this.
RIMM Isn’t Toast Yet
December 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Shares of Research In Motion (RIMM) increased 2% in after hours trading as the company reported better 3rd quarter earnings than expected. Analysts were looking for revenue of $5.4 billion and an EPS of $1.64.
Is Research In Motion Really In Trouble?
December 15, 2010 By 8 Comments
According to a Yahoo Tech Ticker post, James Altucher believes that Nokia and Research In Motion days as players in the smartphone market are nearly over. Altucher gives a remarkably bold prediction about the fate of two of the country’s larger technology companies.
5 Guys That You Have Never Heard Of That Are Making A Killing Online
December 6, 2010 By 11 Comments
The stories of the rise to wealth of famous people like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey are legendary. They were each able to take their lifelong passions and turn them into billion dollar fortunes. There are other entrepreneurs that have made large amounts of income through innovative business ventures as well. Just because they are not on the cover of Forbes magazine does not mean that you cannot learn a thing or two from them.
Let’s take a look at 5 guys that may not be household names just yet that are making a ton of money on the Internet.
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Page Rank Schmage Rank
November 30, 2010 By 18 Comments
There are so many articles written about the importance of Google Page Rank. I even wrote one myself on taking steps to increase your Page Rank. Google PageRank is important to website owners because it is one of the metrics that advertisers use to determine how much they are willing to pay for a particular ad on a website. While Google PageRank is a legitimate tool to use when assessing a site, there are other tools that are just as useful for determining the popularity of a website. Let’s take a look at a new player in the ranking game known as MozRank.
A $99 Video Game System
November 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I was surfing the net the other day and was surprised to learn that there was a brand new video game system available for just $99 bucks. It’s not a PS3, Xbox 360 or a Nintendo Wii. It’s called the OnLive Video Game System.
How To Switch Hosting Companies With No Downtime
November 22, 2010 By 2 Comments
I recently switched hosting companies to improve the performance of my site. I noticed that my site had become slow and unresponsive at times. I was tired of the long loading times and found that my server was down all too frequently. I am pleased with my new hosting company as the site is much more responsive and easier to surf. I was able to switch companies without my website being down during the process.
One of the side effects of the moves was that my email was offline over the weekend. The bad news is that if you sent me an email over the weekend I may have missed it. The good news is that my recent hosting move gave me an idea for a post. It is a little off topic from what I normally write about but it is useful information for anyone with a blog nonetheless. Today, let’s look at a few easy steps on how to switch hosting companies with no downtime.
Why Apple Is No Microsoft
June 2, 2010 By 2 Comments
Apple (AAPL) surpassed Microsoft (MSFT) last week as the largest technology company in the United States. Apple now has a market cap of $237 billion dollars compared to Microsoft’s market cap of $226 billion dollars. Will surpassing Microsoft as the largest tech company be a sign of bad things to come for Apple? Some analysts seem to think so. There are even articles advising investors to short shares of Apple (Steve Jobs Won’t Live Forever So Short Apple Now).
Why Apple Is No Microsoft
Apple and Microsoft are like night and day. Microsoft has never been a market leader in any segment. Microsoft is slow to adapt and late to the game. Look at Microsoft’s most recent foray into the telecommunications market. With Research In Motion, Google, and Apple all dominating the smartphone market, Microsoft is now attempting to gain market share with its Windows Phone 7. Even its famed MSDOS operating system was bought from Seattle Computer Products for $50,000. Microsoft generates revenue from licensing and sales of upgrades of existing products. Microsoft has been unable to spur future growth because of a lack of innovation.
Microsoft has almost $40 billion on its balance sheet and nowhere to deploy it. Microsoft missed an opportunity to snap up smaller competitors like Palm. Microsoft has never been able to acquire Yahoo despite being interested in acquiring the search rival for years. The culture at Microsoft reflects the persona of CEO Steve Ballmer. He is a Harvard trained manager and not a product development guy.
Apple deservingly so trades at a premium to Microsoft because of its recent history of growth. Apple has the persona of Steve Jobs. He is a product guy and the reason for Apple’s focus on new product development. iMacs, iPods, iPhones, and iPads are great examples of Apple’s ability to bring new products to the market over the past decade. Apple is an industry leader whereas other tech companies are slow to catch up. Steve Jobs may be the brains behind Apple but the company has a deep bench with Tim Cook and Phil Schiller. Look at the turnaround at Palm by former Apple exec Jonathan Rubenstein. Apple has a way of selling you products that you never knew you needed until Apple made them. The iPad is a perfect example of this. I wouldn’t be willing to bet against the fact that Apple will continue to create cool new products that people want.
Look at it this way. If you had $1 million dollars to invest in either company over the next 5 years, who would you feel more comfortable placing it with? Steve Jobs at Apple or Steve Balmer at Microsoft?
Disclosure: I do not own shares of either company.
Photo by: kyz
