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Apple Becomes the First $1 Trillion US Company in History (reuters.com)

Apple became the first $1 trillion publicly listed U.S. company on Thursday, crowning a decade-long rise fueled by its ubiquitous iPhone that transformed it from a niche player in personal computers into a global powerhouse spanning entertainment and communications. Reuters: The tech company's stock jumped 2.8 percent, bringing its gain to about 9 percent since Tuesday when it reported June-quarter results above expectations and said it bought back $20 billion of its own shares. "Apple's $1 trillion cap is equal to about 5 percent of the total gross domestic product of the United States in 2018," David Kass, professor of finance at the University of Maryland, told The Washington Post. "That puts this company in perspective." The company's fortunes were turbocharged by the launch of personal gadgets such as the iPod in 2001 and the iPhone in 2007. Since then 18 different iPhones have been launched and more than 1.2 billion of the devices have been sold.

Brad Stone, writing for Bloomberg: As critics enjoy pointing out, the company under Cook has failed to come up with another iPhone-type hit. But that's like saying da Vinci never came up with another Mona Lisa-type painting. The release of the iPhone is up there with the founding of Standard Oil as one of the greatest business moves of all time. And while the iPhone has altered daily life so much that no one remembers life before it, Apple has also persuaded customers to embrace other inventions they never knew they wanted, such as connected watches that buzz and beep (to cure the distraction of the phone, Apple says) and wireless dongles that hang ridiculously from their ears.

Apple isn't alone on this mountaintop. Amazon.com, Alphabet, and Microsoft are likely at some point to pinwheel across the $1 trillion finish line, too, and they're almost as good as Apple at manufacturing customer desire. No one told Amazon they needed a speaker they could talk to, or Google a self-driving car, or Microsoft a ... OK, it's been a while since Microsoft has driven civilians wild with desire.

219 comments

  1. but.. by e432776 · · Score: 2

    does NetCraft confirm it??

    1. Re:but.. by Netcraft+Confirms+It · · Score: 2

      It's only fiat either way.

    2. Re:but.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Apple's $1 trillion cap is equal to about 5 percent of the total gross domestic product of the United States in 2018," David Kass, professor of finance at the University of Maryland, told The Washington Post. "That puts this company in perspective.

      That puts "steering by the wake" in perspective.

      In other news, Apple is now #3.

      The past is zero indicator of the future.

  2. It's official... by The+Original+CDR · · Score: 1

    We can now say, "No one ever got fired for buying Apple iPhones."

    1. Re: It's official... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh they did, if they bought it with company money

    2. Re: It's official... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the talking face on the theatre screen that the young woman throws her hammer at is Tim Cook.

  3. But... by sycodon · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...Everyone knows Apple is going out of business (71 predictions of Apple's demise)

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:But... by KiloByte · · Score: 0

      Copernicus law: "bad money drives out good". It applies to marketing products, too (neither iPhones, MacBooks nor Windows have their use share on technical merits).

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    2. Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well... it just shows that the world has a large population of idiots that are willing to pay more and more for the same polished dog turd when they can buy a perfectly nice polished wolf turd for a small fraction of the cost of the polished dog turd... once upon a time.. phones and smartphones were more than mere turds... but no more... look.. ohh...shiny ... and IN/fanshionable.. to hell with functionality.. I just want a turd that is as shiny and expensive as possible!

    3. Re: But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember that marketing is a powerful force, they can make people but poison as cough medicine.

    4. Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Overall that's probably true, since iOS is hamstrung on many technical (though not commonly needed or widely wanted) fronts. But there are several areas in which the iPhone, MacBook and Windows have merit, and some of those might account for the popular preference for the product. For example, the iPhone camera has been one of the highest rated for years. Apple's custom ARM chips have long been the fastest on the market. And the Macbook's trackpad has always been years ahead of Windows' crummy drivers. Windows has Office (which is a sort of technical merit), good networking and vast ecosystem. To suggest 'technical merits' is a monolithic property that these things lack is just not how consumer markets work.

  4. Congratulations, Apple! by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pretty amazing accomplishment!

    Maybe this will quiet the anti-Cook faction.

    Oh, nevermind; who am I kidding?

    1. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe this will quiet the anti-Cook faction.

      You know, I have several Apple devices in my home ... I like Apple in general.

      But, in the specific, under Cook Apple is mostly just rolling out slow improvements to things they already had, and taking the pointless decision to remove ports and the like. All the while letting other products stagnate.

      I'm not sure anything they've done under Cook can be counted as 'innovation', just straight up evolution of a product.

      I'm in awe of a trillion dollar company, because that is just such a crazy number, but I'd say they mostly got there on inertia since Jobbs died. Meanwhile, they're leaving their desktops and laptops to whither on the vine for the most part.

    2. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The anti-Cook faction exists because Tim Cook seems to be in the anti-Macs faction.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It is impressive all the more because it is neither a government-guaranteed monopoly nor a pseudo monopoly -- they have a slice, large, but not even majority of a market they mostly created.

      It is built by offering a great product with cachet, and free people choose to buy it over many others.

      They deserve every penny of valuation.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    4. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't have any Apple products other than an iPad I carry at work, but I don't think there has been any real innovation in the consumer tech sector in a few years, from any company. It's all been an evolution. Phones get bigger, faster with more LTE bands. Laptops get faster, with higher res screens. SSDs get cheaper and faster. It's all evolution. No one is truly innovating.

    5. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by omnichad · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure anything they've done under Cook can be counted as 'innovation', just straight up evolution of a product.

      That's actually good, except people keep upgrading when their devices work fine. The reason to standard on iOS now is that it won't radically innovate. This is good for corporate adoption and for older consumers who hate re-learning UIs every few years.

      Wild innovation got them to where they are with this product. They need a new hit, not to try to keep wringing excess profit out of a stable source of income for decades to come. Even Microsoft is starting to learn this a little bit with Office and Windows 10 - don't ruin something people like or they won't buy it anymore.

    6. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 0

      The anti-Cook faction exists because Tim Cook seems to be in the anti-Macs faction.

      Sure.

      Exhibit 1: The iMac Pro. Jobs didn't do it. Cook did.

      Exhibit 2: 6-Core MacBook Pro with 32 GB of RAM. Again, Cook.

      Exhibit 3: Recent Mac TV Ads. Obviously, Tim hates the Mac.

      When Tim Cook made that comment a couple of years ago about the iPad Pro replacing the Personal Computer, he didn't clarify. In fact, an iPad Pro (or even a regular iPad) IS currently replacing MILLIONS of Personal Computers for those who just need an email, surfing and FaceBook machine. Particularly (but not exclusively) older, non-techie people; who simply don't NEED a full-blown computer, with all the complexity and trappings of a fully-exposed filesystem, complex Applications, and inconvenience of having to go where the computer is, instead of picking up an iPad, and having it ready-to-go by the time your finger reaches out to the display. And (let's not forget this!) the ability to EASILY move the display closer so that elderly eyes can read it(!!!)

    7. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by magusxxx · · Score: 1

      Removing the ports are like increasing the dimple at the bottom of the peanut butter jar.

      Less product but you get the same container at the same price.

      --
      Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
    8. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by dj245 · · Score: 1

      It is impressive all the more because it is neither a government-guaranteed monopoly nor a pseudo monopoly -- they have a slice, large, but not even majority of a market they mostly created.

      A market they mostly created? I think not. Luxury phones existed before Apple made a phone. I'm old enough to remember when the Motorola RAZR was considered to be a very expensive but stylish phone. And they sold a "Luxury" version of the RAZR as as well.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    9. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by gtall · · Score: 1

      Yes, and Moto took that create idea and did precisely what with it? Create a market? I think not.

    10. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      Apple mostly created the personal (as opposed to business) smartphone market. Particularly if you define "smartphone" as something you can install apps on, rather than a phone that can get e-mail.

    11. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      not that crazy a number, since there is relentless money printing, every company will eventually be worth trillions

    12. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      Like a cigarette company, probably produces a measurable drag on the economy.

    13. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Exhibit 1: The iMac Pro. Jobs didn't do it. Cook did.

      And it's largely-unrepairable garbage which they don't in fact even appear to have parts to repair. That's not pro.

      Exhibit 2: 6-Core MacBook Pro with 32 GB of RAM. Again, Cook.

      Also largely-unrepairable garbage, with a garbage keyboard. Also not pro.

      Exhibit 3: Recent Mac TV Ads. Obviously, Tim hates the Mac.

      A few ads do not a product make.

      When Tim Cook made that comment a couple of years ago about the iPad Pro replacing the Personal Computer, he didn't clarify. In fact, an iPad Pro (or even a regular iPad) IS currently replacing MILLIONS of Personal Computers for those who just need an email, surfing and FaceBook machine.

      Yeah... which means he's displacing Macintosh sales. You just supported the argument of the person to whom you replied.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    14. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is built by offering a great product with cachet, and free people choose to buy it over many others.

      It was built on the strength of a single platform - OpenStep and Apple's ability to add chrome to the OpenStep GUI. Macs before OS X were crap no matter what people remember.

      Apple II - Innovative but crap. Lisa - crap. Macintosh (original) - crap. All Macs from the SE to the II-F - crap.

      The IIFX was moderately useful for the time, but that only lasted a year, and it was hobbled by that crap OS6

      Everything from the IIFX to the G4 - crap. This includes the Newton, the ImageWriter, the LaserWriter and the Apple One Camera

      The G4 - Useful for its time but Apple kept it alive far too long. iMac (every single one ever) - crap.All Powerbooks ever - shiny crap for designer wanna-bees and "special" people. Blech.

      OS X ver 2 - moderately useful. Combined with the Powermac and any good LCD (except the crap Apple made) this was Apple's only decent invention ever.

      iPod - over blown walkman. iPhone - original for about two seconds but now just an Android look-a-like. iPad - All pads are exactly the same. iWatch/AppleWatch? Please.

      Please notice the ONLY product with any success in Apple's portfolio is the PowerMac running OS X and they haven't made any upgrades to this in a decade. Everything else Apple sells is because some people will buy anything.

    15. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congratulations! Please tell me, for what?? According to Wikipedia the company was worth (in 2017) 134 G$. Although shares (pieces of paper with the Apple log on them) seem to be work 1 T$. Apple does not own its own shares.

      According to Gartner it's share of the PC market (desktops and laptops) has grown from 5 % in the nineties to a whopping 7.4 % in 2017 (trailing HP, Lenovo and Dell), whereas Linux still struggles around 2 %. The total size of the PC market has been shrinking for the last few years. Apple has exited the server business. It may stay in the workstation business.

      The company today dwarfs Apple Records (founded by The Beatles) in terms of sales of recorded music. It's leader went to heaven, but that didn't hurt the Roman Catholic church either.

    16. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Arashi256 · · Score: 1

      Tim Cook is Apple's Steve Ballmer. Seriously, that's what I think. The Founder leaves/dies and the shareholders or whoever promote a solid business guy to gain profit to shareholders. This works - for a bit.

    17. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      under Cook Apple is mostly just rolling out slow improvements to things they already had, and taking the pointless decision to remove ports and the like.

      Killing the headphone jack was far from pointless. It gave Apple a new revenue stream for an investment of exactly zero inventive genius. It extracts even more money from each of the otherwise stagnating pool of Apple addicts. Major point there.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    18. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Tough+Love · · Score: 2

      it is neither a government-guaranteed monopoly nor a pseudo monopoly

      Wrong. Apple is a monopoly according to US antitrust law, which defines a monopoly in terms of market control. Apple certainly controls both the iOS and MacOS markets, that is clear cut. It is immaterial whether a market is actually a subset of another market, such as the phone market, the PC market, or the consumer electronics market. What matters is whether it is a distinct market.

      And sure, I'm going to get slimed by a bunch of zombie eyed Apple cultists for saying it, but grow up kids. This is easy to understand.

      Owning a monopoly is not necessarily illegal. Abusing a monopoly is illegal.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    19. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Exhibit 1: The iMac Pro. Jobs didn't do it. Cook did.

      And it's largely-unrepairable garbage which they don't in fact even appear to have parts to repair. That's not pro.

      Exhibit 2: 6-Core MacBook Pro with 32 GB of RAM. Again, Cook.

      Also largely-unrepairable garbage, with a garbage keyboard. Also not pro.

      Exhibit 3: Recent Mac TV Ads. Obviously, Tim hates the Mac.

      A few ads do not a product make.

      When Tim Cook made that comment a couple of years ago about the iPad Pro replacing the Personal Computer, he didn't clarify. In fact, an iPad Pro (or even a regular iPad) IS currently replacing MILLIONS of Personal Computers for those who just need an email, surfing and FaceBook machine.

      Yeah... which means he's displacing Macintosh sales. You just supported the argument of the person to whom you replied.

      1. Prove to me that you can't get the iMac Pro repaired NOW.

      2. VERY repairable non-garbage. Get with the times, man! Go on Amazon and find yourself a nice SMT rework station. They are REALLY cheap now; to the point that even HOBBYISTS should be able to afford one! As far as a horrible keyboard, that's a matter of opinion; as is your "non-Pro" (whatever THAT means!) allegation.

      3. Who was talking about "making a product" with the Mac Ads? I was simply pointing out that that that Apple has a continuing financial COMMITMENT to the Mac.

      4. The fact that iPads are now a more sensible/desirable product for "light" computer users is not really bad news for the Mac. Because Macs have historically had a higher price tag than cheapshit plastic Windows computers, those sales (and the sadness that followed) usually went to NON-Apple products. Fortunately, those people now have a product that more closely matches their needs. IMHO, this does NOT cannibalize Mac sales to any great extent, for the reason stated herein.

    20. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      1. Prove to me that you can't get the iMac Pro repaired NOW.

      LinusTechTips tried. Apple refused, citing parts unavailability. If that's not enough proof for you, then you should be asking why Apple lied about it.

      VERY repairable non-garbage. Get with the times, man! Go on Amazon and find yourself a nice SMT rework station.

      Snicker snort. As compared to anyone else's equipment, which can be repaired by parts swapping?

      Who was talking about "making a product" with the Mac Ads? I was simply pointing out that that that Apple has a continuing financial COMMITMENT to the Mac.

      That commitment is trivial. Apple has more money than Jesus, remember? Maybe they should spend some of that money on developing a product that pros want to buy.

      The fact that iPads are now a more sensible/desirable product for "light" computer users is not really bad news for the Mac

      Of course it is. You can buy a cheaper tablet from someone else that will suit the needs of the vast majority of users. People who buy Apple stuff buy it because it has an Apple logo on it. If they can buy something cheaper that does the job they would have done with something else with an Apple logo on it, then that's going to cannibalize sales of the more expensive product.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    21. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spot the shill. Samsung and LG are the brains behind Apple's products. Rounded corners, using BSD, and changing icon shapes every now an then is not great. It's lazy. Nothing Apple have done has not been done before. Often many years earlier - i.e. ahead of their time. The difference is real engineering companies don't have paid shills and zealots like yourself crawling for Apple "articles" to defend. Sheesh, what a crap life you must have. You post history is embarrassing. How many other accounts do you have?

    22. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the iphone as we know it is a Sony design. The blueprints were presented in court but the judge ruled them inadmissible due to timing - and the media all but prentended they didn't exists. That's right! Apple's own documents that came up with the discovery of a court case proved Apple did not create the device format and the "Apple" designs still have the Sony logo on every single CAD page. Apple's own phone was awful and got scrapped.

      Sony let Apple use the icon grid on a touchscreen device (why? - is the biggest tech question in the field, one that will never be answered). The OS is BSD, touch screens have been around since the 80s. Nokia had something similar well before iThings were even talked about, but they went for an open platform rather than locking it down and then selling devkit access (and marking). PDAs with cellular beat all these but like the Nokia, the market wasn't ready.

      Don't bother arguing with these people. They're paid to defend Apple, or they're obsessed with the brand and do it for free. You'll be buried. When people are attacked to brands like Apple, they shut up the engineering reality and take any facts they don't like as personal slights against them.

    23. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by fafalone · · Score: 2

      That's like saying Ford has a monopoly because they have a monopoly on the Ford Explorer. US antitrust law doesn't define a monopoly as being the only one to make your exact name branded product. It's about control of a specific product or business *type*. If iOS and MacOS had near complete market dominance, you know like Windows used to, that's a monopoly. Specifically, it's about whether consumers have an alternative, not to the specific brand name, but to the product type.

    24. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Searching for "imac pro repair" gives 14.1 million results and the first few have these titles:
      Popular YouTuber Says Apple Won't Fix His iMac Pro Damaged While Disassembled (he's not saying they won't repair it for free, he's saying they won't repair it even if he's paying for the repair).
      Is Apple's behavior ILLEGAL?? - iMac Pro Repair Pt. 2
      Apple refuses to fix iMac Pro damaged in YouTube teardown
      Canadian YouTuber Denied iMac Pro Repair By Apple Over ‘Policy’ Issues [VIDEO]
      The Apple Store Genius Bar Broke My $5,000 iMac Pro

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    25. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      US antitrust law doesn't define a monopoly as being the only one to make your exact name branded product. It's about control of a specific product or business *type*.

      I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on Slashdot. But I doubt that your car analogy with stop this lawsuit which alleges that Apple abuses its monopoly control of its App store. You can rage about it if you like, but the law is the law. SCOTUS will decide.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    26. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by jcr · · Score: 1

      You don't know what you're talking about, but don't let that stop you!

      Ballmer pissed away half of MSFT's market cap. Tim has increased AAPL's valuation from $350 billion to $1 trillion.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    27. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congratulations! Please tell me, for what?? According to Wikipedia the company was worth (in 2017) 134 G$. Although shares (pieces of paper with the Apple log on them) seem to be work 1 T$. Apple does not own its own shares.

      Apple owns 62% of its own shares - the outstanding ones are worth $1tn

    28. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Searching for "imac pro repair" gives 14.1 million results and the first few have these titles:
      Popular YouTuber Says Apple Won't Fix His iMac Pro Damaged While Disassembled (he's not saying they won't repair it for free, he's saying they won't repair it even if he's paying for the repair).
      Is Apple's behavior ILLEGAL?? - iMac Pro Repair Pt. 2
      Apple refuses to fix iMac Pro damaged in YouTube teardown
      Canadian YouTuber Denied iMac Pro Repair By Apple Over ‘Policy’ Issues [VIDEO]
      The Apple Store Genius Bar Broke My $5,000 iMac Pro

      Aren't those all echoing the same blogger?

    29. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How long is "a bit"?
      Tim Cook became CEO 7 years ago, and was mostly in charge for years before that.

    30. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by fafalone · · Score: 1

      I don't know why you're having so much trouble with comparisons, but that case isn't saying that Apple has a monopoly on The iOS App Store, it's saying Apple is abusing its monopoly position of app stores for iOS. iOS App Store has market dominance against competitors like Cydia, to the extent it's basically a monopoly. If Cydia had substantial market share, as did other 3rd party app stores, then Apple would no longer have a monopoly despite still being the only one to make the official iOS App Store. Do you really not understand the distinction between a product and type of product?

    31. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      that case isn't saying that Apple has a monopoly on The iOS App Store, it's saying Apple is abusing its monopoly position of app stores for iOS

      Take a deep breath, sit back, think a moment. Even you should be able to see what a ridiculous self contraction you just farted out to the internets.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    32. Re:Congratulations, Apple! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >They deserve every penny of valuation.

      Except that wealth inequality and debt spending is propping up their $1000 smartphones that cost $278 to make and ship.

  5. I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From the MacRumors article (emphasis mine):

    Apple has officially become the world's only trillion dollar publicly traded company, in terms of market capitalization, which is simply the company's number of outstanding shares multiplied by its stock price. [...] As with most milestones of this nature, however, Apple reaching exactly a trillion dollar market cap doesn't have too much significance, beyond the vanity of it.

    Pretty much sums it up.

    1. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      From the MacRumors article (emphasis mine):

      Apple has officially become the world's only trillion dollar publicly traded company, in terms of market capitalization, which is simply the company's number of outstanding shares multiplied by its stock price. [...] As with most milestones of this nature, however, Apple reaching exactly a trillion dollar market cap doesn't have too much significance, beyond the vanity of it.

      Pretty much sums it up.

      It certainly has a relative significance in the stock market; considering they are the first company of ANY kind in HISTORY to achieve that milestone.

    2. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by lazarus · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Agreed. And from the Slashdot synopsis:

      "Apple's $1 trillion cap is equal to about 5 percent of the total gross domestic product of the United States in 2018," David Kass, professor of finance at the University of Maryland, told The Washington Post. "That puts this company in perspective."

      No it doesn't. Market cap is perceived company value. GDP is revenue. They are completely different things. Basically, something happened in the market and everybody wants to say something important about it, but there isn't really anything to say.

      "They are the most successful company in history (at this exact moment)." Tomorrow may be different.

      --
      I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
    3. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by bondsbw · · Score: 1

      Again, vanity.

      It doesn't mean somebody can buy Apple for $1T. It doesn't mean that shareholders will get back their investment at this stock price, or that Apple is destined to come up with the next big thing. It also doesn't mean that Apple won't buy every company and rule the world. Fact is, we don't know anything except that they are a really big company, which we knew before.

      --
      All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
    4. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Informative

      a trillion dollar market cap doesn't have too much significance

      It does for the socialists who love their iPhones because Apple is "their company".

      I mean, it should for those who have two brain-cells to rub together.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    5. Re: I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      When we have hyperinflation next year all companies will be in the trillion range, don't worry

    6. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Nailed it. The market cap is the market price per share times outstanding shares. Imagine a sell-off of all those shares, with everybody trying to cash out. The share price would plummet. It only holds when someone else tries to buy half the shares at once because they want to buy the business (someone trying to buy in, but people aren't rushing to cash out).

      It's sitting. It's not only not assets, but it's meaningless. Meanwhile, the company is making and selling things--you know, production--which of course draws revenue, and we measure that production in revenue dollars, hence GDP. They could have a trillion-dollar market cap and a thirty-billion-dollar revenue stream.

    7. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Informative

      BS. The Dutch East Indian Trading company was worth over $7 TRILLION in today's dollars. In fact, several were - or are - worth more than Apple. But you go ahead like the good fanboi we know you are!

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    8. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      I don't know that it actually does carry any significance. The fact that inflation is a pretty steady thing made it an inevitability that someone would cross the mark eventually. If not Apple, then Amazon and Google look to be on track to do so in the near-ish future as well. Plus, technically speaking, Apple is NOT the first to cross that threshold. That honor goes to PetroChina, who crossed the trillion dollar mark way back in 2007, though admittedly only for a day. In terms of inflation-adjusted dollars, Apple would need to gain yet another $145M in market cap before they would break PetroChina's record.

      It's a big number, to be sure, but other than the vanity of it, I really don't see a point.

    9. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by fattmatt · · Score: 1

      It's revenue is more on the order of 1.25% GDP ... I think ... which is still a solid % for a single company.

    10. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      "They are the most successful company in history (at this exact moment)." Tomorrow may be different.

      Actually, they are not. They are in the top 10, but there were more than a few worth more, and arguably Aramco and PetroChina are still worth more today.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    11. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By the same token, DEITC was less of a company and more of a country unto itself, complete with its own military and judicial system. Apple may have their Internet Defense Force armed with RDFs, but reaching a $1T valuation without the need to invade foreign nations by force is fairly impressive.

    12. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      I don't know that it actually does carry any significance. The fact that inflation is a pretty steady thing made it an inevitability that someone would cross the mark eventually. If not Apple, then Amazon and Google look to be on track to do so in the near-ish future as well. Plus, technically speaking, Apple is NOT the first to cross that threshold. That honor goes to PetroChina, who crossed the trillion dollar mark way back in 2007, though admittedly only for a day. In terms of inflation-adjusted dollars, Apple would need to gain yet another $145M in market cap before they would break PetroChina's record.

      It's a big number, to be sure, but other than the vanity of it, I really don't see a point.

      Then why did you feel compelled to read the article and comment on it?

    13. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      I read the MacRumors article because—even though there was no point to it—it's still something I found to be interesting in my RSS feed, and I came here because I like the comments and commenters here (you included, and not just today). Why else? :)

      Look, I like Apple. Between my wife and me, we've owned dozens of Apple products over the years, and I consider myself a recovering Apple fanboy (I stuck with them through the dark days of the mid-90s, which I now regard as fanboy-ism on my part). But I also like to keep things in perspective. This is a neat achievement, but it doesn't mean much, other than that Apple's stock is doing well today. If tomorrow it's back below $1T, it won't mean much then either, despite what the Apple-hating contingent might try to make of the news then.

    14. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      It means that everybody who buys Apple stock thinks that the company is worth at least $1 trillion dollars. And the number of people who buy Apple stock is very, very large.

    15. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well with all the lying, cheating and stealing apple does you could consider them the same.

    16. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Apple is NOT the first to cross that threshold. That honor goes to PetroChina, who crossed the trillion dollar mark way back in 2007, though admittedly only for a day.

      So PetroChina crossed the trillion dollar cap line twice, once on the way up and once on the way down. I'm looking forward to Apple doing the same.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    17. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      I read the MacRumors article because—even though there was no point to it—it's still something I found to be interesting in my RSS feed, and I came here because I like the comments and commenters here (you included, and not just today). Why else? :)

      Look, I like Apple. Between my wife and me, we've owned dozens of Apple products over the years, and I consider myself a recovering Apple fanboy (I stuck with them through the dark days of the mid-90s, which I now regard as fanboy-ism on my part). But I also like to keep things in perspective. This is a neat achievement, but it doesn't mean much, other than that Apple's stock is doing well today. If tomorrow it's back below $1T, it won't mean much then either, despite what the Apple-hating contingent might try to make of the news then.

      Sorry. I just get cranky when I read all the over-the-top Apple-Hating ACs; and I tend to take it out on relatively innocent posters...

    18. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And adjusting for inflation, Star Wars made $1.7 trillion at the box office. Seem ungodly? That's because comparing things with that much time between them with inflation adjustments is pretty meaningless. There's good reason why we don't adjust for inflation with everything: it is not an accurate way to compare things at all. Even the visual capitalist article you link to says as much.

    19. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Hey, no worries! From what I've seen, you and I actually end up on the same side of disagreements in most Apple-related news, and in the case of today's news, we're basically just disagreeing over our opinion of how important the news is, rather than anything of actual substance. Plus, I recognize that I am raining on the parade a bit, so I get why you'd respond as you did. You didn't come across as being rude or anything of the sort. You were simply disagreeing for perfectly good reasons, which is exactly what I like about this site.

    20. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stop with the facts will you! Anyone that isn't a shill knows historic corporations were vastly richer, larger and more powerful that a consumer junk brand that makes products that need throwing out every 2-3 years due to built in design flaws (planned obsolescence) and who uses college kids on 100k campuses to get up during the night to run a new design, while using "designed in CA" stickers, when the reality almost everything in an iProduct was designed by Japanse and Korean engineers and components sold to Apple to reassemble.

    21. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

      And adjusting for inflation, Star Wars made $1.7 trillion at the box office. Seem ungodly?

      It does, likely because you're off by a few orders of magnitude. Inflation-adjusted, the original Star Wars made about $3 billion at the global box office (or about $1.3B in the US box office), and it's the highest grossing of the series when accounting for inflation. Even if you were referring to the franchise as a whole instead of the first film, prior to The Last Jedi the franchise had made a bit north of $22 billion at the global box office in inflation-adjusted dollars, so I have no idea where you got 1.7 anything from, let alone trillions instead of billions.

      Accounting for inflation is a lot less meaningless when you aren't pulling numbers out of thin air.

    22. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      [...] a consumer junk brand that makes products that need throwing out every 2-3 years due to built in design flaws (planned obsolescence)

      There are plenty of valid reasons to ding Apple, but none of the ones you listed ring true, this one most of all. If you look back at the top, you'll see that I started this comment thread by pooh-poohing Apple's market cap accomplishment (as I quoted then, this news is nothing more than vanity), but I did so from a three year old MacBook Pro that is still running like a champ, despite everything I throw at it as a software developer leading a team of people who work on desktop, web, and mobile apps across Windows, Linux, and iOS. The first device I use most mornings? It's my iPad Air 2 from 2014 that still runs the latest OS and apps and still feels as snappy as the day I bought it. The device I carry with me every day? My iPhone 5s from 2013 that still runs the latest OS and apps and still has enough battery capacity, five years on, to make it through 2-3 days of light use before needing a recharge (though its performance is sluggish these days, so I plan to replace it soon). The computers at home? A MacBook Pro and a Mac mini, both from 2011, both running the latest OS, both with the latest updates, and both still in active use (though the Mac mini is losing support later this year and has felt long-in-the-tooth for awhile, so I plan to replace it in the next month or two).

      As I said, there are plenty of valid reasons to go after Apple (e.g. the anti-poaching agreement they had with other tech companies, their abusive practices in the eBooks industry, their extortionate pricing for storage/memory upgrades on hardware, their stingy iCloud storage offerings, their infrequent updates to hardware, etc.). You don't need to invent fictional ones or repeat false narratives you may have heard.

    23. Re:I liked MacRumors reporting of the news by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Hey, no worries! From what I've seen, you and I actually end up on the same side of disagreements in most Apple-related news, and in the case of today's news, we're basically just disagreeing over our opinion of how important the news is, rather than anything of actual substance. Plus, I recognize that I am raining on the parade a bit, so I get why you'd respond as you did. You didn't come across as being rude or anything of the sort. You were simply disagreeing for perfectly good reasons, which is exactly what I like about this site.

      Thanks ;-)

  6. The Dollar Ain't Worth Much These Days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just in case you were wondering...

    1. Re:The Dollar Ain't Worth Much These Days by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      One U.S. dollar is still worth about 13K satoshis, so I guess it's not completely worthless yet.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:The Dollar Ain't Worth Much These Days by KingRatMass · · Score: 1

      It worth a lot more than some currencies. Right now, Apple is worth 44,085,000,000,000 Iranian Rials.

  7. $957B? by crow · · Score: 1

    Strange. I see it listed as having a market cap of $957B with a share price of 206.28 when I Google it. The number shifts slightly as the stock changes price, so it's not just old data. I wonder what Google is missing? Is there another $50B in another class of shares that isn't being taken into account?

    1. Re:$957B? by Scarred+Intellect · · Score: 2
      It appears it's due to misreporting/old information: https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/02...

      The company revealed an adjusted outstanding share count of 4,829,926,000Wednesday alongside the company’s third-quarter results. That factors in hefty stock buybacks and nudged the trillion-dollar per share price to $207.05.

    2. Re:$957B? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      AAPL shares were above $207 a few hours ago, hence the "first $1 trillion U.S. company" title.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:$957B? by crow · · Score: 1

      Thanks! Stock buy-backs should have reduced the outstanding shares, while employee stock options would increase it. Anyway, it's good to see the explanation as to why Google had the wrong information.

    4. Re:$957B? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because google sucks, and fails at representing market cap correctly when you search.

  8. A smallish boutique electronics seller by rsilvergun · · Score: 1, Troll

    That predominantly services the upper class is the most valuable company in history. There's something not right there. It's just not sustainable...

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:A smallish boutique electronics seller by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That predominantly services the upper class is the most valuable company in history. There's something not right there. It's just not sustainable...

      Perhaps what it "not right" is your initial premise.

    2. Re:A smallish boutique electronics seller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, it just means PC gamers and Linux hobbyists are out of touch with reality, but anyone who isn't a baby boomer or basement dweller already knew that.

    3. Re:A smallish boutique electronics seller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A low digit Slashdot UID does not make you an economist.

    4. Re:A smallish boutique electronics seller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he's kind of right. You always hear about "poor people with an iphone" but it's usually a hand-me-down phone from a friend or family member. And *only* upper class folk buy Macs, and not all upper class folk do. So Apple has this much money essentially from fleecing the rich. They're a Gateway Computers company that succeeded in making a fancy enough shell that people will buy the shell and not care about the innards to notice they're whatever cheapest hardware exists the day they're built (buy 20 iMacs and open them up, you'll be shocked). And they pay a premium, which means extra profit for Apple! And they buy them as disposable items, always buying the newest one because it's stylish. And Apple translated that to the iPod and then iPhone. I will grant that the iPhone was neat, but not groundbreaking, when it first arrived. Nokia had some designs with flip-out keyboards that I was about to buy when they dropped them.

    5. Re: A smallish boutique electronics seller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple can't skim off the top end of the mobile gadget market without there being a huge base market to ride on top of. Namely, there isn't a market for Apple to grow. By definition they can't sell to the unwashed at jacked up prices. There's no space for the to grow except downward into lower profit.

    6. Re:A smallish boutique electronics seller by fattmatt · · Score: 1

      Anecdotal Coward

    7. Re: A smallish boutique electronics seller by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      They are one of the largest device manufacturers on the planet and their devices are frequently among the top selling.

      If you think they are only selling to the upper class, perhaps it is an indication of how large the upper class has become. I should think you would not dismiss such as a bad thing.

      So either your premise is wrong and Apple is more mass market than you wish to admit, or you are upset that the world as a whole is growing increasingly prosperous and more and more people can afford luxury brands. Or perhaps the most likely explanation is that you just want to rag on Apple or western capitalism.

    8. Re:A smallish boutique electronics seller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      MacOS is the one and only successful UNIX desktop. You'd think people on Slashdot would appreciate that, but all the smart people left for the orange site long ago.

    9. Re:A smallish boutique electronics seller by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      MacOS is the one and only successful UNIX desktop. You'd think people on Slashdot would appreciate that,

      We would, if more of us used them. But few of us actually do, because of all their shenanigans. As it turns out, a Linux desktop is still better for nerds than an Apple one.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    10. Re: A smallish boutique electronics seller by TomeTodorovski · · Score: 1

      Yah but they didn't grow into lower profits. Even though their sales where down a little, they managed to increase their average profit over all the products sold. This is why they beat the 'expectations' on profit. What they can and will do is nudge up the prices and this works because they already have a huge market base. Think of the term 'nickle-and-diming', usually used for companies that add small extras costs to everything. Would people buy an iPhone for $50 more? Yes. Imaging what happens when you multiply the $50 by 10million iPhone sales? If you look, it really does appear that every new apple product in the last year has indeed increased in price. Sure, a sane company has to keep up with changing costs, but Apple always gets the best pricing on everything, so on most of the products it means a profit increase. With Apples user base, even small $50 increases will yield higher profits. The iPhone X did not sell in the numbers that were expected, BUT it had a price/profit margin high enough to boost profits. Cook most likely has a good grasp on how to increase profits without needing to redesign the wheel. Really, it's not like people are abandoning Apple because of a poor product. The Apple audience if now big enough, that most anything will be successful, even if the product doesn't look like success to share holders. Apple's services are also increasing in profits, and they are getting into Streaming and Content creation. I think more and more of their user base is buying into the services, because Apple is starting to show a presence in those markets. Price those services at or potentially above market and you have a new avenue of growth. TOM...

  9. Not the first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple became the first US company to hit the ridiculous $1 trillion mark. An non-US oil company hit the trillion mark about a decade ago but has sense gone way below that.

    1. Re:Not the first by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      sense != since

      also, do some research because that never happened. Only a few shares were sold at extreme prices and someone extrapolated that all shares had that same inflated value to arrive at the one trillion value.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  10. $1 billion? by Nidi62 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's amazing what years of tax evasion can do for a company.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    1. Re:$1 billion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is prudent.

    2. Re:$1 billion? by Thud457 · · Score: 1
      As a great philosopher noted,

      If you want to get rich, you start a religion.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    3. Re:$1 billion? by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is prudent.

      Well, the EU did say that the tax deal Apple had with Ireland was illegal....

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    4. Re:$1 billion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps so, but it's still disgusting that companies can do it while individual middle class have to pay more than their fair share. It's time to shame companies.

    5. Re:$1 billion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Along with McDonald's, Amazon, Anheuser-Busch, Starbucks, ...

      The appeals have yet to be heard

      Not to mention the hilarity of the EU forcing Ireland to collect taxes it doesn't want nor feel entitled to

    6. Re:$1 billion? by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Along with McDonald's, Amazon, Anheuser-Busch, Starbucks, ...

      The appeals have yet to be heard

      Not to mention the hilarity of the EU forcing Ireland to collect taxes it doesn't want nor feel entitled to

      If Ireland doesn't want the money they could always remit the unwanted taxes to the states where the company actually earned that taxed money.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    7. Re:$1 billion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the hilarity of the EU forcing Ireland

      Nobody forced Ireland to join the EU and accept the Union's tax rules. If they don't like the rules, they can brexit at any time, and go back to the UK motherland. Apparently, they aren't hustling to do so just yet.

  11. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yes, it should and does serve its user, not data miners and malware authors, and that is why it's so successful. Deal with it, nerd.

  12. as always by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    As always: Fuck Apple

    1. Re: as always by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For Apple to be worth a trillion, every share would need to sell for the high price that value is based on. Obviously, if every share went on the market, the share price would fall greatly. Hence, the company is worth a few hundred billion at best.

  13. 43% Gross margin. 26.5% operating margin. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    43.5% ROE. 21.94% ROI. 40% Earnings (Profit!!) growth.

    Selling at over 7x BV :-(

    And to think that many of us left it for dead back in the 90s! But Steve raised it from the dead.

    See kids, Apple is a well run company. Great management. Great capital structure. Great marketing. Great manufacturing. Great supplies chains.

    Kudos to Tim Cook and his management team.

    1. Re:43% Gross margin. 26.5% operating margin. by 110010001000 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It is amazing how good your margins are when you employ overseas slave labor to assemble your products. But yeah: kudos to the management team.

    2. Re:43% Gross margin. 26.5% operating margin. by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      It's not that. Everyone employs overseas labor to do that.

      Apple is marketing to people with more money than brains, as they say in certain industries. You give them 20 cents on every dollar while the next company over sells an equivalent product but keeps 10 cents on every dollar. Why would you not buy the next company's product, which is a few hundred dollars cheaper?

    3. Re:43% Gross margin. 26.5% operating margin. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one's holding a gun to their heads. In fact, the wait lists to get those jobs are quite long.

    4. Re:43% Gross margin. 26.5% operating margin. by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Have you seen the margins of modern corporations? They are off the charts, especially in the computer industry. You are right, they all do it and that why.

    5. Re:43% Gross margin. 26.5% operating margin. by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I look at net operating profits. Gross margins are always huge: a Wendy's franchise makes 50% on a hamburger, but keeps 8% of all of its revenue before taxes (net operating profit). Gross margins look at the cost of your sandwich maker, the marginal cost of your gas and your grill, the cost of the burger bun and patties, and so forth; net operating profits necessarily also lose the cost of the cashier, of marketing, of general utilities, of paying workers labor time to wipe down tables and take out trash, of taking care of the accounting and tax reporting, of legal services, of management, and so forth.

      As you can imagine, anyone who makes arguments about cost of products and profits based around gross margins is deceptive at best, stupid at worst. We routinely see people arguing that Comcast makes something like an 80% profit margin on Internet service and thus is rolling in cash by overcharging immensely, so you may want to keep your eyes open for those sort.

      Comcast is making 13% NOP now. Their running average used to be 11.8% over 5 years. 8% is about reasonable; above that starts going into the high-profit territory. Even many automakers and medical companies, swinging 40% profits and 25% losses from year to year, tend to average under 12%.

      Microsoft and Apple sustain a constant 20%+ year-to-year profit margin.

      It's ludicrous. Franklin D. Roosevelt said shareholders were entitled to a fair and reasonable profit from their enterprises. Does 20% sound fair and reasonable to you? WalMart makes under 3%.

      I say we make the Corporate Income Tax Rate 25% and run a sigmoid based on NOP margin. WalMart can pay 13% for all I care; Apple and Microsoft can see a 48% tax rate on all their profits. It'll top at 50%, so feel free to try; but we all know you'd already be taking 2,000% net profit margins if you could get away with it. Comcast would be exposed to a 36% tax rate, as it was before the TCJA.

      We'd have to adjust the rules about AMT and about carrying losses backwards and forwards. It's not impossible; it raises a bunch of questions which require answers, however, and only corporate tax experts will recognize those answers as trivial and obvious (and even then they'll contest that taxes are very complex and not trivial--forgetting that the exercise of taxes is different than the determination of tax policies).

    6. Re:43% Gross margin. 26.5% operating margin. by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Steve raised it from the dead.

      And now zombie Apple is a money machine with its shambling army of zombie cultists. Dead Steve Jobs is smiling.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  14. Paging Michael Dell by JoeyRox · · Score: 4, Funny

    When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, Michael Dell famously trashed the company with a killer quote. When asked what he'd do with Apple if he were in Jobs' shoes, Dell said:

    "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

    1. Re:Paging Michael Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, Michael Dell famously trashed the company with a killer quote. When asked what he'd do with Apple if he were in Jobs' shoes, Dell said:

      "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

      So, when did Dell hit the 1 trillion mark? Oh, that's right - NEVER. And likely never will.
      Bet those grapes are SOUR.

    2. Re:Paging Michael Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Apple was in a pretty bad place in '97 to be honest. They had like 6 product lines with huge overlap. (LC, Performa, Centris, Quadra, and 2 laptop lines)

      Their prices were way too high. (If you think Apple PCs are overpriced today you don't remember the late 90s! Today they're a fucking bargain!)

      They had a lot of ventures that were wastes of money.

      Anyone could make the assumption that apple was doomed.

      In '97 Jobs came back.. And did something pretty rare. Turned the company completely around where it went on to pretty much change the direction of every industry it was involved in.

      He axed useless products, re-branded the PC business with a few lines that became the first company to sell computers that were attractive and cool to own... Then went on to completely change the course of music, portable music, smartphones, portable computing. When you step back and look at it, it's pretty amazing and unbelievable.

      Michael Dell's no slouch either. Founded one of the biggest computer companies in the world.. And in the face of a seismic shift in personal and server computing, took his company back private where it continues to thrive.

    3. Re:Paging Michael Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Michael Dell's no slouch either. Founded one of the biggest computer companies in the world.. And in the face of a seismic shift in personal and server computing, took his company back private where it continues to thrive.

      Also, having not tried to treat cancer with woo, Dell is still alive.

    4. Re:Paging Michael Dell by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Dell said: "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

      If somebody did that today it would be an act of pure genius.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    5. Re:Paging Michael Dell by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      In '97 Jobs came back.. And did something pretty rare.

      Don't forget the part that Bill Gates played. Announcing the $200 million bailout to huddled Apple employees as a Big Brother talking head on a 1984 style video screen. Classic.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    6. Re:Paging Michael Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Don't forget the part that Bill Gates played. Announcing the $200 million bailout to huddled Apple employees as a Big Brother talking head on a 1984 style video screen. Classic.

      I remember the reaction shot of those employees. Such drama - it's surprising there was no mass-suicide right there and then.

  15. Maybe they can afford to pay taxes now? by foghelmut · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One could imagine

  16. Horrah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pump it to the Moon!

  17. Margins margins margins by AlexanKulbashian · · Score: 1

    Amazing what profits you can do with high margins on sub-par hardware. Thanks to Apple fan boys that will never hold Apple accountable, and consider "rounded corners" to be a form of innovation

    1. Re:Margins margins margins by gtall · · Score: 1

      Not really, we just cannot stomach Winders UIs or Linux UIs. Many people cannot stomach OSX's UI and choose something else. Hardware rarely enters into most people's computing decisions...they have to be a Wannabe Geek like you to care.

  18. $1,000,000,000,000.00 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And they can't make new Mac Pro.

    1. Re:$1,000,000,000,000.00 by gtall · · Score: 1

      Yah, I'd like to see a new cheese grater Mac Pro. My suspicion is that they are delaying because Intel is screwing up their latest processor roadmap. And what computer company wouldn't want to punt out computers using x86 knowing Intel doesn't have their shit together just yet.

  19. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Your thinking works in an ideal world.

    But we live in a world where only Apple controls the OS of its phones. If you buy something Android, it's up to the company or even the carrier to update your OS.

    And then there's the security problems because again we don't live in a perfect world and there's a lot of assholes out there that are out to just cripple your device and steal your personal information.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  20. Two points to think about, first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about World History? Did another Corporation somewhere else in the world beat them to a Trillion market cap? Second and more importantly, if Apple who makes some of the most innovative and trendiest electronics products for all of us consumers is now bar-none, the highest valued Corporation in the whole entire world; how do we reconcile this fact with the idea that Corporations are evil and do nothing good for people or their communities?

    Inquiring minds want to know.

    1. Re:Two points to think about, first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some of that goes out the window with companies like Tesla and Apple because they are considered cool or "hip".

    2. Re:Two points to think about, first by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

      Many beat them to it, some several times over.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  21. $1 trillion by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

    Obviously, the subject should have been $1 trillion, not billion.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  22. Of course.. by xlsior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    While impressive, there have been far more valuable companies in history - the Dutch east india company (VOC, the first publicly traded company in the world) had an inflation-adjusted market cap of over 7 trillion at its height.

    1. Re: Of course.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's right. They also had their own private militia that went into countries to protect their interests and expand their assets. Is that what these American mega corporations will do next?

  23. Garbage. by Jahoda · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But that's like saying da Vinci never came up with another Mona Lisa-type painting. The release of the iPhone is up there with the founding of Standard Oil as one of the greatest business moves of all time.

    Give. Me. A Fucking. Break. You. Hack.

    1. Re:Garbage. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The release of the iPhone is up there with the founding of Standard Oil as one of the greatest business moves of all time.

      Give. Me. A Fucking. Break. You. Hack.

      Without the iPhone, Apple would probably be gone now, since they have ruined Macintoshes. With the iPhone in existence, they can actually sell some of those garbage Macintoshes to iFanboys who will buy anything with an Apple logo on it.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  24. DOOMED!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To keep being successful.

  25. Speak For Yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    And while the iPhone has altered daily life so much that no one remembers life before it

    Just because you were still in diapers when the first iPhone launched, doesn't mean the rest of us don't remember a time before it.

    1. Re:Speak For Yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just because you were still in diapers when the first iPhone launched, doesn't mean the rest of us don't remember a time before it.

      You mean back when everybody walked around staring at their palms?

    2. Re:Speak For Yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Millennial 'journalist' doesn't remember the N95.

    3. Re:Speak For Yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Millennial 'journalist' doesn't remember the N95.

      Ah yes, the N95...came out a whole 3 months before iPhone?

  26. Desire? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Microsoft is driving me wild with desire for ummm... the best of 35 years! Just one desire: Microsoft, please... shrivel up and die.

    And oh, BTW: Amazon, Google, Apple and some others in that bunch. Pretty please.

  27. Standard Oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Agreed. And from the Slashdot synopsis:

    "Apple's $1 trillion cap is equal to about 5 percent of the total gross domestic product of the United States in 2018," David Kass, professor of finance at the University of Maryland, told The Washington Post. "That puts this company in perspective."

    No it doesn't. Market cap is perceived company value. GDP is revenue. They are completely different things. Basically, something happened in the market and everybody wants to say something important about it, but there isn't really anything to say.

    "They are the most successful company in history (at this exact moment)." Tomorrow may be different.

    Actually, I would say Standard Oil would take that title. It was at a unique time in our country's and the world's economic development and I don't see any company in existence today anywhere in the World that could ever match its success.

    But I would also point out that Apple's valuation isn't unreasonable like Amazon's or Tesla's (Both are priced in bubble territory). Apple is MUCH more profitable than either of those companies and more than likely stay that way. If Apple was valued like those two, it would have a market cap of about $1.5 trillion.

  28. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 2, Interesting

    [...] And that's very sad, that such a money-making personal computer happens to be so horrifically crippled and locked in.

    Um, HOW is the Mac (you said "personal computer"; so I assume you mean Macs, not iPhones) either "horrifically crippled" or "locked in"?

    "Locked in"? To WHAT?!? You can literally legally run more OSes (and even conveniently switch between them using the Mac's built-in Bootloader) on Macs than ANY other computer. You can purchase Applications from anywhere on the planet, and even write your own with Apple's FREE IDE (a Developer License only costs money if you want to submit Apps to the Apple App Store). So, where EXACTLY is the "Lock In"?

    "Horrifically Crippled"? Well, since you didn't mention any specific models, it is impossible to know what was in that little pea-brain of yours when you vomited out that Apple-Hating bile; but here's some examples:

    1. iMac Pro: Released in December, 2017. Pretty damn nice specs, if a bit pricey (but price != "crippling"). Up to 18 core Xeon CPU (that wasn't even really released when they started taking orders for the iMac Pro; so it doesn't get any "fresher" than that!), with a AMD Vega 56 or 64 GPU that was released about a month before the iMac Pro was released. Up to 128 GB of ECC RAM And with a built-in 5k display, with USB-C/TB3, USB-A and 10GigE ports, plus analog audio.

    2. MacBook Pro: Last updated about 3 weeks ago. Up to a 6-core i9 CPU. Up to 4 TB of SSD (the fastest in any laptop!) and 32 GB of RAM. AMD Radeon GPUs that can drive up to TWO 5K external displays, PLUS the internal display. And don't forget the whopping 80 Gb/sec I/O Bandwidth, which can be easily and inexpensively (and non-Apple-specifically!) broken-out into up to FIFTY TWO Simultaneous Ports(!!!), in any one of a myriad of combinations (according to the USER's needs; not Apple's whims), and which can even be changed as the User's needs change. This is REALLY unique. Yes, other laptops have USB-C (and some even TB3); but NONE have Apple's FOUR full-speed USB-C/TB3 Ports. Oh, and don't forget, with the recent Refresh, Apple even doubled the number of cores AND the number of full-speed USB-C/TB3 Ports on the 13 inch MacBook Pro; further "UN-crippling" it... Oh, and I almost forgot: The TouchBar and TouchID (an Application-Configurable, unique touch input/display device, which provides a modicum of Touch control without stealing Screen real-estate) and the convenience and security of Apple's excellent Fingerprint sensor. How is ANY of that "Horrifically Crippled"?

    Please explain rationally. I'll wait...

  29. Re: This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You're on Slashdot, not your Apple fansite. Fuckoff, guy.

  30. Re: creimer is a fat, sissy cuck! Smells like a bu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So vivid. It's like you were there!

  31. iOS is the PC OS that I was referring to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Um, HOW is the Mac (you said "personal computer"; so I assume you mean Macs, not iPhones) either "horrifically crippled" or "locked in"?

    iOS is the personal computer operating system that I was referring to. The specific PC models are the iPhone and iPad (and iPod touch, if that's still a thing).

    Though Macs aren't quite as good as they used to be, they still don't suck and more importantly, Mac OS X isn't totally evil like the consumer-hostile OS that Apple puts on their much smaller "mobile" PCs.

  32. Apple computers by prisoner-of-enigma · · Score: 2

    What's funny is Apple still pretends to be a computer company. They are not and haven't been for a while. They're a consumer electronics company that also makes a few computers now and then. The near-total innattention paid to the Apple Mac line of computers is proof positive of this. Without the iPhone, iPad, and iTunes, Apple would have died long ago.

    --
    In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    1. Re:Apple computers by GrandCow · · Score: 1

      I still count iPhones and iPads as computers. The form factor is different, but it's still a computer.

      --
      "Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
  33. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Trashcan mac is a nightmare to expand or service.

    Apple doesn't have parts for the iMac pro

    New Macbook pro has soldered storage, so it's a service nightmare again

    Apple has no idea what "pro" means

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  34. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazing, the power of convincing the dregs of society that your products indicate wealth...

    1. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Out out, commie filth.

  35. Simplifying this distinction by raymorris · · Score: 1

    That's a good point. There may be some readers who, for whatever reasons, aren't familiar with what exactly "market capitalization" and "gross domestic product" are.

    Gross domestic product, or GDP, is basically the amount of stuff the country produces *in one year*. Apple sold about $22 billion of products in the America's last year. If they made all of those products in the US, that would contribute $22 billion to the US GDP. Most of what Apple sells is made elsewhere, though, so they account for only about $2 billion of US GDP. Remember that's a per-year number, and it's what they produce, not their profit.

    Market capitalization, or market cap, is what people refer to as the "size" of a company. It's called size because for mature companies, it roughly represents all of the value that has been built up over the entire life of the company - all the equipment the company owns, etc. It's basically how much people would have to pay to buy the entire company. Contrast GDP, which is how much is added per year. The computation of market cap is simply how many shares there are multiplied by how much each share costs. That's the total value of the company, based on how much investors pay to buy a percentage of the company.

    So if I buy a factory for $10 million, and each year it produces $2 million of stuff, minus $1 million for materials brought in, "size" of the factory is $10 million, the GDP of it is $1 million.

    I mentioned market cap represents the size for *mature*. companies. For trendy new companies, investors, speculators, and fans buy the stock bases how big the company *might* become in the future. The best current example is Tesla. It's market cap, how much people pay for Tesla shares, make it the "largest" car company in the world. In terms of actual production, the company is insignificant in the auto market. Shanghai GM alone produced about 2 million cars last year, Volkswagen 11 million, Tesla 0.1 million. So their market cap (stock price) is ahead of the actual size of the company by a factor of 100X.

    1. Re: Simplifying this distinction by ranton · · Score: 1

      Apple is definitely not valued based on its current size. It is currently valued at about 20x net income, which is for companies who are valued primarily on future growth. To use your car example, mature car companies like Ford are valued at closer to 5x net income. If Apple was valued based on its current size it would be closer to $250 billion (still quite impressive).

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  36. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You do realize malware authors write stuff for macOS, right? The only difference is that there are fewer targets than Windows users, plus the average data you'd find on an Apple device wouldn't be worth the effort to break in.

  37. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The parent post was about iOS. Learn to read.

  38. dongles aren't cheap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nuff said

  39. Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by Brannon · · Score: 1, Informative

    We really could have declared a victor a long time ago in this age-old debate of "Apple vs. Slashdot"--but $1T is a nice round number so now's as good a time as ever:

    It has now been definitively proven that Apple understands technology better than all the Apple-critics on Slashdot (and around the world). Steve Jobs was smarter than you. Deal with it.

    Next up. Elon Musk is in the midst of destroying the Tesla haters on Slashdot.

    Can we finally dispense with the notion that Slashdot is a pro-technology website? It is so consistently on the losing side of every technology revolution.

    1. Re:Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by neilo_1701D · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It has now been definitively proven that Apple understands technology better than all the Apple-critics on Slashdot (and around the world).

      Actually, it proves that Apple understand stock market valuations and the processes that drive them better than anyone else.

    2. Re:Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd say that Apple understands marketing and consumers better, not technology. Slashdot is still very much a pro-technology website and is only on the losing side of the decline toward dumbed-down walled-garden computing in consumer electronics.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    3. Re:Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      It has now been definitively proven that Apple understands monopoly better than all the Apple-critics on Slashdot

      FTFW.

      Apple: bringing arrogance to a hitherto unknown level the world has never seen before.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    4. Re:Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No dividends when doing well, paid shills since the 80s, blacklisting anyone media that doesn't give glowing reviews for every product, an army of zealots every bit as myopic as scientologists or mohamadists, repackaging other real engineering companies' R&D and components, buying organs for their dying leading and giving the surgeon a luxury property via the back-door. Ooops, didn't save the cult-leader, though. Planned obsolescence for every device line after X software updates. Yup, they're good. IBM at their peak weren't this sharp, neither was MS.

      AIDS kills, children, remember that.

      Apple are the best at what they do. They'd be dead of LG and Samsung treated Apple as Apple treat many many small developers tomorrow.

    5. Re:Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by jcr · · Score: 1

      Next up. Elon Musk is in the midst of destroying the Tesla haters on Slashdot.

      Nah. Tesla's billions short of even going profitable.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    6. Re:Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

      It has now been definitively proven that Apple understands marketing better than all the Apple-critics on Slashdot (and around the world).

      FTFY.

    7. Re:Apple has definitively proven Slashdot wrong by epine · · Score: 0

      What Apple has is the ability to hype usability for two decades and then lead world & dog into iTunes derangement syndrome (is there a single designer left in the house?)—while it locks in profits with pentalobular screws.

  40. good job, no pressure Tim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Thanks, Steve

  41. Re: This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Different AC. I was once a PC bigot, but woke up about 5 years ago. The Apple Mac today is the best desktop/laptop available from a user and developer perspective. Its a UNIX OS and offers full development tools of high quality for free. Total cost of ownership is low compared to PC. As a user I only pay for an app once and can then install it on all of my systems. The available apps are outstanding an largely error free, compared to 15 years of experience with buggy Windows. I could say more, but why, macOS is awesome.

  42. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just checked Google Finance and it tells me AAPL has a market cap of $960 billion. A lot for sure but about $40 billion short of $1 trillion. Also looking back the stock hasn't had any recent dips so its currently at its highest. Where is Reuters getting the trillion dollar market cap from?

  43. "That's great.." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Say millions upon millions of Americans with no money to spare at all..

  44. nice but not the most valuable in the past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do a bit of background change on the Bay Company and the Dutch East India Company. They in the past were worth more then 9 Trillion so 1 trillion is nice but not a stunner.

    History is being repeated, are you ready?

    (.)-(.)

  45. The curse of being large by sjbe · · Score: 1

    But, in the specific, under Cook Apple is mostly just rolling out slow improvements to things they already had, and taking the pointless decision to remove ports and the like. All the while letting other products stagnate.

    You mean just like pretty much every other gigantic company out there? How many $100+ billion ideas do you think are out there? And how easy do you think it is to capture them even if you recognize one? When Apple released the iPhone in 2007 they had revenue of about $24 billion. Last year it was about 10X that amount, most of that thanks to the iPhone. That sort of success is usually once in a lifetime and Apple's done it several times and somehow is expected to do it again which is probably unfair.

    People talk about Apple not being innovative when if another company released the products they do and sold them in the numbers they do they would be described as a massive success. Take the Apple Watch for example. They sell millions of these things and if it was some small startup we'd think they were changing the world. But because it doesn't really move the needle on Apple's revenue percentage-wise we (wrongly) call it a failure.

    Think of it this way. For Apple to grow just 5% next year they are going to have to create more new business than Tesla's entire revenue in 2017. Nobody is accusing Tesla of not being innovative but Apple makes more new business than Tesla's entire revenue and somehow they aren't innovating? Innovations aren't just in the big flashy things. They can be in the smallest of details and improvements.

    I'm not sure anything they've done under Cook can be counted as 'innovation', just straight up evolution of a product.

    I doubt even Steve Jobs would have an easy time coming up with another idea big enough to really make a difference at Apple's current size.

    1. Re:The curse of being large by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      How many $100+ billion ideas do you think are out there?

      Many.

      And how easy do you think it is to capture them even if you recognize one?

      Without a charismatic leader like Steve Jobs? It's going to be damned near impossible. Big companies don't like to make big changes.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  46. That's because you don't understand what tech is. by Brannon · · Score: 1

    The universal definition of technology is "a composition of existing concepts into something useful that makes peoples' lives easier or better".

    The Slashdot definition of technology is "a set of concepts which are mystifying to normal people but which I personally enjoy; thus forcing those normal people to pay attention to me and providing me with a measure of self-esteem".

    Do you think engineers who design bridges sit around complaining that they had to "dumb down" their bridges so idiots could use them without even understanding how they stay up? Nope, in the rest of the world technology is there precisely to reduce effort and cognitive burden on users--but among Slashdot community that's heresy.

    The rest of the world is right. You're wrong. You'll need to find another reason for normal humans to interact with you. Maybe start a band.

  47. BEHOLD! The zenith of tech journalism: by Thud457 · · Score: 1
    As mandated by 2008 7 CFR 1940.337:

    No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  48. Re:That's because you don't understand what tech i by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    The universal definition of technology is "a composition of existing concepts into something useful that makes peoples' lives easier or better".

    The dictionary says "the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.
    "advances in computer technology"

    It doesn't have to be to make lives easier or better. It can just be to make money, for example. Sometimes you make money through technology by making lives better. Sometimes you just do it through legislation, or marketing.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  49. Improvement is ok by sjbe · · Score: 1

    That's actually good, except people keep upgrading when their devices work fine.

    The 1976 Chevy Impala I drove in high school "worked fine" but sometimes it's nice to get something that is better than what you had before.

    They need a new hit, not to try to keep wringing excess profit out of a stable source of income for decades to come.

    Do they really? Coca Cola has been selling the same formula for sugar water for a century and they're doing alright. And how many $100 billion ideas do you think Apple can realistically make happen? For Apple to grow just 5% next year will require generating more new business than Tesla's entire revenue in 2017. Realistically they don't actually need a hit product. What they need is for their existing products to remain relevant and in a leadership position in the market. That by itself is going to be a difficult trick to pull off. And if they really get in a pinch they have enough cash to buy Ford, GM and Tesla together and get into a completely different industry if they wanted to.

    Even Microsoft is starting to learn this a little bit with Office and Windows 10 - don't ruin something people like or they won't buy it anymore.

    You are aware that Microsoft is making more money on those products than ever before right?

    1. Re:Improvement is ok by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For Apple to grow just 5% next year will require generating more new business than Tesla's entire revenue in 2017.

      And herein lies what I believe is a bit problem... it is not enough to be hold value, maintain profits and pay dividends to shareholders every year. Success is measured only in terms of growth.

      Captcha: Greed

  50. Addiction by DogDude · · Score: 0

    Apple is selling addiction. It's not too hard to sell junkies what they're addicted to.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  51. Re:That's because you don't understand what tech i by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    And where does commercial viability or popularity come into the definition of technology? Nowhere? Then in what ways does Apple "understand technology better?"

    A company that builds a working launch loop also understands technology better than one that builds a playground swing, even if the playground swing is far more popular and the launch loop company goes bankrupt the day after they finish.

    Reducing effort and cognitive burden is also not a vital function of technology. If effort and cognitive burden are reduced by limiting function, that can be counterproductive - like forcing a pilot to walk because the cognitive burden and greater peak effort of flying a helicopter is seen as too great. Similarly, this can cause a greater expenditure of effort overall depending on the size of the task.

    Personally, the very existence of Apple hardware and software makes my life harder. Its widespread incompatibility with non-Apple technologies makes each Apple device a perpetual problem generator. I dread ever having to interact with any of it. From my point of view, Apple's technology is some kind of bizarro anti-technology.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  52. Re:That's because you don't understand what tech i by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Universal definitions simply don't exist. The English of 500 years ago and English of today have less in common than Portuguese and Spanish.

    You are guilty of being ignorant and spreading ignorance for the sake of hate. A drain on the people you have contact with.

  53. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by joh · · Score: 1

    A personal computer should serve its user and do whatever they want, not obey its manufacturer to work against that user. And you disagree with that statement? Fine, you disagree, but this is the type of disagreement where I have to say Fuck You. You're the problem and you should be ashamed. Your attitude is why people are considered to be just things. Yes, it's just a PC, but even so, it's anti-humanist and you're a dishonest person if you claim it doesn't matter.

    What if you have more than enough "personal computers" to care for and to play with and just want something for carrying in your pocket that for a change somebody else cares for? What if you think that life is too short to hand-hold every bit and every line of code in your life?

    Do you knit your own sweaters? All of them? If not, isn't this "anti-humanist and you're a dishonest person if you claim it doesn't matter"? Or what? Do you bake your own bread? Every day? Come on, tell me.

  54. Boo Fucking Hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Poor Gamechild can't deal with diversity is seems.

    I bet, like most steaming Leftists, he wants to tell other people what to do.

    I bet, like most steaming Leftists, he wants to eliminate those things/people he doesn't like.

    You cock sucking Leftists are so predictable.

    1. Re: Boo Fucking Hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That must be why the right are 70% filled with racist old white men.

      Thinkingemoji.gif

  55. Saudi Aramco is worth more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Aramco

  56. stupid customers are the best customers by Crass+Spektakel · · Score: 1

    Apple is filthy rich because stupid customers are the best customers.

    Don't get me wrong, I am not making jokes about apple. They are cool and simply squeeze every moron for his last cent.

    It is theirs customers I am making jokes about.

    --
    "Life is short and in most cases it ends with death." Sir Sinclair
  57. True. Apple has fans (part of business model) by raymorris · · Score: 1

    That's true. I mentioned that "investors, speculators, and fans" can push up the stock price, based on potential future growth (and other reasons).

    Part of Steve Jobs great success is that he made people fans of Apple. He turned customers into fans. Fans do things that aren't necessarily mathematically sound, so they drive the stock price higher than logic would justify.

    An additonal important reason that I didn't clearly state is that the "future growth" thing can end up compounded by fans and speculators. Many people invest in a trendy company because they anticipate future growth. They think "I think the company will do well, so I'll buy the stock." What they often forget is that "many people invest in a trendy company because they anticipate future growth" - other people have already done the same thing. The going price for the stock ALREADY factors in the growth that other buyers anticipate. The correct question for these kinds of speculative purchases therefore is not "do I think this company is going to do well?" You should buy only if you think everyone else is underestimating the company (or at very least, not overestimating).

    Additionally, you shouldn't buy at that price if you think other people have forgotten to compensate for the non-rational purchases by others. In other words:

    Investor C is considering a purchase.
    Investor B already bought because the think the company will grow.
    Investor C takes into account that the purchase by B pushed the price up.
    That's good so far.

    BUT:
    Fan A bought before investor B did.
    The purchase by fan A pushed up the price that B paid.
    B forgot to consider the effect of A, therefore, B overpaid.
    C forgot to consider that B didn't consider A, therefore C also overpaid.

    Because Apple has a lot of fans, they have a lot of people buying without into consideration that the expected future profits are already built into the stock price. That means that even investors who DO recognize that can often overpay for Apple stock, if they forget to consider that other buyers didn't consider that.

    One way an investor can avoid these traps is to buy based on the fundamentals, rather than assuming that future changes to the stock price will have any relationship to the company's performance. That assumes that the CURRENT stock price, the basis, is related to company performance. In the case of trendy companies, there may be little relation.

  58. I would agree with you on that point by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    if they hadn't built that $1 trillion dollar valuation on the backs of overworked and underpaid Chinese factory workers living and breathing in the pollution from said factories...

    Yeah, yeah, I'm a hypocrite because my devices were made by the same abused labor. I get it. But Motorola was manufacturing phones profitably in the United States with the EPA making sure they did it clean and only stopped because it was cheaper to do it in China. At some point if us hypocrites don't speak up nothing will ever improve. Plus I can guarantee that our corporate overlords are eyeing the high salaries of Americans. Global race to the bottom you know...

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:I would agree with you on that point by jcr · · Score: 1

      overworked and underpaid Chinese factory workers

      I've actually been to a Foxconn factory where iPhones and iPads were made. The fact is, assembling Apple products is one of the best jobs available in China for anyone who doesn't have a degree. Anytime they're hiring, they get mobbed.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    2. Re:I would agree with you on that point by dissy · · Score: 1

      At some point if us hypocrites don't speak up nothing will ever improve

      Actually speaking up isn't likely to help much if at all. Only changing your behaviors will.
      You'd have to stop giving them your money, and in reality a large number of people will have to stop giving them money, to actually prompt any change in what they are doing.

      Just to be completely honest as well, I say "you" not to imply I don't buy the same abused Chinese labor built crap, because I do, I just don't have a problem with it or complain about it.
      So that just means I'm not a hypocrite, but instead I'm a shitty person :P

      However despite that I think my point is still valid.

    3. Re:I would agree with you on that point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, yeah, I'm a hypocrite because my devices were made by the same abused labor. I get it. But Motorola was manufacturing phones profitably in the United States with the EPA making sure they did it clean and only stopped because it was cheaper to do it in China. At some point if us hypocrites don't speak up nothing will ever improve. Plus I can guarantee that our corporate overlords are eyeing the high salaries of Americans. Global race to the bottom you know...

      No job is better than any job that doesn't pay a salary an American would take, right? Forget the cost of living of the area...that's overthinking it.

  59. didn't walmart already do this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I swear I remember reading a headline a couple years ago saying that Walmart had crossed the $1 trillion market cap on one day.

  60. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Trashcan mac is a nightmare to expand or service.

    Apple doesn't have parts for the iMac pro

    New Macbook pro has soldered storage, so it's a service nightmare again

    Apple has no idea what "pro" means

    Mac Pro was an experiment. Didn't work out so well. Some of that was Apple's fault; some of it was Intel's fault; some of it was the industry's fault. Dead issue. Next Mac Pro will be "modular", according to Apple.

    Apple didn't have parts YET when the dumbass blogger DELIBERATELY ruined his iMac Pro about a month after it debuted. It is pretty normal for service parts and documentation to not be available at the same time as a new product launch. Now, if that is STILL the case (which I doubt) that's another matter.

    Other laptop computers have soldered RAM and some even soldered SSD, too. It's an industry trend. Get over it. HOWEVER, any decent repair depot these days should have an SMT rework station (heck, you can even buy one on Amazon starting around $60 bucks!), and should be able to swap out a defective RAM chip or SSD module in about 5 minutes.Buy ANY piece of electronic gear made in the past TWENTY years, and more than likely, all or some of the components will be soldered-in SMT versions. Especially as the complexity of the component goes up.

    Apple doesn't have any idea what "Pro" means? That's about a damned laugh, and your OPINION, besides! For example: Name another laptop with more I/O expandability than the MacBook Pro. I'll wait. It's not all about the beige tower computers of 1990, ya know.

  61. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    iMac Pro: Released in December, 2017... Up to 18 core Xeon CPU

    That's the best they could do? 32 core Epycs were already out.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  62. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    New Macbook pro has soldered storage, so it's a service nightmare again

    Good grief.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  63. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Other laptop computers have soldered RAM and some even soldered SSD, too. It's an industry trend.

    I can see it for cheap shit Chromebooks and the like, but for something called "pro"? It just brings to mind what they say about products called "pro".

    Upgrading RAM and SSD is a god given right of the PC enthusiast, sorry. A high end laptop that can't do it is a steaming pile of shit.

    Get over it.

    That arrogance...

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  64. Civilians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > it's been a while since Microsoft has driven civilians wild with desire.

    Genuinely curious: If the author calls MS customers "civilians" in this context...what are customers of the other companies mentioned supposed to be?

    Methinks someone may have unintentionally revealed what he thinks of the rest of the world.

  65. To give the most recent counterexample: by garote · · Score: 1

    You have your head very throughly in the sand if you think Face ID is "straight-up evolution".

    This is an extremely compact, extremely low-power time-of-flight sensor integrated into a handheld communications device. The implementation is both very ambitious and technically accomplished, not to mention several years ahead of any other company, and it has opened and shoved a metaphorical foot into a door that will be thrown wide over the next few years: AR and VR telepresence, to a degree of ease accuracy that it will thoroughly change the way much work is done across many white-collar industries.

    1. Re:To give the most recent counterexample: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AR and VR telepresence, to a degree of ease accuracy that it will thoroughly change the way much work is done across many white-collar industries.

      Yes, I'm sure that all of those introverted white-collar workers will instantly flock to VR telepresence. /facepalm.

      Maybe it was a technological achievement but Face ID - on its own - is just a gimmick.

  66. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Apple didn't have parts YET when the dumbass blogger DELIBERATELY ruined his iMac Pro about a month after it debuted. It is pretty normal for service parts and documentation to not be available at the same time as a new product launch.

    Not for a professional product. Those parts should be available before the product even hits the market. Anything else would be unprofessional.

    Other laptop computers have soldered RAM and some even soldered SSD, too. It's an industry trend.

    Yes, in cheap crap consumer electronics. Not in professional models, which sacrifice svelte profiles for durability and maintainability.

    Apple doesn't have any idea what "Pro" means? That's about a damned laugh, and your OPINION, besides!

    That's how they're behaving, and I'm going to judge them by their behavior, not their advertising or the yammering of their fanboys.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  67. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    iMac Pro: Released in December, 2017... Up to 18 core Xeon CPU

    That's the best they could do? 32 core Epycs were already out.

    That's comparing Intels and AMDs. Apple doesn't do AMD for CPU

  68. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Apple doesn't do AMD for CPU

    So that's lame then. Upcoming: 32 core Threadrippers at 12nm. These home built boxes will be way better than Apple's product. For what, less than half the price? Only an idiot would buy Apple.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  69. Trillion or tibillion, long or short? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm really curious, it could be really important!

  70. Tech News like the Media Company News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who cares if some monetary record is broken? It's got the same impact of the first billion dollar movie turnout. Not news or important, in any way.
    There's more people and more money from labor, every day.
    This isn't some achievement, it's an eventuality. SMH

  71. That's exactly the point you're missing... by Brannon · · Score: 1
    Commercial viability comes from the "makes life better" part--if it makes somebody's life better and that person has money then the two are directly related.

    Personally, the very existence of Apple hardware and software makes my life harder. Its widespread incompatibility with non-Apple technologies makes each Apple device a perpetual problem generator

    I'm sure life would be easier for bridge designers if they built their bridges out of balsa wood--but life would be a lot harder for the people who need to cross that bridge. Do you understand this at all?

    *You" don't matter. For every hacker wannabee like you there are 10,000 grandmas using an iPad to Facetime with their grandchildren. They have the numbers and the purchasing power--which is why they matter and you don't.

  72. Nope, you just don't know what technology is. by Brannon · · Score: 0

    Your tiny little brain can't process Apple's success so your response is to blame it on mass hypnosis. Yawn.

    1. Re:Nope, you just don't know what technology is. by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      Spotted the Beats iHipster.

      How is that 2014 Mac Mini or 2013 Mac Pro working out for you?

  73. Ah, very cool. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks!

  74. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > These home built boxes will be way better than Apple's product.
    > For what, less than half the price?
    > Only an idiot would buy Apple.

    Only an idiot would think people buy Apple because it's a hardware bargain.

  75. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Only an idiot would think people buy Apple because it's a hardware bargain.

    So right. Apple hardware just isn't worth it, and the software is crap too, especially the kernel, which sucks for both performance and features vs Linux.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  76. Fair price by iTrawl · · Score: 1

    Zimbabwe says $1tn is a pretty good price for one apple.

    --
    "Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
  77. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only an idiot would think people buy Apple because of the kernel.

  78. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Only an idiot would think that the kernel is not a major part of performance, smoothness and responsiveness.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  79. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mac OS may have lower benchmarks than Linux (honestly I've never had to look) but every Linux machine I've used has had worse responsiveness and smoothness than MacOS.

    As for performance, I'll happily trade a small amount for not having to deal with Linux configuration and maintenance headaches.

    My MacBook Pro runs Mac, Windows, and Unix software. It's like having three computers in one. It's worth the money for that reason alone.

  80. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    The kernel affects a lot more than just performance, stability, memory efficiency, disk performance etc. It is also about hardware support, a serious issue for Macs. And the Linux network stack seriously kicks the tail of FreeBSD. Apple fans should really consider what's under the hood when they buy into that shit, just like a car don't you think?

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  81. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since MacOS is rarely used for servers, the throughput of the network stack is largely irrelevant for most users.

    XNU is a mature, stable, well-engineered kernel compared to the constantly-shifting mess that is Linux.

  82. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Since MacOS is rarely used for servers, the throughput of the network stack is largely irrelevant for most users.

    So Mac users don't use networks? Sad.

    Now I understand why Apple keeps removing ports: BSD doesn't have drivers for the things that attach to them anyway :)

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  83. MySpace were big once too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MySpace were big once. Look what happened to them. Same with Microsoft and IBM. You get your 15 minutes of fame in the tech world and the m something new comes along.

  84. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have no hope of curing your ignorance, if you can't fucking read!

  85. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Of course you understand that wifi is a network, right? The internet is a network? Or you are one of those one-button minds? (rhetorical question)

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  86. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is nothing wrong with the Mac's network performance for most uses. Kernel throughput is not the limiting factor for wifi or Ethernet, but you know this.

  87. Re:This is so viscerally offensive by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Kernel throughput is not the limiting factor for wifi or Ethernet

    It can be, it depends on protocol and situation. For example, how efficiently does the kernel handle incoming ICMP? That determines how easy it is to take you offline with a DoS attack. TCP stalls are a real problem. I've had an iPad suffer from lengthy stalls on a home network while the Android tablet right next to it kept running smoothly. Some issue with name service? Some packets got dropped? Who knows, but Linux stack has orders of magnitude more engineering work invested in it, issues that come up are tracked down and fixed by hordes of devs. But in MacOS they can live on for years, or forever. Never underestimate the importance of a solid and featureful kernel, or its effect on the user experience.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  88. Re:That's because you don't understand what tech i by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

    I don't think either side is "right" or "wrong".
    If some slashdotters need to put others down to bolster their weak self-esteem, that's up to them.

  89. Re:That's because you don't understand what tech i by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about:
    Abuse of existing popularity in return for profit today at expense of tomorrow?

    Microsoft was behemoth and is fallen down when comes competition. Same WILL happen to Apple, just not as fast as most of us would want to.