Apple pays off its debt!

[Laukev7]

http://www.99mac.se/

 

quote: Team,
 
 Today is a historic day of sorts for our company.  When I arrived back at Apple in mid-1997, the company was burdened with $1 billion of debt.   Through everyone's hard work we turned Apple around, paid off the majority of our debt and began to amass a war chest of cash in the bank which has grown to about $4.8 billion!  But there was still $300 million of remaining debt, which we decided to hold to maturity.
 
 Today we used $300 million of our cash to pay off this remaining debt.  
 
 Apple is now a debt-free company

[hm_murdock]

I feel good that I responded to this.

[Laukev7]

More excellent news: Apple's profit soar by 550%!

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=7970

[The Anti-Microsoft]

Apple is dead!
</sarcasm>

[ February 25, 2004: Message edited by: Anonymous Coward ]

[Pissed_Macman]

quote:Originally posted by Anonymous Coward:
Apple is dead!          

You suck.

[Laukev7]

quote:Operating system of choice:
Mac OS X Jaguar, soon to be Mac OS X Panther

Er, Macman, I think he was being sarcastic.

[Laukev7]

AAPL stock surpasses MSFT!

http://www.osviews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=963&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[bill_ford]

Yea Apple are doing heaps better. Im probably going to get a G5 or somthing when I pay off my Credit Card Debt (Maybe as a self Christmas present).

I like the idea that the XBOX2 will run a G5, gives me ideas of how easy it will be to run good games on an apple.

[hm_murdock]

About as easy as it already is. Seeing as XBox 2 will run NT on PPC, then the games still have to be rebuilt for Mac OS X.

[Kintaro]

Well, then you could have somthing like wine, but because it will run a cut back NT, it will be even easier to port the DLL's and stuff, and viola, it will run like an orgasm.

Fuck, when I rob a few banks im getting a G5.

[Pantso]

Well, as you probably remember my former iBook's HD 'bit the dust' so to speak. Instead of fixing it though, I sold it and ordered the new G4 one with the 14" display. I'm still waiting for it to arrive and I can't wait to use OS X again.

How does the above paragraph fit into this topic you may ask. Well, it has come to my attention, after reading various topics on various Mac-related forums, that Apple has dramatically dropped its quality control. That, in a few words, means that they are using cheaper hardware than they at least did some years ago.

Don't get me wrong. I like Apple's products and this is why I ordered a new iBook in the first place. As far as I'm concerned, they are still centuries ahead than x86-pased personal computers.

However, it is also true that the quality of Apple's products has dropped. Just take a minute to remember the Powerbook's white spots fault, the failing iBooks' hard drives, logic boards and so on...

To sum things up, I believe that Apple deliberately dropped its products' quality to pay off its debt. Not that there is something wrong with it either. I am happy that they did finally pay it off and will now be M$-independent, but as Jimmy James has written various times, the fact remains. Quality has dropped, while quantity has grown to extraordinary proportions.

PS: iBooks sell like crazy!! I was told that the 12" iBook would not arrive until 2 weeks after my order, at least here in Italy!! Good news indeed  

[Mandrake]

A small tidbit that Mac fans will no doubt love to here: Since the stock price of Apple Computer has been rising steadily, the company is now valued at more than $US10BN.  http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/summaryquote.asp?symbol=AAPL%60&selected=AAPL%60

Edit: Apple's stock fell over 1%, and now the company is valued at $ 9.9Bn.

[ March 15, 2004: Message edited by: Mandrake ]

[ March 15, 2004: Message edited by: Mandrake ]

[typhoon_311]

quote:Originally posted by jimmyjames.sytes.net:
About as easy as it already is. Seeing as XBox 2 will run NT on PPC, then the games still have to be rebuilt for Mac OS X.

Wow! Are you serious? That would be awsome!

...And PeeCee lovers will finally stop dissing Mac because of its lack of games!  

[typhoon_311]

..Oh sorry i misunderstood the statement

Argh and i was getting all excited for a moment...

[Mandrake]

From Internet-Nexus.com:

 

quote:
Why iPod can't save Apple
 "The buzz on its wildly popular digital music box and swank storefronts masks an ebbing bottom line ... Behind the hype and buzz surrounding the iPod and Jobs, there are problems stewing at Apple. Its core computer business, which still accounts for 70 percent of the company's sales, is withering. Apple sold just over 3 million computers in its last fiscal year, which ended in September -- 900,000 less than it sold in fiscal 1996, the year before Jobs returned. Meanwhile, Apple's share of the worldwide personal-computer market has shrunk to 2 percent from 3.2 percent five years ago. What's more, despite their soaring sales, iPods are depressing profitability because of their lower profit margin.

The result: While Apple's sales of $6.2 billion last fiscal year were nearly unchanged from 1999, profits plummeted 90 percent to $69 million, from $601 million four years ago. It's unclear what Jobs can do or plans to do to turn around Apple's fortunes -- he refused to talk to MONEY about its future ... The question is whether the trade-off between buzz and the bottom line is worth it. In other words, should Apple's shareholders be any happier with Jobs' higher-profile, lower-profit Apple?

Part of the motivation to develop the iPod and digital media software is to drive computer sales. But so far that hasn't worked. In order to make the iPod a success, Apple had to make it compatible with Windows-based PCs. So there is no reason for an iPod lover to buy a Mac ... As for the iTunes music service, Apple makes little on downloads. Of the 99