DCG

Wow..so I run a small website and primarily advertise through Google Adwords. I got an offer from Microsoft to try advertising on Bing and they'd give me a $30 offer code to get started. I decided to give advertising on Bing a shot, and test some ads with a small budget after using the offer code. What an awful experience this has been. The Microsoft adCenter website/platform (their system for advertisers to set up and track campaigns, etc - ie, their version of AdWords) is pretty painful to use. After spending a good amount of time getting various error messages every time I tried to create and save a new ad campaign (I just got pop-up messages saying there was an error - nothing stating what the error is) I contacted their Support department. I had to be escalated to a few reps until I was able to find someone there able to help me. You know what I was told the problem is? You can only use Microsoft adCenter on a PC running Windows, and only through Internet Explorer or Firefox. I have a Mac. They told me their ad system is not compatible with Macs and only works with a select few Windows browsers. It also does not support virtual PC's, nor does it work on mobile browsers. I am trying to give Microsoft money, and they have no way to take it unless I have a PC. And on top of that...that offer code they sent, in the fine print of the offer (which is not even stated in the email offer) it says it is only valid if you set up an account with a minimum monthly ad-spend budget of $500! FWIW, Google routinely gives out vouchers of $50-$100, with no stipulations, as it is of course a great way to get people and businesses hooked on using their service. Apparently nobody at Microsoft understands this. No wonder Microsoft is having a hard time making money through advertising. I am cancelling my Microsoft adCenter account...but I unfortunately can't even cancel my account on a Mac. I'm upset I wasted time even trying to advertise on Bing, and continue to be astounded by how poorly this company is run. It's things like this that investors and analysts don't see. If analysts actually took a few minutes to try to use companys' products they'd get a better understanding about why certain businesses, or in this case, divisions of businesses struggle. In addition to giving advertisers great exposure, Google made AdWords very easy for people to use. AdWords was designed to encourage people to spend more money on ads. Microsoft can't even figure out how to take money from people with certain browsers.

Quickbooks confuses the hell out of me. I generally like Quicken, but I hate Intuit (they seem to go out of their way to make all their new software releases/updates worse than previous releases. Intuit's customer service and support is horrendous as well. There are SaaS companies like InDinero as well.

er..yeah...a lot of people use Google Docs. I've been using it exclusively over MS Office for a few years. Its free for individuals (and not sure how Google can tell when businesses are using it). I don't remember the amount of businesses Google has said use Google Docs, but remember it being a decent amount. And for probably 99% of users, Google Docs really isn't noticeably less powerful than Office programs. And it's really not buggy or laggy at all. There are several features in Google Docs not even available in MS Office programs as well (instant save, great Google search options, easy sharing options etc). It's not something that doesn't matter. It's something that most people can't really fathom how it has taken Microsoft so long in catching up to companies like Google and Open Office with this (although that's just how this company has been run by Balmer). I can log on to any computer or device connected to the internet to view and edit my documents with Google Docs. I'm actually even sitting on a computer in a hotel 'business center' right now and just pulled up a couple files on Google Docs before coming to this site. I'm not saying Google Docs is perfect..its not..but they make improvements to it pretty frequently (much more frequently than Microsoft, and updates are pushed out by Google without people having to do a single thing, compared to dealing with Microsoft's often horrible upgrade issues). There are some features in MS Office that are not in Google Docs, but again, most people don't use those features.

Simple machines doesn't offer any mobile skins for their software? This is the way several other message board companies handle this.

I'm not a SHLD shareholder, but I think he should just shut down K-Mart. I think Sears can still be a good business, but that they should focus on rebranding Sears around hardware, appliances and similar items. I was in Sears a couple days ago and half the store is stuff like clothes and jewelry. Do a lot of people really go clothes shopping at Sears? Sears comes to mind when I want a lawn mower, refrigerator or air conditioner. Go walk around a Sears. In addition to the good products they sell, they sure sell a lot of garbage. I don't see much value in K-Mart. The stores are disasters and they've already lost the battle between Wal-Mart and Target. I also don't think K-Mart's real estate value is anywhere close to what Lampert thinks it is. My other thought is to unload the K-Mart assets for whatever he can, and use the cash to purchase some other brands. Instead of focusing on being a retailer, build Sears into a collection of brands to go along with Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard (and sell those products through other retailers), in addition to continuing to build their Home Services division.

Stores and restaurants around me seem to always be real busy. Many flights and hotels seem to often be booked. People are still spending money.

I think Parsad has interest in this company (as he's mentioned on here before and to the point where he might actually not be able to discuss it here). I looked into them last year, read through some of their annual reports, etc and came away very unimpressed with their management. Even their website/marketplace seems to be quite a mess, IMO.

Has this site been running incredibly slow for anyone else the last few days (bordering on unusable)? It seems to get stuck after loading the header, possibly getting stuck waiting for the adservers. ETA: I've even been trying to post this thread several times and the page just won't load. I'm not having any issues with any other sites. It's taken me about 20 minutes just to post and modify this thread.

I've been watching CNBC most of the morning and like the amount of pessimism i'm seeing.

I've never understood the thought process behind people trying to destroy the place they live and greatly embarrassing their city in front of the rest of the world after losing a game.

Their software focus has been on personal software rather than business, and much of it is included in OSX (rather than sold on it's own - although they sell upgrades). iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, Logic, the iWork suite, iWeb, etc are all very well designed software, many of which are quite better than any Microsoft counterparts.

Apple is the retailer selling the subscriptions. I don't see how them taking a 30% cut is not fair. Retailers take a % off every product they sell. Retailers buy products at a wholesale price, and mark them up (usually at more than 30%!). Taking a % of the sale is how it works for digital products. Apple spends money on marketing, handles billing, and customer service. I don't understand why people think it's unfair for them to make a profit on things like apps and subscriptions.

Regarding online music streaming: Most major record labels have been strongly fighting that. Companies like Spotify, Grooveshark, Last.fm offer that service, but record labels are constantly trying to get them shut down. Part of the problem is that laws regarding piracy differ per country. Regarding announcements at the WWDC outside of iCloud, Lion and iO5 feature some great new changes. Apple is not usually the first company to come up with features/products. What they are great at is looking at other products on the market and greatly improving upon them. They come up with ideas to improve products that no other companies seem to be able to come up with, and focus on taking ideas from other companies and making them easier for people to use. I've been an Apple shareholder for several years and have learned to pay absolutely no attention to short-term moves in the stock price.

Anyone picking up WFC at this price? Just added to my position a bit.

How much net buying is going on at Berkshire or Leucadia? BRK at over 17x earnings and close to 20% over BV isn't nearly as cheap as some people on here are making it out to be. It's cheaper than it was a couple month ago, but I wouldn't consider it a bargain.

I think BRK and MSFT probably give the most downside protection at the current prices, but the size of them makes compounding returns more and more difficult each year. And I don't think BRK is really that cheap yet.

A potential problem with using your phone as a wallet that I've yet to hear anyone mention yes is phone battery life. What happens if you are out without any credit cards or cash, and only have your phone, and your smartphone battery dies?

-Microsoft did not create WebTV. They acquired the company for $425 Million, pretty much right at the time people stopped using the product. It was a pretty horrible acquisition. -It hasn't been a shortage of ideas that's hurt Microsoft. It's been poor execution. And nobody executes as well as Apple.

I've been calling for them to fire him for years. I think the ultimate replacement would be Eric Schmidt, but not sure he'd take the job.

I was coming in here to post this same thing.

What if you lose your wallet? Phone payments will most likely function similarly to debit cards where you have to enter a pin # to verify the transaction.

Very said. As I've said on here before, I generally try to avoid all the buffoons on CNBC during the day, but always loved watching Mark and Erin in the morning. First Erin left, and now Mark passed away. I loved his honesty and the fact that he never hesitated to give all the moron analysts he had to interview crap and exposing that they had no idea what they are talking about (he really did a great job at exposing how stupid so many analysts are on national tv). Mark's candor always made it seem like you were sitting across from the table from him and not watching him on TV. He will be missed. Anyone know what happened to him? CNBC is saying he died in his home, but I haven't heard what from.

The point I'm making here is that when it comes to worldwide computer adoption, computer buyers in developing countries will be even more motivated to purchase Windows machines vs. Macs because of the sizable cost differential. The brand argument is valid, which is why I included the proviso accepting the idea that they don't want to. I believe it. Maintaining high price / low penetration avoids all kinds of problems (including viruses and security threats). On this basis of comparison, you are rich. You live so comfortably in North America (I assume?) that you can spend free time and capital investing. Just guessing, I'd say that puts you in the top 10% - 1% of worldwide wealth measurements, and therefore you can afford to buy Mac. Using Eric's analogy, a $100/year differential on the cost of a computer is a deal breaker in a country where the average annual salary is < $5,000 USD (China). Gotcha. No argument that Apple won't develop any significant market share in developing countries, but I might be able to argue that computers running Google's Chrome OS could potentially be a better option than MSFT computers in developing countries, but that's a different argument.

ha...my point was more if it being much more than I toy (and BMW's are much more than toys as well), but yeah.

Of course Apple could produce computers cheaper than Windows if they wanted to (and scaled back on the hardware and software included). Why would they want to? Their entire brand is built on quality. BMW could easily product a car to sell for less than Kia's but that make just as much sense as it would for Apple to sell cheap computers. PC's are commodities that all contain the Windows operating system. There is little that differentiates a Dell from a HP computer (with the same specs). And calling Apple machines 'toys for the rich' is just silly. I'm not rich, and have never owned a non-Apple computer (of course I've used Windows at work - not at my choice). I've also ran 2 small businesses completely on Macs', almost completley without using a single Microsoft product (I've used Office for Mac in the past, but now mainly use Google Docs).