iPhone market fallout: RIM racked, Palm pounded

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If your stock ticker symbol is RIMM or PALM, today would have been a good day to stay in bed. The trend noted in this Engadget post from 2 pm ET kept on going through the trading session, with Blackberry-maker Research in Motion losing nearly 8% on the NASDAQ and 7.7% on the Toronto exchange. Palm suffered nearly as badly, with Nokia and Motorola posting much smaller declines. For the homes of the Treo and the Pearl, "Black Tuesday" represented a total loss of market value approaching $2.2 billion dollars. Meanwhile, Apple's one-button bounce on the day was a stunning $6.1 billion.

Seems that Wall Street got Steverino's message loud and clear; he expects to take his 1% of cellphone market share right off the top, and he is definitely playing for keeps.

I'm guessing that this "Sponsored by Blackberry" ad button won't be showing up on any more CNET videos, either.

Thanks Florian!

Read

(Via TUAW.)

Today’s Apple announcements at Macworld 2007

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‘Twas the night before Expo

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By Rob Griffiths and Kirk McElhearn


’Twas the day before Macworld, and all through the nets
Not a weblog was silent, they were all taking bets;
The photos were taken of posters afar,
In hopes that St. Jobs’ stuff would clearly show thar.

The faithful were ready, asleep in their homes,
With thoughts of Mac tablets a-dance in their domes;
As Phil with his keyboard, and Steve with his phone,
Prepared to present and to throw us a bone,
But out on the Web sites there was such a clatter,
I surfed to them all, to read up on their patter.

Come Tuesday, to Expo I ran in a dash,
A pause I did make just to get me some cash.
The moon on the heads of the other Mac nuts
Was a sign of how early we’d all left our huts.

We dreamed of new hardware, new software, new gear,
New iWork, new iLife, The Beatles (big cheer!),
More movies, an iPhone, an iTV too,
And Leopard a-growl to make Redmond go “Ooooh!”
And one more thing too, but what could that be?
Not even the journalists were privy to see.

We waited a-flutter like pilgrims so true,
As we shuffled our feet and dreamed of the new,
We stood out on line, in the cool morning air,
Knowing soon, very soon, Mr. Jobs would be there.

Then what to our wondering eyes should appear,
But a glorious limo whose purpose was clear,
With a little old driver, and a man in the back,
We all knew in our hearts that he'd be dressed in black.
More rapid than eagles, his people they came,
And he whistled, cajoled, and he called them by name;

“Now Peter! Now, Sina! Now, Ron and now Timothy!
On, Philip! On Donald! On, Bertrand and Tony!
To the top of the hall! To the front of the stage!
Come, hurry, run to me, we’ve CES to upstage!”

To all of the pilgrims who’d flown on long flights,
Happy Expo to all, and to all a good night.

Ski East Look West

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A friend of mine, Rob Story, has opened SkiEastLookWest.com recently. His site rocks and contains tons of information about local Skiing in the south western Virginia area. He posts information about local Ski conditions at Winterplace, Snowshoe, and Timberline resorts.





His site is a combination blog and informational site that I think a lot of local Skiers will find useful.

A video Rob made recently:

Archaeologists find ancient Roman road in the Netherlands

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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Archaeologists in the Netherlands have uncovered what they believe is part of the military road Roman soldiers patrolled nearly 2,000 years ago while guarding against hostile Germanic tribes at the Roman Empire's northern boundary. Known in Latin as the “limes,” the road was in use from roughly A.D. 50 to A.D. 350...

(Via digg.)

Barnes Bashed ‘Obstructionism,’ Now Hails McConnell As ‘The Great Master Of The Filibuster’

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Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes excitedly discussed how new Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) may block the new congressional leadership from pursuing its objectives. “There was really an important thing that Mitch McConnell said,” Barnes explained, which was that “the minority can guarantee not much is done.”


Barnes claimed that he has “talked to [McConnell] many times, and he’s the great master of the filibuster, among other things.” Barnes also said that President Bush “has great tools” like “the veto, executive orders, recess appointments and so on” to block congressional efforts.


Watch it:



Screenshot


What a difference new leadership makes. During the last Congress, when Barnes’ conservative allies were in power, tools like the filibuster were described as legislative “rage,” a sign of “ruthless” politics. Here’s Barnes on 2/7/05:


Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle…was plainly obsessed with obstructing Bush at every turn. … The real lesson, of course, is that blatant obstructionism is a failed strategy. It’s what caused Daschle to lose his seat. […]


Stronger countermeasures will be needed, including an unequivocal White House response to obstructionism, curbs on filibusters, and a clear delineation of what’s permissible and what’s out of bounds in dissent on Iraq.


Full transcript:


BARNES: There was really an important thing that Mitch McConnell said when he was here. He’s now the Republican leader. They have 49 votes, after all, and he said the minority can guarantee not much is done, which means that…


HUME: Which he said he’s — a proposal he said he’s indisposed to take at this point.


BARNES: I know, but he said, you know, I’ve talked to him many times, and he’s the great master of the filibuster, among other things. The president has great tools — the veto, executive orders, recess appointments and so on.


I think the key thing here, Democrats can get things that Bush agrees with them on, like the minimum wage, but if he’s against it like tax increases, they’re just not going to succeed.

(Via Think Progress.)