Who cares!!!! If you can formulate an opinion on the products and understand the nature of the businesses you will be a better investor as you understand the communities, you understand the products, and you use the products leading you to have a better understanding on the effects of news developments in relation to the businesses. Yes, you could invest in upstart bio-technology businesses, but if you do not understand the nature of the activities a business conducts you could lose a lot of money on speculation and misinterpreting information….which essentially makes you a gambler.
Allow me to quote the great Peter
Lynch and the great Warrant Buffet via Ryan Guina:
“I can't think
of anyone better to look to for investment advice than Peter Lynch or Warren
Buffett. Lynch and Buffett are legendary investors who have amassed billion
dollar portfolios through sound investment strategies, one of which I want to
share with you today.
Peter Lynch, the
legendary portfolio manager from Fidelity, is famous for offering the advice,
"invest in what you know." Famed investor Warren Buffett often refers
to investing within his "circle of competence" when discussing how he
and his partners invest. "Circle of competence" may not mean much to
you, but what Mr. Buffett is really stating is, "invest in what you
know."
Buffett and his
partners famously sat out of the Dot-com Bubble in the late nineties because
technology wasn't a field he was comfortable with. While others speculated on
technology start-ups, Buffett was scooping up value stocks which had fallen out
of favor. A few short years later the bubble crashed and investors went back to
the value stocks Buffet had been buying all along. Buffett not only avoided
substantial losses, but he made money because he stayed true to investing in
what he knows. The idea of investing in what you know is not a new concept, but
it is worth repeating because it is solid advice and can help you avoid serious
investing mistakes.” (http://www.usnews.com/topics/author/ryan_guina)
And for those that care about my
opinion on iPhone vs Android read on:
My Take on Google
Google is an ad company that uses
you browsing data, email data, and/or personal data to send you targeted
advertisements to generate revenue. Google is not as reliant on consumer
products for success as opposed to Apple. Hence, Google can have an open source
operating system (you don’t have to use Google services on an android) where
you can have alternative apps stores (Amazon, Samsung and 1mobile to name a
few) and not deal with Google services at all. As Tim cook from Apple said, “you’re
the product” for Google” (http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/tim-cook-to-google-users-youre-not-the-customer-youre-the-product-594242
) because a business that gives things away things for free will find a way to
generate revenue for their business by some means. Google has an official app store
that people choose to use, which makes it extremely easy for Google to
constantly crank-out updates for Android even though they made it an open source
project. Google got people to buy into the idea of an app store like Apple, yet
Google gave people a way out from under its thumb. People wanted a Google
ecosystem, which gave Google an easy way to profit off of ads because people
want to use the official Google App store to buy/download apps which requires a
G-mail account. However, Google even allows you to delete a Google Account
(even set an inactivity timer to delete the account and email important info to
another person if so desired) unlike Apple’s stuck for life ICloud/Apple ID which
is a plus for Google in terms of privacy in my opinion. Google accidentally controlled the Android market place and will challenge any app makers to use alternative app stores to generate similar revenue. Also, Google is now in the position to challenge device makers to use another operating system and therefore Google can set the standards for the hardware used with Android.
Personally, I feel Google is in
communications takeover mode so they can distribute ads in new ways. I feel they will become a MVNO to provide cellular
service and possibly an internet service provider over LTE. I think Google can
go where Clear wireless's Wimax has failed consumer wise. Wimax signals have a hard time
penetrating buildings making it hard to receive the signal outside of a modem/hub at home…cell phones struggled to pick up
Wimax connectivity across the board. Google already has
its hand in internet and television services through by way of Google Fiber, so
a strong presence in being a communications service provider is not a far
stretch. And based on Google historical
love for targeted ads….Google may even use their hoards of personal data for targeted
TV ads in the future that go beyond the current demographics of a show and the
time that a show airs.
My Smartphone Usage
From 2010-2012 I used Android as my first smart phone
because I was a fan of Gmail, Youtube, and Google search. I felt open source
was the way to go because I remember Apple losing to Microsoft in the 1990’s.
Elementary school had Apple computers and the Real World was using Windows…and
when I got my first computer in 1997 (not counting the hand-me down one from 1996 with the big floppy drive, DOS, monopoly, and a red power switch labeled 1 & 0) it was a Windows 95 computer. I was using
a word processor at home for elementary school papers (4th and 5TH
grade it was write in cursive or Type it out) prior to a computer. However, at that
time I did not realize Microsoft was simply a licensing genius and that they
could provide high functioning software on relative cheap systems compared to Apple.
Microsoft was closed software, but open hardware in terms of compatibility and up-gradable parts.
And on an unrelated note since I have not been into
computers games since half-life/counterstrike/team fortress classic, unreal tournament,
quakes etc in the early 2000 as FPS have improved on game consoles to a level I did not
need a mouse & keyboard. I only used my PC entertainment wise for instant messaging, music, web browsing, and social media most of last decade. Flash forward 2014 I only need a PC to stay current with Microsoft Office on
a windows environment as it is still the defacto business standard. Most job
agencies and some companies still test MS Office on Windows for competency.
Maybe Microsoft in the very near future can keep the software standard across windows,
mac, Chromebook/web versions so people can stay on top of the features. Microsoft
being consistent across platforms is important so kids that may have only used
Google Docs and MS Office Online grade school through college do not look stupid
when applying for a job depending on the field as Job agencies and companies do
not test Google Doc skills.
Anyways… by 2012 I was frustrated with android phones be it
speed, apps crashing every day, battery life, and the displays based on the
Froyo and Gingerbread phones I had on boost mobile and sprint. I switched to an
iPhone in 2012 and did not look back until the end of 2013 when I used an Android
temporarily with FreedomPop as I knew iPhone was coming very soon. I used the Samsung Epic Touch 4g and used the Samsung
victory LTE....and they changed my opinion on Android being a viable mobile
operating system as of Jelly Bean.
However, during my experiences using Android and IOS (Jelly
Bean and ios 7/ios8) for the last several months in the iPhone 4S and Samsung
Victory LTE respectively; I feel the iPhone is still the superior phone today…but Android should be the future. I
feel the iPhone is better today simply because of the quality and selection of
apps. I understand the importance of customization and widgets for those that like
them (Personally, I cannot stand more than a weather or music widget) but apps
makes the phone at the end of the day and iPhone is superior in everyday app design & everyday stability. I prefer the design of IOS apps and some apps
are only available on IOS…Android still has a ways to go. See the comparison
below:
iPhone has number of members in twitter list
Android does not have number of members in twitter list
My Facebook (Paper) page looks cooler on iPhone
My Facebook page looks mediocre on Android
Hyperlapse on iPhone
Hyperlapse ain't on Android
Infinity Blade Trilogy on iPhone
Android has that amazing game Epic Citadel instead of Infinity Blade
Chrome has back button at the forefront on iPhone
Chrome for Android has the forward button hidden in the menu
Google Drive on iPhone has a status bar so you can monitor progress
Google Drive on Android uploads without indication of progress
I like Android
because I am not locked into Google Services and can easily see the things that
are synced online with google sync manager plus I can delete a Google account
and start over for any reason under the sun. iCloud/Apple ID is permanent
though I can switch the Apple ID to another email address, change various info
in iTunes, delete all my cloud emails, and then destroy the email account of
the apple ID (requires some work). Also, I like Android because I can render my
phone effectively useless with ease by un-syncing all of my person info if
someone needs to use my phone, I like that I can have multiples of the same
shortcut if apps fit business & personal groupings, and I like the Fact
that Android Lollipop will support multiple users so I can easily separate my
environments be it personal or business.
Lastly, I like Android because smartphones are like computers
and I assume smartphones with interchangeable parts for upgrades could become
popular just as they were with a desktop PC.
And with interchangeable parts we can create powerful phones and save
money by only upgrading certain aspects of the smartphone. However, that
concept would require certain standards for cases and that companies find it
profitable to produce parts for the upgrades. However, the likely hood that smartphones with interchangeable parts taking off is slim as most laptop parts are not interchangeable beyond upgrading ram or a disk drive...and laptops are a portable
that has been around much longer than the smartphone. PC Upgrades were driven
by gamers the most…and Android is lacking in the quality of apps department as
it stands. Hey, but it would be cool to pick up parts at a 24hr Wal-Mart if a
camera broke or a screen broke. Plus having spare antennas is feasible as
cellphones are the lifeline for many that do not want to bear the cost of a
home phone and it could be a matter of life or death… though it is recommended
to have an extra smartphone/cellphone in the house as all phones are able to call 911
without paying for cellular service. I do
think the key to smartphones with interchangeable parts ( http://www.xda-developers.com/android/project-ara-android-l-hot-swap/) is emerging markets as I was shocked to
find out smartphones ( by watching Bloomberg and CNBC) were some of the first home/personal
computers for many people because of the cost. Due to such matter of facts in emerging markets, interchangeable smartphone parts would be a good way for people to reduce
expenditures compared to upgrading an entire smartphone.
Conclusion
Android should be the future as I expect big-time developers
to have their own apps stores/websites since they would have the capacity to
not rely on Google play services and therefore increase profit margins. I
believe companies will be able to provide their own operating system without Google
constraints because they will no longer need their play store as people will be
able to get games directly from developers. People will just rely on reviews
and comments on app review sites for information….plus developers can advertise their apps through social media, advertise through internet ads, and advertise through through traditional outlets of newspaper, radio, & television. I will hang on to my iPhone or at least have an
iPod touch until the potential of Android is realized beyond having a larger
market share than iPhone... Unless of course HTML5 ( http://www.infoworld.com/article/2610329/mobile-development/forrester--html5-apps-still-not-as-good-as-native-apps.html
) apps dominate smartphones to render smartphone
platforms and computer platforms useless as in simply the devices being reduced to televisions
with a Brand Label.
***BRAIN EXPLODES***
