por admin » Mié Abr 28, 2010 8:29 am
Otro cliente satisfecho que recomienda comprar las acciones de Apple.
Punch Apple's Shares Into Your iPad, Press 'Buy'
By JAMES B. STEWART
The Kindle/iPad showdown is here.
No one has ever accused me of being an early adopter, but I was so eager to try out the new iPad that I preordered it online. It arrived in a plain brown wrapper two weeks ago. My eagerness reflected my previously expressed frustrations with the Kindle as well as the fact that I own both Apple and Amazon.com shares.
Since then I have been trying out Apple's iPad in a variety of settings, including on the train, plane and bus and, naturally, in bed. I don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch, so the touch-screen technology, virtual keyboard and dizzying array of applications were all new to me. One envious friend tried to pry my iPad away from me on the grounds that I wasn't "iPad worthy."
My first impression on removing the iPad from its box was that it is a beautiful piece of work, very slender with a great screen, but also rather heavy compared with Amazon's Kindle. Then I started using it, and that concern disappeared. The first thing I downloaded was the Kindle app, and with it came the entire contents of my Kindle's home page, complete with book covers in color, and I was able to resume reading right where I had left off.
.All the problems I had with the Kindle were addressed and surmounted by the iPad. Its subtly backlit screen provided the sharp contrast of a real book page, not the strangely uniform gray of the Kindle page that bothered my eyes whenever I read it in anything but the brightest light. On the train and bus, the page was as visible in a tunnel as in direct sunlight. And using my fingers to turn a page is much more booklike than pressing on the Kindle's button.
Newspapers and magazines are even more satisfying, thanks to the color and sharp graphics. Pages are much better displayed and easy to navigate. Readers can get a sense of the editors' choices and priorities.
And this is just the reading dimension of the iPad. It also brings movies, TV shows, videos, music, the Internet and email right into your lap, as well as all those apps I've just begun to explore.
In short, it really is no contest. I find I'm carrying the iPad everywhere I go.
The iPad doesn't do everything. I'm writing this column on my MacBook Air, using Microsoft Word and flipping to the Internet for research. But the iPad shouldn't try to be all things to all people. To me, it is the ultimate leisure device: the book, newspaper, magazine, television, stereo and movie theater all rolled into one. So far it seems to do all those things quite well. If that isn't revolutionary, I don't know what is.
I suspect it is over for the Kindle device, despite its first-mover advantage. My Kindle has been sitting untouched on my bedside table. But the good news for Amazon is that the Kindle app, and its link to the Amazon store, is just as good if not better on the iPad than on Kindle itself. I checked out the iBooks app as well. But other than a graphic page turn, I didn't see any advantage. Amazon has more books at better prices. Amazon isn't really a hardware maker; it is an Internet retailer, which is what it does best. I expect I'll do plenty of Amazon shopping on the iPad.
Amazon shares fell Thursday after the company posted stellar first-quarter earnings but released a disappointing forecast. Still, ahead of the report, shares hit $151, an all-time high, and their price/earnings ratio is a steep 63. Apple certainly isn't cheap, either. Its shares hit a high of $272 last week after it reported surprisingly strong earnings that didn't yet reflect any iPad sales. Still, Apple's P/E is a more-reasonable 23. I don't like to buy anything at an all-time high, so I would urge investors to wait for at least a modest pullback before buying either stock.
Of the two companies, Apple seems the relative bargain. If my enthusiasm is any indication, everyone who reads or watches a screen is going to want—and get—an iPad. After seeing mine, two of my friends headed straight to an Apple store this weekend. I think this is a breakout product for Apple, and if you agree with me, I would invest in the stock sooner rather than later.