I voted yes, but do not feel at all strongly. Jason’s charts are awesome, but frankly there is so much detail that I usually read the first couple of screenfuls and then skip to the conclusion. I think I must be in a small minority when I say that quarterly financial reports are not news. I feel the same about poll results and reports on which-candidate-managed-to-fundraise-more.
Still, I’m invested not only in the ecosystem but in Apple stock as well, and it’s useful and interesting to see a non-financial perspective on the financial “news.”
Bottom line: I think you should do as your heart dictates, Adam!
There are other options for me to see the results but TidBits does sort of hit the sweet spot for me. Sort of a high level overview of the highlights without getting into minutiae that wouldn’t really mean much to me.
“As a stockholder, I’m interested in any info available from all sources.”
Apple is such a secretive company, I always appreciate your taking time to share your thoughts about what you believe is going on… sharing your perspective - your ‘TidBITs’ as it were :)
i.e. Please continue convering Apple’s Financials.
I like reading your summaries. Most of the time, I get the financials from you guys and I think you do a pretty good job in layman’s terms to pass on the information.
Given my—to put if kindly—modest financial circumstances despite (or maybe because of) 40 years deep in the Silicon Valley trenches, I get a kick out of these numbers, like watching with morbid interest a speeding train going faster and faster, half sure the engineer knows what he’s doing at that crazy pace, but also half sure he can’t possibly continue like that without derailing…and yet, so far, his train crazily speeds on and on.
Some of us have the same reaction to the ongoing, always upward indebtedness of the domestic and world economies, or in the words of the late Illinois Sen. Everett Dirksen (a socially progressive Republican!), “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money!” Today, just slide the decimal point over and make that “a trillion here and a trillion there”—nothing ever really changes. So yes, Adam, please do continue reporting on Apple’s and everyone else’s crazy funny money—it’s the best show in town!
I always see this info at Daring Fireball. I don’t identify at all with the company’s finances, though I think that for some people the feeling is something like that of identifying with a sports team — “we” are winning, or losing, or whatever.
But that bizspeak in what you quoted from Tim Cook is hilarious. It reminds me of the strange pleasure of listening to the BBC Shipping Forecast. No idea what it means, but it’s oddly compelling.
Though I’m very interested in Apple’s financials (I started buying a bit of AAPL every month when Steve Jobs returned), the basic information is available via many sources and by the time I see it in TidBITS, it’s old news. I find charts rather pointless and I don’t get why people like them (I skim the ones on Six Colors, but I rarely find them informative).
What I do find valuable and interesting is analysis about what the latest numbers mean for Apple in the future. In the 1990s when every article described Apple as “beleaguered” it’s refreshing to know that Apple won’t disappear overnight, but there are still trends that the markets dictate, such as certain product lines, the schedule of new products and updates, and so on. I don’t know that these articles need to appear every quarter, however. Once or twice a year is probably all that’s needed, similar to an annual or bi-annual physical from your doctor.
But all that said, the financial articles don’t bother me if they are published by TidBITS.
While not interested in the details, the overview is useful as it serves to indicate if Apple is listening to its customers, creating products that people wish to purchase and at a price that they are willing to pay for it.
I find your summaries very helpful and interesting. Unlike some others here I guess, I don’t subscribe to many other blogs / newsletters / feeds (I have been trying to cut down), so I would be sorry if you stopped doing these! They are just the right length for me too.
My relatively tiny IRA investment in Apple in the late '80s while working for a third tier Apple developer led eventually to a rewarding (NOT financially, sadly) career in software development. It was that few thousand dollars invested in Apple stock that eventually gave me a healthy IRA and made a comfortable retirement possible. I still find all things Apple fascinating, very definitely including their financial ups and downs! Please continue your coverage.
Keep it. I find it mildly interesting but would never seek it out. I guess that’s to say I trust this source and it’s one of the few I still let in to my inbox week after week. So when the finance rundown is there I’m happy to see it just as I am all the articles (even though honestly, most of them are probably of limited immediate value to me, just as AAPL’s numbers are)
To be honest, Adam, I don’t look elsewhere for Apple Financial figures. Your graphs, charts and analysis are fine for my level as I’m a ‘Big Picture’ preference person. Although I’m a Mathematician, I’m not a financial expert, so find your statistics presentations the fastest way to see how Apple’s fortunes are doing. Please keep it up!