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 For the last two weeks, I’ve been listening to pundits talk about how Chromebooks are superior to iPads in a school setting because they have keyboards and are easier to manage. What a crock. And this is coming from someone who thinks that Apple should get out of the education market. Apple should let Google have this low-margin business. But…what is best for the students?
 An analyst from RBC Capital Markets has made the case in in his investor memo that Apple may drop the price on the successors to the iPhone X. This has led to a lot of speculation that perhaps Apple is retreating from higher prices in the face of unexpectedly low demand. That’s too big a leap to make from my viewpoint.
Net Neutrality is Communism Applied to the Internet  The supporters of net neutrality have tried to portray their opposition as being simply big greedy telecoms who want to squeeze more profit from consumers. This is a lie which doesn’t make any sense.
 Ryan Waniata at Digital Trends took the lack of a headphone jack as a sign that audiophiles need to switch to Android.
 Ever since Apple released their LTE-enabled Apple Watch, it has become more apparent to me than ever that this is the future of communications. Adding a cellular connection to the Apple Watch is like breathing life into a lump of clay. Not having to rely on my iPhone for data truly brings the Apple Watch to life. Here are my two favorite scenarios where this is the case. During my work day when I leave my desk and after work when I exercise.
 I’ve been meaning to write a post about how many high-profile Tesla executives have essentially said that their Tesla stock options are worthless. How so? They walk away from them. Here is the latest disillusioned Tesla insider.
 Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities came out with an investor note predicting that Apple would update the MacBook Air in the April to June timeframe. This would be quite the unexpected move if it happens.
History Should be Understood, Not Distorted to Confirm Pre-Existing Beliefs  Senator Mike Lee from Utah wrote a great piece about how Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton has distorted history to confirm a big-government bias. It’s a shame really. Hamilton has done much to re-kindle an interest in America’s history. Now everyone has to explain all the inaccuracies contained therein.
I highly recommend reading this article which sets the record straight on Hamilton. And share it with your friends. How the ‘Hamilton Effect’ Distorts the Founders  I agree with Montana Skeptic that Tesla (TSLA) is quickly getting into juicy short territory. I highly recommend reading his great summary at Seeking Alpha.
The Q4 2017 Results and Panic at Tesla Central  Tesla just released their Q4 2017 earnings and as many expected, it’s more bad news. Even the “good” news was hiding more bad news beneath the surface. Improved cash flow? Not really, Tesla hoarded ZEV credits and cashed them in all at once and they have deposits on the money-losing roadster and semi-truck. For the non-accountants in my audience, deposits actually are liabilities on the balance sheet.
 IPhone Sales Volume
There’s no other way to describe Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone sales volume in Q1 other than they were great. The first wave of articles written about Apple’s earnings release all dwelled on the fact that iPhone sales volume was down year-over-year. However, the major fact about there being one less week in 2018 (13 vs 14) was relegated to a quick footnote. There's a Connection  Mikey Campbell had a great report on how Apple's iPhone X is successfully beating back Samsung in the US.
No One Makes a Good Personal Assistant Yet  The Amazon Echo is not a personal assistant. It is a community assistant. There’s a big difference between the two. And as of yet, no one in the world is making a good countertop personal assistant.
What Horace Dediu Gets Right...and Wrong  Horace Dediu of Asymco had a great FAQ regarding Apple’s (AAPL) $268 billion cash horde. I highly recommend reading it if your wondering why Apple takes out loans when they have so much cash or why they buy back stock.
I especially liked this part from his article. It’s the Investors Who Are in the Spotlight  Jordan Golson of Ars Technica began his review of the Model X by unintentionally calling attention to something that actually isn’t very flattering for Tesla (TSLA). Of course, he’s trying to put Tesla’s progress in as favorable a light as possible but there’s one big problem with what he said, which I’ll cover after his quote.
This Is Starting to Look Bigger Than Apple Music  Anyone paying attention to what Apple (AAPL) has been doing behind the scenes with media has been astounded over the last 6 months. Between hiring heavy hitters and purchasing video with impeccable pedigrees, Apple has been making some great moves. The most recent announcement is the purchase of an epic drama “See” by the director of the Hunger Games and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Peaky Blinders. If the whole video streaming industry is a battle right now it looks like Apple is amassing a huge army on the border and about to go to war.
The Oldest, Clearest, Most Logical Model Designation in the Auto Industry  Apple (AAPL) seems to find itself in an increasingly difficult position when it comes to naming their iPhone models. This is a situation that will only get more sticky if Apple continues to expand the iPhone line as rumored. Ben Lovejoy wrote a piece that I mostly agree with on how Apple needs to segment the iPhone into distinct models to make things a little clearer.
 The Apple Watch is the most exciting device made by Apple over the last 3 years. The performance jumps are huge, and it’s constantly gaining new abilities. But everything can be improved, and I appreciated Matt Birchler’s great write-up on suggestions for watchOS 5 at his BirchTree blog. I’m linking to it here and expounding on the suggestions that I liked the best. His suggestions are below in bold.
Where Business Insider Gets EVs Wrong  Business Insider’s Matthew DeBord made the amazing claim that there is currently no debate over how electric vehicle’s are more cost-effective than gas vehicles.
That’s Why They’re Poaching Apple’s Chip Engineers  Chance Miller writes for 9to5Mac on how Google is poaching Apple (AAPL) chip engineers and recently scored a huge win with hiring away John Bruno.
The Real Reason Android Doesn’t Need to Throttle  In the face of Apple’s criticism for throttling old iPhones with worn out batteries, Samsung came out and stated that they didn’t do that with older Samsung phones. Which I found to be quite hilarious.
 Writing for Forbes, Brooke Crothers closes his eyes and puts his fingers in his ears when it comes to all the financial forecasters who warn that Tesla (TSLA) has arrived at the beginning of the end.
Another Overlooked Function More People Should Take a Look at  One Excel function that I’m surprised more people don’t use more often is the SUMIF. It’s a fairly simple function that even people working on uncomplicated spreadsheets may often have an occasion to use.
The Math Says “Yes”…Eventually  Wade Hicks of Fox Business reports on Gene Munster’s theory that Amazon may acquire retail giant Target.
Disney Just Got a Lot More Intriguing  It’s been reported today that an analyst with Citi is pegging the likelihood that Apple (AAPL) would purchase Netflix at about 40%.
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Robert PerezManufacturing and distribution analysis since 1993. 
Perezonomics is available in Apple News
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