Apple's Record Results

Apple posted record results for their first quarter of 2013 today. The press release is here. In quick summary:

Apple® today announced financial results for its 13-week fiscal 2013 first quarter ended December 29, 2012. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $54.5 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.1 billion, or $13.81 per diluted share.

These results have not impressed the analysts and AAPL shares are trading down 10% in aftermarket trading. Maybe Amazon has the right idea in avoiding profit at all costs.

Amazon Kindle Fire v. iPad mini

Amazon is notorious for making sale number claims of its devices while providing no numbers for proof. They're continually allowed by the press to do this without consequence. I say it's about time they put on their big boy pants and release sales figures if they're going to send PR emails like the one AllThingsD says they received.

Amazon claims that Wednesday, the day after Apple revealed details of the iPad mini, was the best day of sales for the Kindle Fire HD. Prove it.

If true, I'd say what it really proves is there are plenty of people out there who'd much rather have an iPad than a Kindle Fire. The only thing stopping them is price. Give it time. Apple will find a way in the coming years to lower the entry price to own an iPad.

Amazon's Tablet Strategy

Amazon announced the second iteration of it's popular Kindle Fire​ today. With screens sizes from 7" up to 8.9" and prices ranging from $159 to $499, it's an impressive lineup. No single manufacturer has been able to make any kind of run at Apple in the tablet market since the iPad was introduced. Most companies have failed by attempting to create an iPad replica. The result has been tablets with inferior experiences at very similar prices.

Amazon, by the nature of who they are, doesn't need to play the same game as the wannabes. ​They've chosen, very wisely in my opinion, to do things differently. Because they make their money by selling content, they don't need to make any money at all on devices. This means nobody will be able to touch their prices. At the same time, they've got more content to fill their devices than anyone not named Apple.

Amazon is trailing Apple significantly in both quantity and quality of apps and global distribution.​

Amazon is attempting to limit the significance of the app deficit by essentially marketing apps not as a primary use case for a tablet, but rather as a less important side benefit. It's a bold move and it will work for many people. If you want to listen to music, watch video, surf the web and check your email, the Fire is a competent device.

Amazon has much work to do on the global distribution front. Short term, it may be their largest barrier to success. The current situation is that if you don't live in the US or Great Britain, ​a Fire will do you little good. Amazon has no way to sell you the content that makes the device so compelling. If they can make progress in the coming years, the sky may be the limit.

I can envision a time in a couple years where both Apple and Amazon are successful in selling a lot of tablets that cater to their uniques strengths. I'm sure Apple is paying close attention.​

Security in the Digital Age

​Over the weekend, Wired writer Mat Honan was the victim of a digital attack on his life. In a piece written for Wired and published last evening, Mat reveals the details of everything that happened.

"In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken into, and my hackers used it to remotely erase all of the data on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.

In many ways, this was all my fault. My accounts were daisy-chained together. Getting into Amazon let my hackers get into my Apple ID account, which helped them get into Gmail, which gave them access to Twitter. Had I used two-factor authentication for my Google account, it’s possible that none of this would have happened, because their ultimate goal was always to take over my Twitter account and wreak havoc. Lulz.

Had I been regularly backing up the data on my MacBook, I wouldn’t have had to worry about losing more than a year’s worth of photos, covering the entire lifespan of my daughter, or documents and e-mails that I had stored in no other location.

Those security lapses are my fault, and I deeply, deeply regret them.

But what happened to me exposes vital security flaws in several customer service systems, most notably Apple’s and Amazon’s."

The entire story is a must read. It's an epic tale about a misguided hacker, a tech writer who should have known better about backing up important data, the problem with linking online accounts together by email or credit card and the absolute failure of two of the largest companies in the world to protect their customers.

I've already made a few quick changes to the way I'm conducting my business online and there will be more to come. I'll outline some of the details in a post yet to be written. We all need to appreciate that there's a balance between security and convenience in the digital age. I'm shifting even stronger yet towards security. You?​