Raspberry Pi - Credit card sized PC on sale now for $35

This is indeed a very exciting news. Raspberry Pi which is in the news all over the internet for the past few weeks finally went on sale today for just $35. The credit card sized PC runs Linux and it looks pretty cool. I have ordered mine from the following link and I guess it will take around 30 days or more before I'll get one.

This item is heavily back ordered so if you want to buy one I suggest that you should order ASAP. This link is specially for people buying Raspberry Pi in the US as the unit is getting sold only in the UK as of now. There will be a $20 shipping & handling fee on top of $35 so for a mere 55 bucks you can experience the magic of the world's smallest PC and see it in action running in your home or office.

Watch this amazing video to see Raspberry Pi in action. Just can't wait to get mine.

               

Will there be an iPad3 event invite tomorrow ?

If we all believe in the rumors going around for the launch of Apple’s most awaited iPad3, then tomorrow should be the big day. Let me explain why?

Last year Apple send the invite to the press (exactly one week before the launch) on Feb 23^rd to launch the iPad2 on March 2^nd.  Now both Feb 23^rd and March 2^nd were Wednesdays and we all know that Apple loves Tuesdays and Wednesdays to launch their new product. Now according to the rumors, Apple this year should launch the iPad3 in the 1^st week of March. Going by that calculation and my intuitions, Apple will launch the iPad3 on 7^th March (Wednesday).

Why March 7^th? Today is 28^th Feb, so by now Apple should have send the invite (one week gap between invite and launch theory i.e if they are planning to launch the iPad3 on 6^th March (Tuesday)), but there is no news of the invites yet.  If 7^th March (Wednesday) is the date set by Apple to release the iPad3 then the members of the press should receive their invites tomorrow i.e 29^th Feb (i.e exactly one week before the launch). Apple sure should take the advantage of tomorrow i.e 29^th Feb to send the invite, as this date is special as we all know that we all will be seeing the next 29^th Feb not before 2016.

We will see what happens tomorrow, but going by my theory mentioned above I am having this feeling that the invites will be coming tomorrow. We’ll see.


Update: My intuitions were correct (Apple is launching the new iPad on 7th March) but my invite date was wrong. I don't have to prove it to anybody but it seems I was composing the post mentioned above and at the same time Apple sends out their invite to the media. 

Why I choose to invest in Apple? (Apple shares hit $500)

In March 2010, just before the launch of the first iPad I kept some hard earned money aside and bought some shares of Apple. I always wanted to invest in Apple but the shares of Apple were too high for me to invest. Somehow I gathered some courage and finally made an investment in Apple. So far I am happy that I have made that decision as today Apple crossed the $500 a share mark and is still unstoppable. The year to date gain of Apple shares is around $95 per share. I always believed in whatever Steve Jobs had to say about Apple and its unbeatable products, but I never anticipated that my investment will grow by 135% in less than 2 years. A freakin 135%. I am pretty sure there are many other stocks that have gained much more than 135% during the last couple of years, but the question is how many of them are reliable and maintain a continuous upward trend.

Many analysts believe that the shares of Apple have huge potential in the coming few years and this is just the beginning. I cannot comment on that as I am not an expert but one thing is for sure that Apple will continue to dominate the field of consumer electronics for atleast couple of years. I am an investor of Apple so I want this party to go on forever and ever, but keeping into consideration the upcoming product line up (speculations only) it seems Apple will surely do wonders both for its consumers as well as for its investors.

Incredible management team: Apart from its strong product line up, Apple is also having an smart and solid management team. As we all know that nobody can replace Steve Jobs. Steve’s untimely death is not slowing down Apple as the shares of Apple grew by around 32% after Steve’s death. I guess Tim Cook is the best person to replace Steve Jobs as he was the one who rectified and strenghten Apple’s supply chain. Till date Apple’s supply chain is one of the primary reasons why Apple keeps on delivering punches after punches on its competitors. Sir Jonathan Ive, the brilliant design engineer of Apple who designed almost every new product of Apple is another reason why Apple products are so popular. The design team at Apple led by Ive is one hell of a team and is responsible for designing everything from the early iMacs to the latest iPads. Scott Forstall, the senior vice president of the iOS division of Apple is another master player in this incredible management camp of Apple. If you want to know more about Scott and I recommend you should, then read this excellent article “Scott Forstall, the Sorcerer's Apprentice at Apple” published by Business Week. The shares of Apple might take a solid hit if any one of these 3 people decided to move away from Apple.

Apple products, the legacy of the late Steve Jobs: I sound very confident when I mentioned above that for the next 2 years it will be hard to displace Apple from its current position and the reason are the upcoming Apple products. We all are used to seeing computers which says “Intel Inside” in the same way I guess the products which will be released by Apple in the coming few years will surely have Steve’s magic touch and vision inside them. According to me and keeping into consideration the current Apple product release pattern the following products should have Steve’s visison tied to them in one way or the other - iPhone 5 (2012), iPhone 5S/6 (2013), iPad 3 (2012), iPad 4 (2013) and ofcourse the much talked about Apple TV or iTV or whatever (late 2012 or early 2013).

I guess things will start becoming interesting for Apple post 2013. The year 2014 should be the true test for Tim Cook and his team as the world will be watching in anticipation what new or improved products Apple has to offer. Apple has always captured the market share with its awesome and amazing products. Though Apple will miss the midas touch of Steve, but still the company got the potential to make it huge beyond imagination. As Apple crossed the $500 share mark people have already started discussing about how long will Apple take to make it to $1000. Will Apple ever reach $1000 a share? Will Apple become the company with the market capitalization of $1 trillon dollars? Will Apple keep on delivering one magical product after another? What would be the business model for the new Apple TV? How will Apple change the TV viewing paradigm? With these and many new and exciting questions on our minds both the consumers and investors of Apple are celebrating its success.

After investing in Apple I always used to tell my friends, “When you spend money buying that iPhone or iPad or whatever Apple has to offer you spend money and when you spend money on Apple I make money”. This is true that the shares of Apple have more value than Apple products but what will happen to the shares of Apple if everybody started to have this same philosophy. What makes Apple shares so great are the great products Apple has to offer and till the time Apple is offering those conspicuous products and winning the trust and hearts of many the shares of Apple will keep climbing higher and higher. As I said earlier the coming few years will be very exciting and still Apple has to achieve a lot of market share. Till then, let the drums roll and let the party continue. 


BTW, the markets got closed here in the US and the Apple share closed at $502.60 (up $9.18 or 1.86%).

Corning: A day made of Glass - Part Deux

Last year I shared the amazing concept video from Corning (A day made of Glass). You can check out that post and the video here.Now whats amazing about this video is this particular video does not only give us the glimpse of the future but also made us realize that how far we are from achieving it. Anyways this year Corning has released their 2nd video in the series of "A day made of Glass". I recommend you to watch it no matter what. This video is simply superb. I am just waiting for this to happen and to happen soon.

Very good concept and excellent presentation.

Spirit of the Marathon

Time is flying. Sure it does. Before we know it January is over and soon spring will be here in the US. The beginning of the spring will start the incredible season of running. I know season won't matter to some people who are hard core runners. But good weather can bring out the best in you and lift your running spirit all together.

Anyways if you are planning to make your running season more fun and challenging and you are someone who is looking for an inspiration to run and would like to make running an integral part of your life, then you should watch out this excellent documentary which goes by the name of "Spirit of the Marathon". I watched this last night and have enjoyed every bit of it. You can go to Hulu and search for it or you can watch it here from my post.



The documentary revolves around both professional and amateur marathoners and how they overcome various challenges to run the marathon. It does not require to be a marathoner to watch this documentary. You will enjoy this even if you are someone who is training for the 5K (as for most of us that is the starting point) or if you are training for the more challenging half or full marathon.

Well I myself has set some challenging goals as far as my running is concerned and I am training very hard to achieve it. Hope I'll be able to achieve what I have planned. Good luck to you all as well. If you are the first time runner then forget about the timings and pace, finishing is the most important part and the rest can be worked on. Having fun and enjoying while you are running is more important for a runner.

Run hard, train hard and leave everything in the hands of destiny.