F**ked By The Cloud

[Kerim]

Interesting take on the headwinds facing IBM, HP, EMC, Dell, and Cisco from wired: These Tech Giants Are the Walking Dead

I've got small-ish positions in IBM and CSCO. This does not inspire me to run out and sell. More than anything it is just a reminder that tech stocks are generally less "forever" than some other sectors.

[rayray]

(10-12-2015, 09:16 AM)Kerim Wrote: Interesting take on the headwinds facing IBM, HP, EMC, Dell, and Cisco from wired: These Tech Giants Are the Walking Dead

I've got small-ish positions in IBM and CSCO. This does not inspire me to run out and sell. More than anything it is just a reminder that tech stocks are generally less "forever" than some other sectors.

He wrote an article and said nothing.

[Rasec]

Yes, I believe I read the exact same thing about 5 years ago?!

Haven't we all read?
And Google is doomed because of ad blockers...
And Microsoft is doomed because of Mobile...
And Apple is doomed because it's incapable of innovating...
And Facebook is doomed because of adblockers and millennials maturing and getting tired of it...

Who else is left?

Amazon?! They are doomed because they keep burning their best people and eventually will find no talent to keep growing, plus merchants are unhappy with the greedy Golias.
Netflix? HBO has joined the scene, Amazon Apple and Google are all playing the game, Hulu is stepping up... they are doomed.

In 10 years, we'll have no computers, a fractured mobile market all cloud driven, self driving battery powered cars, niche texting based social networks, no ads and we'll continue to drink Coca Cola, smoke cigarettes and buying post its from 3M .

[Dividendsrule]

I appreciate the article, Karim. Some interesting points. I think in defense of IBM, there are many more services there than just the cloud. I think Buffett pointed out that the cloud is not a zero sum gain, having *some* market share is just fine. IBM has a lot of infrastructure clout in institutions and government and I think a higher level of trust there too. For instance IBM is talking with the NY Fed about providing the infrastructure for a blockchain for money, like bitcoin.
IBM also has partnerships with Apple, Medtronic, JNJ and others. Watson of course, business analytics which they are pivoting to. So I am not too worried about IBM.
Cisco has exhibited all of the signs of being a healthy cash cow with recurring revenues, but the complete reliance on their current business model in the tech world has always given me pause and I have not yet pulled the trigger on CSCO for that reason. I was so close to buying at 13 a couple years ago, I think it was right before they initiated the dividend? Never pulled the trigger.

[Dividend Watcher]

(10-12-2015, 12:17 PM)Rasec Wrote: In 10 years, we'll have no computers, a fractured mobile market all cloud driven, self driving battery powered cars, niche texting based social networks, no ads and we'll continue to drink Coca Cola, smoke cigarettes and buying post its from 3M .

Astute observation.