First, today’s best pleasure:
I love listening to their podcasts, which cover
They’ve just released a long — 4 hours and 23 minutes podcast on:
The Complete History & Strategy of Microsoft
After nearly a decade of Acquired episodes, we are finally ready to tackle the most valuable company ever created. The company that put a computer on every desk and in every home. The company that invented the software business model. The company that so thoroughly and completely dominated every conceivable competitor that the United States government intervened and kneecapped it… yet it’s STILL the most valuable company in the world today.
This episode tells the story of Microsoft in its heyday, the PC Era. We cover its rise from a teenage dream to the most powerful business and technology force in history — the 20-year period from 1975 to 1995 that took Bill and Paul from the Lakeside high school computer room to launching Windows 95 alongside Jay Leno and the Rolling Stones. From BASIC to DOS, Windows, Office, Intel, IBM, Xerox PARC, Apple, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer… it’s all here, and it’s all amazing. Tune in and enjoy… Microsoft.
You can listen to Acquired podcasts on their site (click here) or wherever you get your podcasts. I listen on PocketCasts. I always download the entire episode before I go traveling. That way I have it on my iPhone and I don’t have to rely on Verizon’s crappy cellphone service. (I think Verizon is pulling a Boeing.)
What Robots can do, with a little help from Nvidia.
Most impressive.
My “inviolate” 15% Sale Rule
Sell when my stock falls 15% and things have changed drastically to affect the stock’s fortune. Samples:
+ Allbirds makes shoes, but so does everybody else (and then some). Three innovations in shoes — new glue, one piece soles and slip-in. They all empowered new competitors. Personally I like Skechers and Merinos.
+ Zoom was the classic pandemic stock. But then everyone and their uncle (including Google and Microsoft) figured out how to make video calls:
+ DocuSign was another great pandemic stock. But — ask yourself — how many DocuSign docs can you sign in one lifetime?
There are also a zillion competitors to DocuSign. Click here.
More boring health Tips
+ Salt is bad for your blood pressure. It’s in everything, especially in processed foods, fast foods (McDonalds, DQ, Burger King, etc.) and restaurant meals.
+ Sugar is bad for your belly. They now call it a sugar belly.
+ I like making money on the fat drugs — NVO and LLY. But I don’t want to take their drugs. The long-term effects are horrendous, allegedly.
+ I don’t like supplements, no matter how much they spend on TV advertising. The stuff is unregulated. No one knows what’s in them. And the irmedical claims are unproven. My biggest dislikes: Prevagen and Qunol.
+ Don’t do stupid. Like falling on the last step down. Not checking twice for traffic. Driving while sleepy.
Some of my favorite things
+ YouTubeTV — I’m now paying $83.98 a month. But it’s worth every penny. Two basic reasons: I can watch it wherever I am — visiting the kids, in New York, in Columbia County. Second, it seems have an unlimited DVR. I can record anything I want and play it back whenever I want. Anything, whenever. Wow. If I play back an hour show, I can fast forward through 20 minutes of commercials. It’s a life changer.
+ Apple CarPlay — It’s almost an iPhone in your car. Waze or Google Maps are really good on your car’s display.
+ Google Chrome for Windows. Remembers IDs and passwords, and keeps being improved.
+ Kindle. Best and easiest way to read a book, highlight your most useful pieces and take notes.
+ The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Best windows laptop ever made. I hear the new Apple Macs are super great. But I’m too old to learn a new way of doing things.
+ Fidelity Active Trader Pro. Beautiful software for eyeing my portfolios. That’s where all the charts in this blog come from.
+ Amazon Goodthreads jeans for under $40.
+ T-Mobile is remarkably good. Cheapest way to get it: Mint Mobile.
Passover
There are three parts to a Passover celebration
+ They tried to kill us.
+ They failed.
+ So let’s eat.
A Jewish man took his Passover lunch to the park. He sat down and began eating.
A blind man sat down next to him.
Feeling neighborly, the Jewish man passed a sheet of matzo to the blind man.
The blind man ran his fingers over the matzo for a few minutes, looked puzzled, and finally exclaimed, “Who wrote this crap?”
Sorry about sending two blog emails yesterday. Glitch in the software, which “upgraded” itself.
— Harry Newton
