.Mac – The next big thing for Apple

Recurring revenue is the holy grail for any business model. It’s the kind of thing that would get Warren Buffet interested in tech stocks. Think Gilette – razor and blades.

Apple is, whether Buffet knows it or not, the perfect technology stock. Fashion, design, great retail, great brand and now with .Mac, a long-term recurring revenue model.

In the Windows world, there are at least 20 companies vying for your storage business. Once you buy a Mac, there is one choice for your storage needs – a .Mac account. Photos, music, movies, blogging = STORAGE NEEDS = $$$$$$$$ for Apple.

It costs $99 per year, but that is cheap. Assuming the world slowly moves to an Apple computer in every living room – $99 per household adds up.

The stock was upgraded today from some putz at Citibank – but no real model built in for .Mac. So, he is late to the party and right – just for the wrong long-term reasons.

I know I am right about this, just from following the blogging world. One of the most highly blogged tech areas is online storage. Leading the way is a Mark Cuban backed upstart – Box.net. The young guns (early 20’s) running this little company are as sharp as any veteran, but they are swimming in a pool of sharks. Google, Microsoft, and countless well funded start-ups. I know one of the founders and I expect (hope) Yahoo or someone to buy them soon for a lot of money. Dell, HP, Gateway have all missed the boat on the hardware side. They should have had this solution built-in to their marketing and service years ago. Apple did, does and is set to dominate their market with .Mac. I am a subscriber and love it!!!!!!