Does anyone else find the casual use of "AAPL" disturbing?

[Unspeaked]

I've noticed more and more people in the forums using the letters AAPL to refer to Apple.

These are posts and threads that have nothing to do with Apple, Inc's common stock, nor financial markets in general. Simply referring to AAPL's new iPod or wondering when AAPL will update iTunes or what Steve Job was thinking when he returned to AAPL in the late 90s.

I've especially noticed this in the past 8-12 months.

It's a little disturbing to me, since I think it shows - at least subconsciously - how preoccupied some people are with Apple's stock and not the company itself.

Has anyone else A) noticed this trend and B) feels bothered by it?

 

[belvdr]

No and no. It wouldn't bother me if I saw it as I'd know what they are referring to.

 

[saMac]

Has anyone else A) noticed this trend and B) feels bothered by it?

i get what you're saying, in a very postmodern whats-this-world-coming-to-always-thinking-about-money way, but look where you are. Apple is a company that runs on money generated by product sales and, yes, sale of stock interest.

one might also infer that if AAPL is doing well (down 6.13 today), then the company is doing well, which means they can make more shiny things for me.

 

[Unspeaked]

i get what you're saying, in a very postmodern whats-this-world-coming-to-always-thinking-about-money way, but look where you are. Apple is a company that runs on money generated by product sales and, yes, sale of stock interest.

one might also infer that if AAPL is doing well (down 6.13 today), then the company is doing well, which means they can make more shiny things for me.

I realize it's not the end of the world, it's just one of those things that bothers/irritates me.

You'd never see someone say:

Have you had a chance to rent that latest movie from NFLX?

Man, those guys at XOM are taking my money hand over fist!

I just picked up a great new shirt from ANF, do you like it?

There's just a recent heightened awareness of Apple stock and the company's financial performance that I don't think existed a short while ago...

 

[rdowns]

No and no but it sure beats reading complaints about no matte screens, the loss of Firewire on the MB, no backlit KB on the low end MB, the high prices AAPL charges, shipping times that are 1-2 days later than originally quoted, lower education discounts, ugly laptops, lack of inventory in stores or whether British English is preferred to American English.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

 

[Unspeaked]

No and no but it sure beats reading complaints about no matte screens, the loss of Firewire on the MB, no backlit KB on the low end MB, the high prices AAPL charges, shipping times that are 1-2 days later than originally quoted, lower education discounts, ugly laptops, lack of inventory in stores or whether British English is preferred to American English.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

Wait, what are MBs and KBs??

 

[maccam]

No and no but it sure beats reading complaints about no matte screens, the loss of Firewire on the MB, no backlit KB on the low end MB, the high prices AAPL charges, shipping times that are 1-2 days later than originally quoted, lower education discounts, ugly laptops, lack of inventory in stores or whether British English is preferred to American English.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

It's fair to complain about those things (shame to Apple about those things).

And yes I think people are worried about AAPL stock.

 

[allmIne]

I've noticed more and more people in the forums using the letters AAPL to refer to Apple.

These are posts and threads that have nothing to do with Apple, Inc's common stock, nor financial markets in general. Simply referring to AAPL's new iPod or wondering when AAPL will update iTunes or what Steve Job was thinking when he returned to AAPL in the late 90s.

I've especially noticed this in the past 8-12 months.

It's a little disturbing to me, since I think it shows - at least subconsciously - how preoccupied some people are with Apple's stock and not the company itself.

Has anyone else A) noticed this trend and B) feels bothered by it?

It's completely daft, and looks really stupid, so I'd just wonder why the hell the poster is doing it. That said, why does the preoccupation with Apple stock bother you? It's not doing any harm, surely.

I don't think that's why they do it, though. You tend to see words and phrases spreading on the internet; think 'epic fail' or ftw. People see it used and just repeat, in many cases with apparent disregard for context.

 

[mkrishnan]

It's odd to refer to a company by its ticker (actually, I edited a thread that talked about Rimm's new Blackberry without realizing RIMM is the ticker for RIM, although that's still fairly silly).

But it is still fun to refer to cities by their airport code.

 

[redmeister]

ive done it just because im in finance and thats what i use so its habit haha

 

[akm3]

I use 'AAPL' when I'm specifically referring to the stock or the business side of the company, earnings reports, future outlooks, etc.

I use 'Apple' when I'm talking as a consumer, talking about their products, new developments, etc.

'Apple just released new iPods today!'
'The new iPods should be good for AAPL!'