In wondering what Apple is doing to jump start the company after the March quarter debacle, some commentators have pointed to clues from the R&D budget. Apple’s estimated investment now stands at $10 billion for the year. It has steadily risen in recent years, so clearly something huge is afoot. One industry analyst, Neil Cybart, wrote some perfectly […]

You have to wonder just how bad Apple’s situation must be — at least in the minds of certain skeptics. After all, every real or perceived setback must be a symptom of a fatal disease. Perhaps Apple got where it is today as a fluke, a few happy accidents over the years. How could that […]

This is an old story. In the mid-1990s, there were so many Mac product variations, even executives couldn’t tell them apart without a cheat sheet. I’m serious. So you had the consumer lineup, the Performa. There were minor model differences with various memory or processor configurations, and sometimes a model would be exclusive to a specific chain store. […]

One sure way to criticize Apple, even if it’s of questionable validity, is to complain when they aren’t first to market with a new product category. The theory goes that the originator of a market must be destined to succeed and dominate, but those who come later have no chance. They might as well give […]