In marketing, branding may be as important or more important than the product itself. Sometimes a brand name becomes a verb for an entire product category. For years I referred to a bandage as a “Band-Aid” until I realized I was giving Johnson & Johnson free publicity. My mother would always refer to a certain kitchen appliance […]

As many members of the media try real hard to find failure with Apple even when success is at hand, it’s often forgotten that the company has actually released products that haven’t done so well over the years. Of course, most of these products are forgotten among thousands and thousands of other products that have […]

It’s inevitable. Steve Jobs’ footprint on Apple was so large, so all-encompassing, that it’s hard to look at the company he co-founded without feeling his presence. Certainly Apple’s situation before Jobs returned for his second coming is a key reason why. In the early-to-mid-1990s, Apple went through several incompetent CEOs, the strategy was failing, and […]

In yesterday’s column, I briefly mentioned a CNN Money story, citing a report from Forrester Research entitled, “”People are Bringing Macs to Work — It’s Time to Repeal Prohibition.” The title says it all, that more and more people want to use Apple gear at their office, that some are doing it unofficially, relying on outside […]