There is a fairly standard routine for product refresh cycles in the auto industry. After a major model upgrade, in which the sheet metal and inner workings are extensively redesigned, the manufacturers take a breather (or start work on the next major revision). Annual updates for the next few years will tend to be incremental. […]

So this week came reports that PC sales, both in the U.S. and worldwide, had declined for most companies during the last quarter. Well, that is except for Apple and a few others. Sure, these are surveys that may not reflect the entire sales picture, but it’s not the same as a long-term forecast, where […]

On the surface, Apple is very similar to other high-tech companies. They build and sell hardware and software and, they hope and expect, make profits from them. That ought to be sufficient, and it is for most companies. But Apple, by word and deed, seems to have a far more expansive purpose. You can say, […]

Not so long ago, some people ragged on The Night Owl because they misunderstood my statements that the Mac Pro might be an endangered species in the near future. My point was not that it would happen this year, or the next, but that the future might be bleak for its continuation several years from […]