In 2005, Apple announced a mostly unexpected processor transition, from PowerPC to Intel. This decision wasn’t made lightly, or because Intel had a better sales team, or because Steve Jobs was friendly with Intel’s CEO. The real reason was that the PowerPC had become to be a dead-end for Apple. The highly touted G5 was […]

So when Steve Jobs was asked once about whether Apple was committed to the PowerPC some years back, he replied yes, but added Apple always wanted options. Well, it’s certainly clear, in retrospect, what he was actually talking about. At the time he made that pronouncement, Apple was evidently negotiating with Intel to move to […]

Although March 24, 2001 signaled the release of the first version of Apple’s long-awaited industrial-strength operating system, with loads of warts and missing features, that wasn’t the first time I got to see it. You see, Apple released a Public Beta version the previous September, but I got a look even earlier. In those days, […]

I suppose there’s an eternal battle between a company’s product engineering and marketing departments. The former wants to deliver something as close to sheer perfection as possible, while the latter needs something to sell and deliver income to the company. As you might suspect, these goals are usually out of alignment. You just know, for […]