Back in 1999, the original iBook was the first production, mass market computer to ship with 802.11b networking built in. Since then the company was the first major vendor to market with faster and faster versions of wi-fi. And, by that I mean Apple chose to ship months and sometimes year before the standards had been set and settled.
One of the last unfinished thoughts Steve Jobs left us with was textbooks. Walter Isaacson’s seminal biography of the Apple co-founder teased that the next textbook publishing was the next industry the iconic technology visionary was seeking to revolutionize. That was the promise and today Apple has delivered the vision, as well as the tools — iBooks, iTunes U, iBook Author — to make it happen.
Who doesn’t like a juicy palace intrigue? To date there’s no visible hint of that at 1 Infinite Loop, but the potential — a nice enough place to start — for one exists. Although there’s no question Steve Jobs wanted Tim Cook to run the company, a new book also makes it clear that Scott Forstall probably wants the job more than anyone else.
Rumors that Apple will switch the iPhone from a USB to Thunderbolt interface have been making the rounds. And, honestly, it sounds like a reasonable move for our favorite fruit company as they’ve taken a lead role in not only promoting this tech but also delivering real, actual shipping Thunderbolt products.
Although I still don’t get the attraction, Apple’s latest effort to drive subscriptions on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is succeeding. Newsstand is, after all, just a glorified folder, but it’s nonetheless getting users to pay for digital magazines and newspapers — the proof is in the numbers.
Christmas really isn’t a day — it’s a season. For Twitter and Wolfram Alpha, iOS 5 ties are already beginning to pay dividends, but their good cheer is only just getting started. That is, Apple looks almost certain to deliver stellar iOS sales this quarter, which will drive partner results even higher.
For years, quite literally, notifications on the iPhone were poorly implemented, disruptive and something of an embarrassment. That changed with the release of iOS 5 and now a clever lad has figured out how to bring some of that goodness back to the Mac.
Shop, buy, track and pick up. The niftier features in this release are US only and require a newer iPhone — 4 or 4S only. However, Apple being Apple, time will see the cool new functionality rolled out to more countries and devices. Nevertheless, I’m wondering why this app hasn’t been optimized for iPad.
Outside of retail, about 20,000 people work for the mothership. Thereupon, 5 percent of those are engineers designing the chips used in the company’s world beating smartphones and tablets. That goes a long way to explaining why the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad outperform and outlast the competition while costing less to produce.
Smash your Apple devices and sell any AAPL shares you may be holding — without Steve Jobs the whole house of cards is gonna come crashing down. Well, not, and we know this because the master alchemist left loaves baking in the oven, enough for four years.
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