Objective Endorsements →

Five newspapers partially-owned by Bain Capital have backed its co-founder Mitt Romney, and none have endorsed President Obama.

While that’s fairly damning, I really dislike that newspapers endorse candidates. Even though journalism professors would say that the Editorial and News departments are separate, that’s a hard thing to pull off in reality.

‘A Pain in My Chest’ →

Ben Brooks, writing about his daughter’s recent surgery:

We knew the wait wouldn’t be easy, and as we waited for the 10 minute surgery to be completed we were both beyond stressed, nervous, and hopeful. It seemed like an hour passed. We got the call to head back, and when we came back to our daughter, who was screaming, it wasn’t a pleasant sight.

She was in pain and not around anyone that she knew. She was scared. It was a terrible sight for any parent.

Stellar piece.

Mini, Indeed

I have not gotten my iPad mini yet, but the Smart Cover I ordered showed up today. Here are two photos showing the size of it, compared to a notebook and the iPad 3:

Phil Schiller, on the Mac →

In an interview with Harry McCracken:

It’s always been about making the best Mac we know how. Among the many benefits are making it easy to use and affordable, with great features. This high level of integration is part of delivering on that.

And on Apple’s removal of the SuperDrive in modern Macs:

We find the things that have outlived their useful purpose. Our competitors are afraid to remove them. We try to find better solutions — our customers have given us a lot of trust.

If anyone is surprised the SuperDrive is dead, they haven’t been paying attention.

Apple: Record Fourth Quarter Revenue and Profit →

The Apple PR Machine:

The Company sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 14.0 million iPads during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, a 19 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 15, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2012.

The holiday quarter is going to be bonkers.