This Wikipedia article is a must-read for Apple/design nerds.
Category: Apple
Apple Online Stores in Indonesia and Vietnam Decommissioned
From a new service article:
Apple has decommissioned the Apple Online Stores for Indonesia and Vietnam. As a result, Apple will no longer support personalized iPod and iPad replacement products. Customers with personalized iPod or iPad products that require service will receive non-personalized replacements effective immediately.
Thanks, Nameless Source!
Apple Launches Charitable Matching Program for Employees
Tim Cook, in an email posted by Mac Rumors:
I am very happy to announce that we are kicking off a matching gift program for charitable donations. We are all really inspired by the generosity of our co-workers who give back to the community and this program is going to help that individual giving go even farther.
Starting September 15, when you give money to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Apple will match your gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 annually. This program will be for full-time employees in the US at first, and we’ll expand it to other parts of the world over time.
The Rift
In recent weeks, there have been numerous conversations about what Apple will be like without Steve Jobs at the helm.
It is a perfectly justifiable question. The first time Steve left, the company went in the crapper.
The key here is simple: when Apple’s board ousted Jobs back in 1987, he wasn’t the leader he is today.
The most obvious example of this to me is the feud the started between the Macintosh team and the rest of Apple.
Lobbying
In the second quarter of 2011, Apple spent a whopping US$790,000 on lobbying. This is more than double what the company spent in the same quarter of 2010 and up $230,000 from the first quarter of 2011.
While $790,000 is a lot of money, it’s hardly “whopping” compared to the money Google spent in the same time frame — $2.06 million, a 54 percent increase from the same period in 2010.
External PCIe Slots Coming, via Thunderbolt
This is the promise of Thunderbolt — external PCIe cards. I really hope this sort of thing takes off.
My Guess is Yes
Ultrabooks and Originality
On iCloud’s Amazon and Microsoft Backbone
I would have though Apple would be installing its own server network to handle the workload rather than farming it out. At the same time, Apple may be focusing on the iCloud service and meeting user needs than building out its own network. If iCloud proves to be really popular we may see Apple roll out its own network down the road.
I never thought Apple would stuff that North Carolina data center full of Apple-branded gear. The company has never had a strong enterprise presence outside of educational markets. For iCloud to be successful — and for Apple to overcome the MobileMe stigma — the service has to run well, from day one. Third-party hardware is key to that goal.
The Loop Reboots
Congrats, Jim and Peter. The site looks awesome.
Crazy Success
In the 14 years since Jobs regained control of his company in the summer of 1997 after a long, bitter exile, Apple shares have increased a stunning 110-fold. Having surpassed rival Microsoft a year ago, Apple’s $350 billion in market capitalization places it behind only ExxonMobil as the most valuable company in the world. Apple has made money so quickly and so prodigiously that it holds an outrageous $76 billion in cash and investments—an awesome sum thought to be parked in an obscure subsidiary, Braeburn Capital, located across the California border in Reno because the state of Nevada doesn’t have corporate or capital-gains taxes.