Johnnymack

Text of Steve Jobs Deposition

<You want to pay retention bonuses to draw and keep good people? Pay them bonuses, then. Why structure it in a convoluted way to avoid -- well, you tell me what is being avoided, then.>

No. What's being avoided? taxes? Isn't there a whole aspect of financial planning and estate planning devoted to tax implications of your financial activity? Are 401k and Roth plans, and company matching contributions "convolutions" that should be ended, and let employers simply "pay bonuses? and be done with it?
Again, you're acting like any motion to maximize the award and minimize the tax implications, or an admission of doing that, is some kind of "gotcha!".
The powers that be tell us, over and over, that backdating options is FINE, but they just need to be accounted for correctly, which I find to be confusing anyway. It seems the general public hears about it and gets overwhelmed with the sense that something unnatural was done, a clock was turned back, or books were cooked. I'm just saying that there should be no moral problem with it. Also, if someone DID backdate an option 2 months prior to awarding, and DIDN'T pick the lowest price in those 2 months, then they are INCOMPETENT, not to mention being a jackass!

Text of Steve Jobs Deposition

Bearcharts, you seem to be another of these finger wagging "tsk tsk"'-ers who SAY options backdating is morally wrong but NEVER explain what is wrong about it, and somehow bring up tax fraud. Nobody is talking taxes here. It's not an issue.
I remember one time my wife was awarded shares of the company she worked for. an outright AWARD, maybe vested over 2 years, I forget. Was that immoral to accept? I don't think so.
What if we instead given "options, with a strike price of $zero"?
Would there NOW be a moral crucible brewing? Is there any real difference?
I'm afraid you really don't have an answer for that. There's nothing about the tax law here. People or companies always want to make moves and decisions with the tax law in mind! Do you refuse to invest in any 401k available to you, because it seems like cheating?
Experts can't really agree on how to treat options, and so they devise those GAPP rules, so everyone works by the same rule book. Those rules change from time to time too, and I don't think a CEO of a company, any company should be expected to know those rules.
I don't know (and likely you neither) how to account for plain straight options, that mature in 2 years, if the stock goes from $20 to $10, and so never get exercised. Do you?
What do we do the first year? Does the company claim an expense? does the employee claim income?
In 2 years, the options are underwater. Effectively NOTHING happened! It's as though the options were never granted at all? How does the company account for this expense (or non-expense) or balance whatever it did 2 years prior, if nothing really changed hands (money or shares) Does the company or employee get a credit for any taxes paid?
I honestly don't know, and would love an explanation if you have one. No more empty finger wagging! It's not effective.

Text of Steve Jobs Deposition

Do people really get upset about "backdating options"?
So, to give someone something that ALREADY has value, is somehow morally wrong?
Couldn't they pay Jobs, or any employee in Krugerands if they wanted? They already have value, and may accrue MORE, or may plummet in value. So what?
Apple could just AWARD shares outright to an employee. Isn't that like awarding "options, with a strike price of zero dollars" ? Gee, when you look at it that way, doesn't all the sinister nature of this fizzle out like a leaky balloon?
Doesn't this "time shifting" occur in other cases in business? Ever hear of someone taking an early retirement because the company gave them "2 years towards retirement"? I've heard of that! And no one called any agency complaining that a company "backdated an employee's date of hire!".
So the question of how to account for all this... who knows? I don't, but that doesn't mean I can't run a company. That's what CFO's are for! So, suppose a stock is at $40, and I get "backdated " shares w/ a strike price of $30, exercisable in 2 years. But in 2 years, the stock is at $25, underwater! So they lapse and I get nothing. Who pays taxes, if anyone? Value was given, but not really. I have no idea, and neither do most readers here.
Backdating options is an EFFICIENT way to reward workers with both VALUE today, and POTENTIAL value tomorrow, with little tax consequences until a move is exercised. It's this efficiency that made it such an appealing business tool in High Tech companies.

How Much Profit Is Apple Making from the App Store?

It's ALL good!
The SYNERGIES of this company are amazing!
Each thing is good on it's own, but reinforces some other aspect of the company.
Even PARTS are interoperable, especially the more expensive ones, such that, if iPod Touch sales decline slightly, those screens can be put into iPhones instead, and so on.
May not seem like much, but think about the little keypads and many screens and models at companies like Blackberry or Nokia. Each model has it's own set of DIFFERENT moving parts. Logistical nightmare!

Will Consumers Line Up for the Next iPhone?

What about first gen iPhone users like me?
I love mine, but the 3G and GPS WOULD have come in handy over the last year! But folks like me were content, and showed restraint.
So, whatever might come out soon (all rumors at this point!) isn't only to be compared to the 3G iphone as far as incremental improvements , but to the 1st gen as well.
I just might "re-enlist" as the original contract passes!
Oh, I'm also a parent whose daughter has had Type 1 Diabetes since she was 3 years old, When I saw the 3.0 software special event, and the Lifescan Demo, I actually cried. Beautiful.
Some people carry "gadgets" because their life depends on them!
Our family is Apple, for life!

RIMs Latest Apple Apps Won't Catch on Well: Here's Why

OMG! Is it that bad?
Funny. I knew Apple had an advantage by just folding it into their iTunes Music (TV show/movie/audiobook) store, which already has millions of customers who bought billions of songs, etc, with accounts linked to credit cards all set to buy, from day one, and using software people already had installed and were familiar with.

Apple’s iPhone App Refund Policies Unfair to Developers

when a lot of the apps people buy are under $5, they would have to suck pretty bad for someone to think of asking for a refund.
How many apps have been "returned" that this is even an issue?
Sounds like something that rarely happens, so it's a chance to stress that apple is unfair or abuses it's monopoly, or something like that.
Yawn...

Apple Is Still Apple Even without Steve Jobs

No matter what happens to Jobs, he already did a LOT of work and make changes that will endure. Therefore, I AM certain of the following issues about Apple:
- Apple will not get back into the laser printer and CRT business Steve got them out of.
- Apple will not close down the sales of music, videos, and apps from iTMS because "people can get music free from limewire, etc"
-Apple will not go back to Power PC processors
-Apple will not go back to OS9.
-Apple will not bring back SCSI, or ADB ports, or floppies

The Battle Lines Are Drawn in the War for Mobile Developers

How can anyone beat Apple?
You need software for the masses, with an ability to sync effortlessly, or do firmwares updates, etc. Apple uses iTunes, which MILLIONS of people have installed TODAY. (I don't have a RIMM or Nokia data sync program on any computers in my home. Will they work easily, support what platforms, have any bugs??)
Millions of people have accounts with iTunes Music Store, tied to credit cards, etc. They've sold BILLIONs of songs since opening.
The iPhone works just like an iPod for syncing, Apps for iPhone download just like songs.
It's so rock solid I don't see anyone doing better!
I HAD a Palm (650?) and installed Palm Desktop software for OSX on my mac, to help sync data. I also needed something called a "conduit" for Palm, etc. I NEVER got it working correctly. It sucked, and that was mostly just for Contact info, not movies, music, photos, etc.

Apple SEC Investigation: Rotten to Core

Apple says they do not comment on rumors.
Now the SEC is investigating them for , basically, not commenting on rumors!
They are trying to hold Apple accountable to THEORIES other people have made, like "Apple IS Steve Jobs", etc.
If you THINK that's so true, or THINK it's a one man show, or THINK he's terminally ill, you likely are OUT of AAPL. So let's move on!
I wish Jobs named another replacement, another "genius" named Steve to fill in for him. I wish he named Steven Hawking as CEO!
Let the whiners chew on THAT! hahaha!

Is There an Apple Community Anymore?

I agree Zach!
The internet has made solving any mac problem so easy! Either at Apple's site, or some of the ifixit type sites, where you can even order parts, etc.
The thing is, Apple has grown up, really huge too!
Remember having a powerbook in the 90s, and seeing someone else in an airport with one? You almost felt like buying each other a drink at the bar! Well, you'd have a HUGE bar tab if you did that today!
Macworld too, was just getting to be too "important", and produced THEORIES on "how to play Apple stock" going into Macworld!
Does ANY company need this?
Hasn't Apple done very well OUTSIDE of Macworld? The original iPod was announced outside of Macworld after all, as were the new macbooks and the iPhone 3G.
We had a situation where Steve would drop a "One More Thing..". Maybe that happened twice... I forget, but I remember AFTER that, EVERY time he DIDN'T do a "One More Thing", everybody got all "disappointed".
This happens a LOT in life, with movie stars and singers all expected to TOP their last big hits. The thing is, those people do not have to comply with something as artificial as a calendar, and put out at least one blockbuster EVERY year.
So I say "So Long!" to Macworld. Thanks for the memories.
And for all the bashers who got their last jabs in, and brought in every aspect of how bad ending participation in Macworld was, or how sick Jobs must be, etc, all I can say is "Hope ya enjoyed the bashing! 'cause it's the last you'll ever get!"
Think of it as "breakup sex" !

It's What Apple's Not Doing That Has Analysts Worried

ahhh! did that feel good? I hope so! 'Cause it's the last one you'll ever get!
No more MacWorld to pick apart!
Think of this as "break up sex"!
So Steve used to give a great show. Nice! I enjoyed many of them.
But to put the whole company through these higher and higher expectations every year was just getting too ridiculous!
"aw shucks! He didn't do a 'One more thing..." this year!"
(so the whole show sucked!
Now you're upset that they didn't drop prices, right?
Let me guess... if they DID drop prices wouldn't we honestly hear a lot of concern about "shrinking revenue/margins"??

Steve Jobs' Shrinking Billions

<Overall, the approximate numbers suggest a drop in net worth of $1.5 billion in 2008 — not enough to kill himself over (as he appears to be fighting for his life).>

wow... the pity is that you probably patted yourself on the back for coming up with such a "witty" conclusion.
Take you own advice!

Mac vs. PC vs. Gold

When you think about it, Gold is just a "fiat currency" too.
Sure, it has a LONG history, but in some apocalyptic future, what will you be doing with that gold horde?
Oh... you'll be trading it for food, clean water, shelter, and fuel, won't you?
So WHAT IS "money"?
In "Your Money or Your Life", the author explains that money really represents "life energy". So you go to work, and donate some "life energy" to get "money", as a value keeper. You exchange that money with other people who do things for you, with the same incentive (design and build your house, car, bicycle, etc). Where does gold really enter into this? ok, instead of having a wealth of several pounds of gold, if we unwind the currency into gold (hey! that's creating a GOLD BUBBLE!) we all end up with a few grains of gold. So what? we really have no use for the stuff that a few grains wouldn't cover anyway! Sure, it's PRETTY in jewelry, makes good tooth fillings (did fluoride toothpaste wreck the value of gold??) and conducts electric swell. But a little goes a LONG way, and modern people are not going to revolve their life around how much of a metal element they need or consume.
Also, TONS of it are mined every year, so you can't say it's value doesn't inflate either.

Apple's Good Problems

Timbo,
Good observation!
How "democratic" too, for software developers, not having to compete for floorspace or product positioning on a shelf of software, or risk the outlay of funds for physical production of CDs, packaging, and shipping.
Would ANY of that have happened for some of the "cute" addictive games , like "Word Freak" that we just download from iTMS?? No.
I want to mention the ELEGANCE of how well the product lineup integrates with your home computer. Firmware updates on iPhones and iPods are super easy, and they all work alike, with the same program. When iPhone was introduced, 100 million people ALREADY had the necessary program installed with libraries of tunes and videos just waiting to sync! how nice.
Also, the assemby of iPhones and Touch iPods looks VERY simple. AND most of the parts are interchangable! So if iPhone sales go down, they could use the parts for iPod Touches, and vise versa.