Jonathan Rotenberg on Saturday Apple video: Reed Jobs wants to make cancer nonlethal - 'I came to know Reed’s dad in some depth when he was 26 and I was 18, and I got to know him better throughout his mid 30s. (Steve was a special mentor & friend who introduced me to meditation and the spiritual path.) Reed today is 34. I see in Reed his dad’s intense curiosity, excitement, and fascination with understanding how complex things work. Cancer treatment involves some of the most complex science there is. Cancer is more than 400 diseases and there are thousands of ways of approaching the treatment of individual cancers (called Mechanisms of Action). The complexities and difficulties are mind boggling. Reed has done a remarkable job of teaching himself the science, and then being able to think through it strategically and rigorously. The depth and breadth of his understanding is impressive—especially for someone without advanced education in biology or pathology. His ability to make sense of the science, demystify it, and make it understandable to others is awesome. The key difference I see between Steve and Reed is that Steve was deeply spiritual in his work. Steve felt he existed to be of service to the world. Reed talks about his investing in oncology as “my thing, the thing I want to do.” It is laudable work but it is more ego driven. When Steve was in his groove, there was almost no ego. It was more a feeling of his soul expressing itself, serving others. Reed doesn’t yet seem to have the self-awareness to understand that he is not building a new entrepreneurial “mousetrap” for the world. He is investing his family office’s resources in other peoples’ businesses and research. He talks about how Yosemite will capitalize on its philanthropy/VC pipeline, rather than how he will add value as an investor/partner. He way overstates his role in the field of cancer research. Reed is NOT the person who is “making cancer less lethal.” That has been the research focus and hard work of thousands of scientists over the decades before him. As an investor, he is picking his spots inside of a vast therapeutic research ecosystem. Reed’s work is deeply needed and is laudable. It would be a great thing if he were also inspired by his dad’s deep humility and his dad’s focus on making *others* successful. At some level, I think Reed may feel trapped that he has to prove himself to be a credible Silicon Valley entrepreneur. That’s a terrible burden to carry. It means getting held hostage by other peoples’ stories. Reed would do well to give up the tone (and belief) of being entitled or needing to prove anything. Rather, he could feel a sense of awe and gratitude that he’s been given the miraculous opportunity he’s been given because of the funds he has access to. His personal mission could be more along the lines of: “Given the $X I have to invest, how do I make the greatest impact on reducing the suffering of people living with cancer?” Or “how do I prevent the most deaths or extend the most lives” (or whatever end goal resonates most with him). Then be humble. Feel compassion deeply into the suffering of others. Don’t assume he is entitled to anything. Be a servant leader. Be everything that uniquely makes Reed who he is.'
on Apple and Trump guys butt heads over Chinese chips - 'Apple is looking for more memory chips anywhere it can. It cannot sell its products at the levels it wants without memory chips.But those chips are not only tremendously expensive (due to AI) but production for many is contrained by their own supply problems, with silicon wafers being the major one. These constraints are being used by Micron, Samsung etc. to drive prices up even more. But Apple has a deal with Global Wafers that is ramping up to produce 600,000 wafers a month in Texas. Most of those wafers Apple wants for its own suppliers, such as TI. But could Apple send some of these wafers to Micron or others (getting maybe 300-400 memory chips a wafer) to get some chips made? Bet Cook knows if that is possible.'
on Omdia: The wearables market is splitting in two - 'I acquire Apple Watch-branded watches because there’s something on the watch I want to, well, “watch.” I don’t acquire rings or bracelet-style devices for select health and fitness purposes because I seriously want to “watch” something on the watch. Deploying an Apple Watch allows meet to keep my iPhone stored in my front pocket or, in the event I choose an cellular-capable Apple Watch, the freedom to keep my iPhone at home, in my car or at some other location literally further than a stone’s throw from where I’m standing to make and receive calls and messages while also tracking my health and fitness data. There’s a reason it’s called an Apple Watch. I like what it’s called because I acquire an Apple Watch to “watch” what I want to watch. To me, everything other than an Apple Watch to track and view what I want to “watch” on my watch is a lesser product. I’ll be watching how this story continues to unfold. Go Apple. Go Apple Watch. Go Apple 3.0!'
on Omdia: The wearables market is splitting in two - 'A lower cost fitness band between $99 and $199 probably sees Apple’s current total addressable market more than double from Apple Watch alone.'
on Apple and Trump guys butt heads over Chinese chips - 'Exactly! Lutnick should be pounding on Micron and Samsung to expand memory manufacturing in the USA.'
on Apple and Trump guys butt heads over Chinese chips - 'Tim Cook has a good working relationship with the Trump administration. Here’s hoping that reporters don’t get in the way.'
on Omdia: The wearables market is splitting in two - 'The replacement cycle for Apple Watch has increased from 3 to 4 year to 4 to 6 years for the more recent devices. Hence one quarter’s unit sales does not indicate any trend. Tune out the noise. More importantly, Apple Watch has the only viable ecosystem.'
on Apple and Trump guys butt heads over Chinese chips - 'Then let Lutnick fund new domestic chip plants! There is an immediate shortfall, that requires immediate solutions for US manufacturers. Where’s the Memory Plant to feed Apple’s Mini plant in Texas?'
on Apple and Trump guys butt heads over Chinese chips - 'The optics, nevermind geopolitics, for Apple on using Chinese memory chips are pretty bad. Apple has been promising since Trump 1 to build-up its US supply chain. It’s made pitiful progress in the last 9 years in keeping that commitment. Deepening its Chinese supply chain dependence now goes against those past, unfulfilled commitments. Apple could invest to expand production of a US or South Korean memory company, so why pick a Chinese company? Loss of US gov’t sales and high import tariffs would be bad for business.'
on Saturday Apple video: Steve Jobs and the Apple story - 'Another interesting (but very long) video. Not strictly a tear-jerker, but not overly optimistic. I think Apple is far better positioned than the impression that is given at the end. I wish I could have heard the German over the translations, but that wasn’t gonna happen. I recognize DW as Deutsche Welle (German Wave – but wave meaning media stream) and NDR as Norddeutsche Rundfunk (Northern German Radio). So it is actually interesting that the thing was overall produced in English. I didn’t particularly notice any of the other credits. Somewhere along the way, I feel like the video made my laptop video go crazy. Don’t understand that. Like Jonathan says, a bit of a hatchet job. At the very least, a double-edged sword.'
on Premarket: Apple is red - '(Doctor’s office waiting room, so quick post) AAPL’s $343-$302 12% essentially overnight drop July 29th-30th was, apparently not coincidentally, tied to a $392-to-$451 essentially overnight July 29th-30th 15% hike in MSFT. This is a tectonic shift between these two companies promulgated by a very small relative percentage of stock ownership literally moving from one company to the other. Fascinating, and a real “tell” about just the tiny cadre that is responsible for that shift – still reverberating a week later….'
on Reuters: Apple will be the first U.S. firm to crack the Chinese AI market - 'Having worked in a small company I’m always amazed at how Apple adapts to so many countries. It was a big deal for us to get the manual translated to a few languages. Apple has to adapt products and packaging and documentation for over a hundred countries.'
on Apple is offering pubs $100Ks for permission to train Siri AI on their content - 'This seems like the right thing to do: companies actually paying for value received. If so, then Apple has again gotten “out in front” of an issue. Similar to a well-published CEO transition and upcoming price changes. Content producers deserve a fair return. They do not deserve to be looted by voracious AI training expeditions.'
on Reuters: Apple will be the first U.S. firm to crack the Chinese AI market - 'They’re also developing a special “Schultz” AI model for the EU. It “knows nothing and sees nothing.” And so offends nobody.'
on Reuters: Apple will be the first U.S. firm to crack the Chinese AI market - 'This is an example of Apple’s understanding how to design products for an international distribution. They recognized that “one solution fits all” would be a problem in this case. So they have left in options that allow for different AI solutions in different regions of the world. Now if the performance is different in different regions that will center on the local regulations creating the differences more than on Apple not executing AI as well as someone else. May not be the best solution all the time but considering the interference regions are putting in Apple’s path to sell products it is a wise one.'
on One of Tim Cook's last acts as Apple CEO (video) - 'I find myself with mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’m glad to see Apple invest in the U.S. It’s somewhat overdue. And it might help a little bit in time. On the other hand, Bessent is corrupt as hell, purportedly Epstein-connected, and much too smart and well informed to be ignorant of what the current administration is up to. So – while I do not know – I prefer to think that Cook is doing this distasteful task much as one might turn toward the toilet handle to perform a particularly needful flush.'
on One of Tim Cook's last acts as Apple CEO (video) - 'If only TC wasn’t too smart to run for President. The world needs more Tim Cook’s in charge.'
