The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 36 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Steve Jobs Lawsuit Threats Kept Pinch-to-Zoom Off Early Android Devices
“So Steve Jobs threatens to sue Google over implementation of multi-touch gestures. And so, as a result, Android for several years doesn't have things like pinch to zoom or the sort of swipe operating system UI navigation gestures, and I'm pretty sure if you re…”
Pixar's IPO made Steve Jobs a billionaire, creating more wealth than Apple
“Pixar closes its first day of trading, At a one and a half billion dollar market cap, this is how big a hit Toy Story was and how much it was in the public consciousness. This is how Steve Jobs becomes a billionaire... He didn't make anywhere near that kind of…”
Alphabet generates more net income than any other U.S. company
“Google, and I should say Alphabet today, generates more net income or profit than any other U.S. Company. More than Apple, Microsoft, Exxon Mobil, JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway.”
Chang: Apple placed initial 16nm chip orders with Samsung over TSMC
“I mean, it was a real shock when I heard that Apple had placed their first orders of 16 with Samsung.”
Apple's 1985 intellectual property license covered all future versions of Windows
“Apple does do a deal to license a lot of quote unquote their intellectual property, which of course came from Xerox, to Microsoft. Apple, I think, was under the impression that it was just for Windows one point oh, but the actual terms of the agreement are thi…”
Bathgate: Halving Apple App Store take rate costs 5% of gross profit
“What's the gross profit impact if they cut their app store you know, take rate from 30% to 15%, you know, across The board. What is that like? Five percent of gross profits. It's like meaningless to them and it would create so much value for all the, and there…”
The Brad Pitt Formula 1 Movie Grossed $630 Million Worldwide
“Which grossed six hundred and thirty million dollars worldwide at the box office.
The highest amount, not only for a racing film, for any sports movie ever, and
The highest grossing box office movie of Brad Pitt's entire career.”
Google Pays Apple $20 Billion Annually to Remain the Default Search Engine
“This is why Google pays Apple twenty billion dollars a year.”
Apple ships more watches annually than the entire Swiss watch industry
“Apple alone ships way more Apple watches every year than the entire Swiss watch industry.”
Chang: TSMC launched 16nm six months later and won most Apple orders
“We developed, we had our own 16 about half a year later, and most of Apple's 60 nanometer requirements still belonged to us.”
TSMC invested $9 billion and 6,000 workers to build Apple's dedicated fab
“And for TSMC, it meant an initial investment of nine billion dollars, Fabs are expensive to build, and devoting 6000 employees to building a dedicated plant for Apple in just 11 months.”
Gilbert: Meta CFO Projected $10 Billion Impact From Apple's ATT in 2022
“The CFO kind of casually says in a response to someone, oh, we think that the, Impact from ATT to our ad business will end up costing us on the order of ten billion dollars for twenty-twenty-two.”
Gilbert: Apple makes around $20 billion annually from Google default search
“The rumors are that Apple makes something on the order of twenty billion dollars a year today in 2024 from Google as being the front door to Google, sending all of the iPhone search traffic to Google.”
Apple Pay takes 15 basis points, roughly matching Visa's revenue cut
“So on a Apple Pay transaction, I'm pretty sure Apple makes about as much as Visa does, because they stack an extra 15 basis points on top of the other three fees that we talked about.”
Berkshire Hathaway bought Apple when its valuation fell to 10x earnings
“Yeah, well, it got cheap. It got it did about 10 times or anything more.”
Steve Jobs Ripped Off Edwin Land's Tech and Liberal Arts Line
“Like when we used to watch the presentations that Steve would give, where he's like, oh, we're building at the intersection of technology and liberal... Arts. He put it up on the screen. He ripped that off wholesale. It is literally Edwin Land said that exact …”
Rosenthal: Sequoia invested $150k in Apple and sold entirely for $6M
“Ah, Don invested a 150,000 in Apple computer in 1977.
And then, 18 months later, they had an opportunity to realize one of the greatest venture returns of all time.
They made a forty-X on that investment.
They sold their shares for six
Million dollars before t…”
Gilbert: NVIDIA generates a 37% operating margin, beating Apple
“Another one that I wanted to point out, it's a freaking hardware company, I know we didn't, they're not a hardware company, but they're a hardware company, with 37% operating margins, so this is even better than Apple”
Apple Reversed Its Apple Music Trial Royalty Policy Within 24 Hours
“Literally within 24 hours, Apple changes its stance because of Taylor.”
The Original iPhone Relied on Built-In Google Maps and YouTube Apps
“There are two apps that launch in the very first version of the iPhone. Remember, it didn't have an app store. It was not open to third-party developers. There is a YouTube app and a Maps app, both of which are Google services. Now, the apps are written by App…”
Rosenthal: Apple Silicon traces from ARM and DEC through Intel and P.A. Semi
“Lineage of all of Apple Silicon, probably the most valuable, defensible part of Apple today in terms of technology, was Armandec to Intel to PA Semi to Apple.”
Apple's early iPhones relied on off-the-shelf Samsung processors
“They weren't designing their own chips. They just used an off-the-shelf Samsung chip.”
Ben Gilbert: Apple and Tiffany lead retail with $5,500 and $3,000 sales per foot
“Costco is 1800 dollars a foot. They are trying to maximize their dollar per foot. Walmart is about 600. Target is about 450 dollars. And then these, like, crazy businesses, just to compare it to the all-time greatest, Tiffany is 3000 dollars a foot for jewelry…”
Apple licensing Microsoft BASIC in 1977 was their first commercial deal
“And that's the first deal that happens between the companies. I mean, there's so many deals done both directions, commercial deals, equity deals, legal disputes in both directions. And this is the very first time that they do something together.”
The first version of Microsoft Excel was built for the Macintosh
“Far and away, the first thing to point out is the first version of Microsoft Excel was for the Mac.”
Steve Jobs showed Bill Gates the Mac project in 1981
“Steve Jobs Shows Bill Gates the Mac project in 1981. Three years before it ships. And Microsoft and Apple signed an agreement to work together on applications for it in 1982.”
Microsoft announced Windows in 1983 prior to the Mac's launch
“Starting in 1983, they're like, we gotta Do our own graphical operating system, or at least user interface, and this is the origins of the Windows product, and they actually announced it in November of 1983 before the Mac ends up shipping, which their partner …”
Genentech was the largest venture-backed IPO until Apple's debut
“They go public and it is, I believe the largest venture backed IPO ever at that time. Until it's eclipsed two months later when Apple goes public.”
Tim Cook Joined Nike's Board in 2005, Launching Nike+ iPod
“Tim joins Nike's board. I believe in, like, late 2005 he joined the board. He immediately starts helping Nike into understanding how to use digital technology to transform their business. And in 2006, they launched the Nike Plus iPod.”
Porsche Generates a 29% Gross Margin Compared to Apple's 43%
“Porsche is a 29% gross margin. Apple's a 43% gross margin.”
Steve Jobs Personally Approved Every Single Apple Advertisement in Weekly Meetings
“Every Wednesday at like three o'clock or I forgot the time, they had like a three hour meeting. He would approve, have to approve every single piece of advertising marketing that went out for Apple. There's not a fucking billboard in Kentucky that went out wit…”
Apple Paid Qualcomm $4.5B in 2019 for Six-Year Patent Licenses
“Apple also paid four billion, now switching over to the licensing side of the house to secure the patent licenses over the next six years. I think it was four and a half billion dollars for a six year deal.”
Gilbert: NVIDIA trades at 3x Apple's P/S and 2x Microsoft's
“Nvidia has literally three times the price to sales ratio of Apple, or price to revenue as Apple, and nearly two x Microsoft.”
Gilbert: Venrock was an early investor in Apple Computer
“Venrock was one of the earliest investors in none other than Apple Computer.”