Don't Ignore Apple's Machine-Learning Chops

One of the things I learned very early on in my limited relationship with Steve Jobs was that he was a control freak. And while this got him fired from Apple in 1985, it served him well in one key area: manufacturing and the supply chain. His desire to control the process drove him and his team to develop the iPhone processor, an area of expertise Apple has since expanded to other products, like Apple Watch. Jobs' philosophy was that if Apple bought components off the rack, it would never outdo its competitors. I have been impressed with Apple's semiconductor chops; its design work has created a library of IP cores it can build upon for years to come.