that’s exactly what happened. AAPL is a cash flow monster. What they did in the NC data center is pretty amazing and, arguably, pretty good for profitability. Ever wonder why they chose North Carolina for their solar based data center?
Glad someone agrees.
The twit who started all this by asking Cook the stupid question forgets that success does _not_ focus 100% on next quarter’s bottom line, it takes a very long view. Recall the head of some Japanese company describing its long-term plans stretching “250 years”. Apple has been burned (sometimes hard) by relying on other companies providing critical services; what service is more critical than electricity? and having seen a history of widespread blackouts stretching days or weeks, why would Apple _not_ move to augment, if not replace, its lifeblood source for 24/7 services?
I was at Smith Corona in its final days. World’s most recognized brand at that time, market for its product imploded, and driven by short-term stockholder demands for profits started thrashing to do anything it could to retain an impossible level of revenue. If the’d faced up to reality and took a long view, they’d have downsized in a sensible manner and still been producing products to this day.
I recall some Biblical verse amounting to Christ admonishing a follower with “it doesn’t matter _why_ someone is doing the right thing, so long as they’re doing the right thing.” So what if the rhetoric involves “global warming” or “sustainable energy”, so long as the result is reliable off-grid self-sufficient independent power generation? that’s something we should all be striving for in our own homes. Total focus on bottom lines, quarterly profits, and zero care for long-term consequences is a sure way to turn even a $100B pile into a large empty hole.