Black Hole Sun: a slight reversal of fortune for Apple

(a) Apple was never in my recollection a huge gravitational force for engineering talent. Google was, almost from day one. I don't see what's changed.

(b) There are high-profile people who have taken positions at Apple recently.

the "gravitational sink" argument makes no sense. you could have said the same thing about microsoft 10 years ago, but look at what a difference 10 years has made.

silicon valley and the technology industry is a desert of shifting sand dunes. i remember telling my old man the same thing about microsoft, but he just told me to wait and see. he's an economist, and much smarter than me.

If having James Gosling were so important for a company's success, then SUN wouldn't have the end it had. Truth is, the success of a tech company is the combination of good engineering and smart business practices -- and the second element is the most important to make money.

How far did big-name talent hoarding get Microsoft or the Washington Redskins over the last 10 or 12 years? Going after big names is a warning sign.