Diana Apfelbacher

“on the front line of the new.” - Anne Wintour anoints her successor #VogueUS bbc.com/news/articles/…

50 years of @Apple From the early days of the #iPod to bringing the #iPhone into the world, some of the most formative years of my career were spent there. The products and teams stay with you. But more importantly so does how Apple thinks. A few lessons that have held true for decades: 1) Start with the user, not the tech. The question isn’t “what can we build?” but “what problem actually matters?” 2) Focus is everything. Apple is defined as much by what it says no to as what it builds. 3) End-to-end matters. Hardware, software, services. It all has to work together. 4) Details are the product. What feels small is what users remember. 5) Debate hard. Commit fully. 6) Build for the long term. We’re in another moment of massive technological change. The fundamentals haven’t changed. The companies that win build things people actually use and can’t imagine living without. Congrats to everyone who has been part of Apple’s first 50 years! 🙌

The president said that “if no deal is made,” the United States would hit Iran’s electric grid. Because the grid serves civilians, it would almost certainly be a violation of the Geneva Conventions, legal experts say. --David Sanger, NYT

Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea have been successful in building their own nuclear arsenals. So far, Iran has not. pt2 of 2

Trump said that Iran “raced for a nuclear weapon like no one has ever seen before.” In fact, they have: In addition to the original major nuclear powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — pt1 of 2

But he never mentioned that as part of the deal, Obama got 97 percent of Iran’s nuclear stockpile out of the country, something Trump has not yet accomplished. -David Sanger, NYT

Trump repeats that former President Barack Obama “gave” Iran $1.7 billion in cash. It is a familiar line. The money belonged to the Iranian government and had been frozen for decades in the U.S. He then rips anew into the Obama-era nuclear deal, which he pulled out of in 2018 NYT

Paul McCartney will be playing Apple’s 50th anniversary. Steve Jobs was obsessed with the band and said, “My model of business is The Beatles…they balanced each other. The total was greater than sum of the parts. Great things in business are never done by one person…they are done by a team of people. When The Beatles were together, they did truly innovative work. When they split up, they did good work but it was never the same.”

Catholic Leaders Barred From Jerusalem Holy Site on Palm Sunday nytimes.com/2026/03/29/wor… via @NYTimes

The “real bloodletting of #CNNLayoffs still lies ahead in the distance” if the Paramount deal closes. The hypothetical merger of CNN and Paramount could cause some hosts and contributors to leave the network as Kara Swisher has said as late at March 23rd.

No matter what happens in the Middle East, Americans should be prepared for high energy prices. I don’t think this war has been a plus for the US or Israel. The big winner Putin. - Richard Haas, @LBC

Jury finds Elon Musk misled investors before buying Twitter in 2022 via Bloomberg bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

John Galliano is making his return to fashion with Zara wallpaper.com/fashion-beauty… GallianoXZara

I write in @FT that Iran is playing the long game. In war, geography matters as much as technology. Iran commands the entire northern shore of the Gulf, looming large over energy fields on its southern shore and all that passes through its waters. Its Houthi allies are perched at the entrance to the Red Sea and along the passage to the Suez Canal; Iran is thus perfectly positioned to squeeze the global economy from both sides of the Arabian Peninsula. Those in command of Iran today are veterans of asymmetric wars in Iraq and Syria. They are now applying the same strategy to fighting the US on the battlefield of the global economy. Drones, short-range missiles and mines setting tankers and ports on fire can have the same effect IEDs had in Iraq, only with greater impact — disrupting global supply chains and sending oil prices higher. Iran could sustain its counteroffensive more easily and for far longer. Furthermore, a ceasefire alone will not lift the shadow of risk that Iran has imposed over the Gulf, which is now experiencing its nightmare scenario. That is why Iranian leaders are saying they will not accept a ceasefire until Washington fully grasps the global economic cost of waging this war. Businesses, investors and tourists may not return to the Gulf states if they assume that war could resume again. Unless the US is prepared to invade Iran to remove the Islamic republic’s leaders and then stay there to ensure stability and security, confidence in the Gulf will only return if the US and Iran arrive at a durable ceasefire. Iran says it will only accept a ceasefire with international guarantees for its sovereignty, which would probably mean a direct role for Russia and China. It may also demand compensation for war damages and a verifiable ceasefire in Lebanon. The US would then have to agree to some form of the nuclear deal it left on the table in Geneva in February and commit to lifting sanctions. Iran’s leaders entered this war with the goal of ensuring it will be the last one. Either it breaks them or radically changes the country’s circumstances. They are betting on surviving long enough and squeezing the global economy hard enough to realise that goal. Read full article ft.com/content/93b7b6…

Cuban President Acknowledges Talks with the Trump Administration nytimes.com/2026/03/13/wor… via @NYTimes This is the first time Cuba has acknowledge discussions with the US

“I think the probability of things going south is higher than most people.” - Jamie Dimon on Bloomberg Television

Credit Rating Agency Moody’s downgrades New York City yesterday. Mayor Zorhan Mamdani says downgrade is “premature.”

Tim Cook joined Apple in 1998 at a particularly difficult time for the company. "It was bleak. [Apple] had very little cash. We were still in the mode of making sure we could meet the payroll." "Those were difficult days. It wasn't inevitable that the company would succeed. I was advised, by the people who knew me best, not to come."

Michael Bloomberg endorses Assemblyman Micah Lasher for New York 12. It’s been reported that he will spend around $5 million on the campaign. nytimes.com/2026/03/12/nyr… #NewYork12

April 1st marks 50 years of Apple. Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of our journey. apple.com/50-years-of-th… #Apple50