One Small Step toward Recovery

So Apple is back in the news, reported by Edward Moyer for CNET News as follows:

Various industry watchers are weighing in on Apple CEO Tim Cook's remark this week that the company will invest $100 million into making Macs in the U.S., with some saying the move will create 200 new jobs.

Not withstanding any advice about looking a gift horse in the mouth, it would seem that, at the very lead, it would be worth assessing just what kind of a horse this is. Considering both the current unemployment figures and the number of people involved in Apple manufacturing in China, 200 does not carry a lot of statistical significance. Thus, we should all have some right to ask whether or not this is the first step of a thousand-mile journey, as Lao Tzu would put it. My guess is that such a question would make Cook squirm. CEO's who have to worry about quarterly earnings are not well served by thoughts of thousand-mile journeys. Still, we should wait to see where these jobs will be offered and who will be likely to fill the available slots. I, for one, am skeptical about those who deal in vaporware as a business strategy for figuring out how their business will commit to the real thing.