The Times News, covering Jeff Williams speech at Elon University:

The Apple of 1998 was not what it is today.

The company was coming off a series of costly failures and was nearly bankrupt. Co-founder Steve Jobs had just come back as CEO after resigning over a disagreement with John Sculley in 1985. But there was a renewed energy, and Jobs had a plan.

Apple would become “the Sony of the PC industry.” It would make computers fashionable, and it would go after individual consumers rather than big business.

“I thought, ‘This is about the dumbest strategy I have ever heard,’ and that’s one of the reasons I thought it would go belly-up,” Williams said. “I guess you could say [Jobs] may have been right.”

Despite Jobs’ questionable business plan, Williams was charmed by the “contagious, palpable enthusiasm” at Apple, so he listened to his gut and came on board as head of Worldwide Procurement.

Just a reminder. Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. So Jeff Williams’ timing was perfect, a chance to be part of one of the greatest business renaissances in history, a chance to work closely with Steve, watch all this unfold.

When the first Apple Watch was released, the basic model cost consumers $349 — steep compared to the first Fitbit, which clocked in at $99.95. Though the Apple Watch’s design and abilities differ from those of the Fitbit, another reason for the increased cost is the research that went into developing the product.

Apple wanted to create a wearable activity tracker that didn’t just measure exercise based on arm movement, Williams explained, so the tech giant built a physiology lab, hired 40 nurses and enlisted 10,000 participants to study how best to measure the calories burned during exercise.

And:

Williams did say cost is something they’re working to address.

“It’s something we’re very aware of,” he said. “We do not want to be an elitist company. That’s not — we want to be an egalitarian company, and we’ve got a lot of work going on in developing markets.”

Interesting read.