> What's the thesis? That the context matters, maybe? Like the detail that I was not aware of: "Apple became a public company in a month when the prime rate s

> What's the thesis? That the context matters, maybe? Like the detail that I was not aware of: "Apple became a public company in a month when the prime rate stood at 21.5 per cent (yes, the decimal point is in the correct position) and the capital markets were bruising." 1979 and 1980 were really interesting years: http://www.fedprimerate.com/wall_street_journal_prime_rate_history.htm http://www.fedprimerate.com/wall_street_journal_prime_rate_h... The current U.S. prime rate is 3.5 per cent. In this context "It did this (IPO) in a market cluttered with dozens of companies making personal computers and with a payroll of about 1,000 — almost half of whom, believe it or not, were engaged in manufacturing. Apple’s initial public offering, which raised $90m, valued the company at about $1.2bn."