Stories by Ryan Faas

Four industries Apple is set to disrupt

Though Apple tends to focus on the consumer aspects of its devices and software, the new iPhones and Apple Watch unveiled this week could shake up everything from healthcare to retail and even media.

The mobile revolution will reshape hiring and onboarding

One of the big enterprise mobility stories of late is the ruling by a California court that companies who require employees to use their personal smartphones for work must reimburse those employees "a reasonable percentage" of their monthly bills. As CITEworld's Nancy Gohring reported last week, similar legal challenges are happening in other states, including Washington, New Jersey, and Michigan.

Apple edges back toward the datacentre

Now that OS X Mavericks Server has some new enterprise-oriented features and the updated Mac Pro has finally arrived, it's time to ask whether Apple is edging back into the data center, says columnist Ryan Faas.

OPINION: Lessons from Steve Jobs

As I sat stunned by the news that Apple Chairman Steve Jobs - technology visionary, founder of two computer companies and master marketer - had died , I couldn't help but think about his life and career, both at Apple and during his time away at NeXT and Pixar.

How Steve Jobs changed Apple...

Entire books have already been written on the contributions Steve Jobs has made to Apple, the company he helped found 35 years ago. In many ways, the most significant ones took place after 1997, when he returned to Apple from exile and set about to change not just the company but entire industries.

Apple's OS X server strategy: Datacentres for everyone

Recently, Apple previewed more features that will be available in its upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.7, "Lion." We first got a glimpse of Lion at Apple's Back to the Mac event in October, when CEO Steve Jobs said that several technologies developed in Apple's iOS mobile operating system would be brought back into Mac OS X as part of Lion. Since iOS evolved from earlier versions of Mac OS X, the "back to the Mac" moniker made sense.

Apple's 'phenomenal' 2010 plants seeds for 2011

For Apple, 2010 was a phenomenal year; there's really no other way to put it. What makes Apple's big year -- it surpassed Microsoft's market valuation to become the most valuable technology company -- even bigger is that it caps off a phenomenal decade. Just 10 years ago, many people were still predicting the company's demise.

RIM's PlayBook vs. tomorrow's iPad

RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, unveiled last week, is the latest entry in what has become a rapidly growing field of iPad competitors. But unlike most upcoming Android tablets -- the big exception being Cisco's Cius -- the PlayBook isn't meant to compete with the iPad in the consumer market. Despite its touted capabilities for multimedia, the PlayBook is primarily designed to be a business and enterprise tablet.

Does the iPad need Microsoft Office to succeed?

In producing a version of its iWork suite of apps for <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9149338/Continuing_coverage_Apple_s_iPad_tablet?source=toc">the iPad</a>, <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137163/Apple_Update">Apple</a> is sending a signal: The device won't just be for watching video, playing games and reading books -- although those are sure big reasons why many people will buy one next weekend. By announcing iWork for the iPad during the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9149838/It_s_the_iPad">tablet's unveiling in January</a>, Apple clearly wanted to plant the idea of the iPad as a business and productivity device squarely in the minds of would-be buyers.

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