????蘋果從不浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，不管是自己的，還是別人的。本周一上午6:23，我掛斷電話時(shí)腦子里浮現(xiàn)的就是這個(gè)想法。當(dāng)時(shí)我剛剛參加完蘋果的電話會(huì)議，主題是討論它新的紅利支付計(jì)劃。

????蘋果用了不到23分鐘的時(shí)間公開了所有相關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)，回答了部分問題，分析了這個(gè)消息對(duì)金融市場(chǎng)可能產(chǎn)生的影響，并且進(jìn)行了總結(jié)性發(fā)言。所有這些，都是遵照一份事先精心準(zhǔn)備好的發(fā)言稿進(jìn)行的，以對(duì)蘋果此次支付紅利和股票回購(gòu)的新聞進(jìn)行解釋。

????盡管這個(gè)電話會(huì)議是一天前舉行的，但說到這份發(fā)言稿，以及蘋果處理問題的效率之高，一切都值得我們花點(diǎn)時(shí)間對(duì)發(fā)言稿中涉及到的各條因素加以玩味。電話會(huì)議一開始，蘋果首席執(zhí)行官蒂姆?庫(kù)克就按照準(zhǔn)備好的草稿進(jìn)行了發(fā)言，并做了簡(jiǎn)短的說明，推出紅利支付計(jì)劃既不意味著蘋果會(huì)停止對(duì)未來進(jìn)行投資，也不意味著它已然看不到自身的發(fā)展空間。許多IT公司往往以此作為借口，拒絕向股東派發(fā)紅利。由于我們了解到庫(kù)克發(fā)言的內(nèi)容及順序是提前擬定的，因此我們相信，庫(kù)克及其公關(guān)團(tuán)隊(duì)已經(jīng)對(duì)發(fā)言清單上的所有內(nèi)容做到了深思熟慮。現(xiàn)在，我們來具體分析一下每項(xiàng)內(nèi)容。為什么庫(kù)克會(huì)提及這些內(nèi)容？他對(duì)各項(xiàng)內(nèi)容輕重緩急的排序情況如何？

????“我們創(chuàng)新的速度之快簡(jiǎn)直難以想象”這是庫(kù)克的開場(chǎng)白，然后他立刻就開始按事先準(zhǔn)備好的順序開始實(shí)質(zhì)性的發(fā)言。下面我一一列舉其發(fā)言的內(nèi)容清單并加以簡(jiǎn)單的點(diǎn)評(píng)。

????1.“依靠應(yīng)用和內(nèi)容來打造龐大的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)?！?/strong>現(xiàn)在，蘋果的應(yīng)用商店生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，可謂婦孺皆知。他在這里使用了“內(nèi)容”這個(gè)字眼，有點(diǎn)耐人尋味。據(jù)報(bào)道，蘋果正在試圖與電影制片廠和電視臺(tái)達(dá)成內(nèi)容交易。令人欣喜的是，這二者愿意提供的內(nèi)容與當(dāng)年iTunes推出時(shí)唱片公司同意提供的內(nèi)容相比要令人樂觀得多。同時(shí)，蘋果也在創(chuàng)建自己的電子圖書業(yè)務(wù)，而且該業(yè)務(wù)還成了美國(guó)司法部（Justice Department）反托拉斯法的調(diào)查對(duì)象。庫(kù)克提到的這一點(diǎn)值得關(guān)注。

????Apple doesn't waste time. Its own, or anyone else's. That's what I thought when I disconnected my phone Monday at 6:23 a.m., at the conclusion of the Apple teleconference to discuss its new dividend-payment plans.

????In 23 minutes, the company got out all its facts, answered some questions, prepared financial markets for its news and wrapped things up -- all while sticking to a carefully prepared script to explain the dividend and share buyback news.

????Speaking of the script, and given how efficient Apple (AAPL) is with time, it's worthwhile to pause a day later to reflect on some of the elements of the message. Near the beginning of the call, in his prepared remarks, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave a short homily on why implementing a dividend does not mean Apple will quit investing in its future or that it doesn't see growth opportunities. These are the reasons many tech companies give for not paying a dividend. Because we know the list is scripted, we know Cook and his communications team thought about each item on the list. So let's consider each item, why Cook mentioned it, and how he rank-ordered them.

????"We are innovating at an incredible pace," Cook began, immediately launching into his list, which I will number and annotate:

????1. "Building a tremendous ecosystem with apps and content." We all know about Apple's App Store ecosystem by now. The choice of the word "content" was interesting. Apple reportedly is discussing content deals with film and TV studios -- who, gloriously, leak more than the record companies did when iTunes was getting started. Apple also is building its e-book business, the subject of a Justice Department anti-trust investigation. It's noteworthy that Cook led here.

????2. "Providing great services such as iCloud, which has already eclipsed over 100 million users within just a few months of its launch." For what it's worth, the people who like to chatter about this sort of thing don't consider iCloud a "great" service yet. It is clearly important to Apple, however.

????3. "And we're delivering incredible developments like Siri, a profound new way to interface with the iPhone." Love it or hate it -- I don't love Siri yet -- the success of the iPhone 4S makes a mockery of those who were disappointed that it wasn't the iPhone 5. (I also don't love the use of "interface" as a verb. But I digress.)

????4. "We are also investing in distribution around the world." Oh? More would have been great about this.

????5. "We continue to open our own stores, including 40 this fiscal year alone." The Apple retail juggernaut continues, with or without Ron Johnson, now CEO at J.C. Penney (JCP).

????6. "We are expanding our footprint with new carrier partners and other third-party resellers." Ho-hum. Boring business stuff. But wowza, more telecom partners than you've already got? And more retailers in addition to the likes of Best Buy (BBY), Walmart (WMT), and so on? Okay, good.