Why is Apple so successful? Was it blind allegiance to Steve Jobs? What is advertising? Marketing?

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook described it this way: From Bob Evans in Forbes (to avoid four pages of Forbes ads, here’s the official spoiler alert):

#10 – Embrace your inner cannibal: Apple wants their own products to cannibalize their own products.

#9 – Invest and pinch: Apple invests where they get the most bang for the buck and don’t waste money.

#8 – Distribution: It’s a think different approach to distributing Apple’s products. Think postpay iPhones vs. prepay iPhones.

#7 – iPad triggers the post-PC world: 55 million iPad users in less than two years can’t be wrong. The iPad’s success was guaranteed. It’s a big iPod touch and everything is already built-in.

#6 – Halo Effect: Windows PC users love iPhone, so they love iPad, so they love the Mac. Win, win, win.

#5 – China: There are 1.5-billion potential customers in China. How long will it be before Apple’s revenue in China is greater than in the U.S.?

#4 – Developers: iPhone apps beget iPad apps. iPhone App Store beget Mac App Store. Developers make money selling iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps.

#3 – Keep it simple: The customer likes things that work. iCloud just works (unlike the early days of MobileMe). Everything gets synced between devices. Customers love a no-brainer system.

#2 – Great Products: It’s not price. It’s not a feature list. It’s the user experience and that starts with a great product that customers want to use.

#1 – The Vision Thing: Apple’s culture reflects Steve Jobs intensity. Keep the vision fires burning.

If you’re a MacBook owner there are probably times you’ve wanted to close the Mac’s lid without invoking sleep. As it turns out, there’s an app for that. It’s called, conveniently, NoSleep.

Here’s how it works.

All MacBooks go into sleep mode when the lid is closed. NoSleep keeps the Mac running. And the Mac stays warm. The options are simple. Set NoSleep to startup when your Mac is turned on. Click the Do Not Fall Asleep When Lid Is Closed option, and the Mac stays awake when the lid is closed.

Won’t a closed-lid Mac cause overheating? It could. There’s a reason the MacBook’s operate with the lid open, so overheating is a definite possibility when the lid is closed. For now, NoSleep is free.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, seen it all, someone brings a George Jetson futuristic fantasy to real life.

It’s an auto folding stroller that also charges your iPhone. You have to see it in action to believe it.

The Origami stroller also counts miles pushed, has an LCD control panel, and sports generators in the rear wheels that charge your iPhone as you walk.

Also included are daytime running lights and sensors in the seat so you won’t forget to pack your child.

I love this stuff. Sidwalk art like you’ve never seen before.

Amazing.

From AllThingsD and John Paczkowski comes word that Acer CEO J.T. Wang has seen the light. No more cheap hardware, and instead will focus on the so-called ultrabook market, as epitomized by Apple’s MacBook Air.

We will shift our strategy to improving profitability from pursuing market share blindly with cheap and unprofitable products. Ultrabooks will become our key growth driver next year as customers want a lighter, thinner notebook with longer battery life. Selling more ultrabooks will also help improve our profit margins as they command higher prices.

Translation: We’re not making any money on market share and cheap goods.

There’s a room with a view, and then there’s a store with a view. The latest in pretentious, ostentatious retail locations is the new Grand Central Terminal Apple Store in New York (Flash Alert!).

Instead of browsing around the store, it’s more like hiking around the store.