What the heck are hoard lasers? Most people, including myself before today, have absolutely no idea what a hoard laser is or what it does for an Apple computer. AI learned that it’s only “real” function is make a whole in the aluminum cases of Apple products so small that it is invisible to the human eye, yet lets a small light, that often goes unnoticed, pass through. Apple has over 100 of these lasers which cost about $200,000 each. It seems kind of pointless to pay that much for a machine that does a function that often goes unnoticed. “Most of Apple’s customers have probably never given that green light a second thought, but its creation speaks to a massive competitive advantage for Apple: Operations”, said Tim Cook, the new chief executive officer of Apple. Apple can spend that much on such a “useless” machine because they use it to create such large amounts of products that it becomes almost free per unit. Apple has built a closed ecosystem where it has control over nearly every piece of the supply chain, all the way from design to retail store. Because of its mass volume, Apple gets big discounts on parts, manufacturing capacity, and air freight. Even Mike Fawkes, former product manager at HP, commends Apple’s operation department saying, “They’ve taken operational excellence to a level never seen before.” 
