When word spread that Apple would charge $5 for a patch to unlock the 802.11n capabilities of its Core 2 Duo-equipped PCs, there was much muttering among the acolytes; when the excuse came—"The accountants told us to"—there was confusion and ill-informed babbling about Sarbanes-Oxley and accounting law. When the price dropped to a nominal $2, the story seemed done.
Ah, but no! it turns out the original excuse is, according to former SEC chief accountant Lynn Turner, not quite up to snuff:
The WSJ apparently suggests (The original story is at the shuttered, subscription-only palace of their website) that it may all come down to internal accounting mysteries at Apple itself, which wants to ensure that it didn't freely give away unaccounted-for 802.11n cards—which would be fair enough, if they weren't pointing and waiving at accounting law as if it was the cause of their later actions.
Accountants call out Apple on $1.99 fee [Ars Technica]
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