6. It really is about acquiring talent
Apple is certainly more than happy to call Beats' premium if over-rated headphones and music service its own, but Cook has said repeatedly since news of the acquisition went live that he scored big time with Dre and Iovine.
"These guys are really unique," Cook told the New York Times. "It's like finding the precise grain of sand on the beach. They're rare and very hard to find."
The whole Beats family is also making the move to Apple, with the Beats Music team reporting to Eddy Cue's crew and Beats Electronics moving under SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller.
Looks like Gary Marshall was right all along.
7. This is Apple's biggest buy ever
As Cook acknowledged today, Apple never talks about companies it purchases, making the verbosity surrounding today's deal especially unique.
What's also special here is the amount Apple is paying. Normally, Cupertino sticks with relatively smaller firms for relatively smaller prices. The Beats deal blows all of these out of the water with its $3 billion tag.
Don't expect deals of this magnitude to become a regular occurance for Apple, but it's a sign the company is willing to spend big for what it really wants.
8. Apple bought 27 companies in the last year
Un-Beats related, but a little Apple factoid to impress your friends.
9. The deal isn't done, yet
As any casual industry watcher can tell you, companies may make acquisition plans official but the keys aren't handed over until the regulators sing.
Apple buying Beats is no different, and various regulatory bodies will have to pass the purchase before the two can start cranking out hits. Apple anticipates the deal to close by the end of its fourth fiscal quarter, or towards the end of the year.
10. Apple is finally catching up with the streaming times
As services like Spotify, Pandora and, up until today, Beats Music, acquired more and more customers, iTunes suffered. Apple attempted to answer with iTunes Radio, but the effort clearly wasn't enough to win back listeners.
Apple's Beats buy signals a significant change of course for the company that's known for sticking to its guns (see: 4-inch phone screens, "DOA" smaller tablets).
Steve Jobs started iTunes with the backing of a music industry willing to allow single-song purchases. It was revolutionary at the time but was quickly usurped as consumer tastes changed to prefer streaming options, even if they had to pay to rent music.
By bringing Beats Music into the fold, Apple is throwing up a white flag of sorts, though the surrender of its anti-subscription ways isn't so much an admission of defeat as it is a sign that it's finally heard the music.
Bonus: What products and services will Apple and Beats build together?
That is the (three) billion-dollar question. No one is talking specific future products, but Cook told the New York Times that Dr. Dre and Iovine will come up with "ways of features that blow your mind, and products you haven't thought of yet."
The pair, he continued, will "take music to an even higher level than it is now."
Sounds like some chronic if you ask us.
