Mechanism
Calibrated Storage
TL;DR
Apple's resolution: $80-100B cash reserves (2-3 years operating expenses) plus aggressive capital deployment for the rest.
Optimal ≠ Maximum. Optimal ≠ Zero. Optimal = Calibrated.
The organism that survives isn't the most efficient or the most protected - it's the one that calibrates storage to resource criticality and environmental volatility. Bears store fat calibrated to hibernation duration. Squirrels cache acorns calibrated to winter length and memory capacity.
Business Application of Calibrated Storage
Apple's resolution: $80-100B cash reserves (2-3 years operating expenses) plus aggressive capital deployment for the rest. Not maximum storage (excessive) or zero storage (vulnerable). Calibrated to environmental volatility and strategic optionality.