Published: February 17, 2010

In technology, the ancient regime was driven by Wintel (Windows and Intel), mostly: a famously paranoid Andy Grove, paired with Bill Gates, the most competitive strategist (or strategic competitor) in the world. Everyone else got table scraps.

That’s been over for some time, but the replacement team has taken a while getting their acts together. Apple’s multi-colored iMacs, Amazon selling books and CDs only, Google search without ads: humble beginnings, or re-starts. Each of these companies had to find its way up and out, and the point of this week’s issue is: they now have.