apple
my reaction to something Steve Jobs said in his present- ation of iphone 4, illustrates my problem with him and apple specifically, and with modern life generally:
the new iphone is 24% thinner
the statement is correct of course, but this is because the previous model had a curved back, so that its thickest part was fairly thick but the thin part quite thin; the new model is flat both front and back, and the overall volume of the new phone is slightly reduced, as is the weight
I react badly to such tactics, because I immediately associate this with the propaganda technique used in communist countries, e.g. after June 4th a PRC government spokeswoman said blatantly: no one was killed in Tiananmen Square on that day--the statement was actually correct: demonstrators blocking streets leading to the square were shot, but by the time the soldiers entered the square itself all resistances had ceased, and it was unnecessary to open fire
similarly, the statement "iphone 4 is the thinnest smart phone" is correct, but it is also wider/longer than Nokia E72, Blackberry, etc; so what's the big deal? the way Apple fans followed Jobs has always reminded me of some cult leader, or red commissar, and as you know, the audience reacted very positively to steve jobs's presentation, and the market reacted very well to his products; my personal ma ladjustment only means I am out of tune with modern life and do not know how to please people, so I do not try
Foxconn
After a series of well publicized worker suicides, Foxconn, the taiwan contractor that employes 600,000 people in Shenzhen alone and assembles huge numbers of iphone, ipads, laptops etc for apple and other hightech companies, decided to increase worker salary by 112%, and apple will chip in by giving Foxconn 1-2% of its profits in the near future
Very kind? sure, but it also means Foxconn has been badly underpaying its workers, in order to suppress costs so that it could keep product pricess low and profit high for apple; it is estimated that 500$ iphones and ipads only cost apple 200$, and for each piece Foxconn only earns 12-15$, which is why sacrificing 1-2% of profit by apple makes some a difference for worker salary
the salary change is bound to spread, as the Honda strike settlement has already indicated; many small factories owned by HK and Taiwan businessmen in the region would not be able to survive, but that might not be such a bad thing; for too long businesses have found going into China for exploitation of cheap labour an easy solution, and now they will have to be more inventive, and to invest more in their own regions;
US follows China
several years ago when my son and I were discussing how things had changed from my generation to his, I said "America has become more and more like China"; like him, you probably have difficulty understanding what I mean; but consider these:
1. the Ivy League used to have students like George Bush,born to privileged families and not used to hard academic work; - nerds like Richard Feyman went to MIT;
today such pampered upper class scions have virtually no chance to get into harvard/ yale: there are simply too many asians (and jews) with high SAT scores and Advanced Placement credits fighting for admission; they have become like Beida/ Qinghua, instead of gentlemanly prep schools like George Bush found at Yale
2. a company like Dell enjoyed a period when it seemed to be able to do no wrong; then suddenly, it seems to be able to do nothing right; how can a company's management so quickly change for the worse? a similar change is taking place with Goldman Sachs; in reverse, HP and Apple went through periods when they seemed to be able to do nothing right, and suddenly start to ride high;
if you know anything about China, this ought to remind you of cultural revolution; first someone, lin biao, jiang qing, etc, could not no wrong, and then everything he/she did was wrong