You forgot to mention hard, very hard working people. Low standard of living and tight grip on freedom is not sufficient nor necessary to become the world's superpower.
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Apple Sued in China Over Showing of Propaganda War Film From 1990s
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It already went to Malaysia, then Viet Nam. Next step is Africa.
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where would that island be? what would the costs be to develop infrastructure? what would their system of government be for the hordes of workers they would relocate there? how would they establish trade deals with all of the countries they do business with? what's going to stop a bunch of Somalian pirates from overtaking this island?
Without commenting either way on the leader part, I think SJ as one of Apple's founders had one single passion in life, to create aesthetically beautiful, and functional as well as useful products. And he possessed the vision and the laser-focus to achieve that goal. Profits he reasoned, would follow. The board was happy Apple was at the forefront of the technological revolution taking place, and they could report good profits to the shareholders. The company was in good hands once again, and everybody was happy.
Tim, while doing a good job of running the company's daily affairs and supply-chain etc., lacks that vision and laser-focus. Apple has been doing very well mostly based on the yields of the 4-5 year roadmap left by SJ. Contrary to the latter, Tim lacking that much needed vision, needs to keep raking in huge profits or risk being replaced, and he is very well aware of that.
That rumored Car needs to be a winner or Tim's days could be numbered.
China will never let an outsider come in and be very successful. It's just not going to happen.
I know their play is for shareholders, but it's also hypocritical to kowtow to these jerks when you raise such a ruckus about other not-so-great groups / organizations.
I also always have an uneasy feeling when I see our govt / corporations playing footsie with countries in the ME that treat their women like garbage.
I know their play is for shareholders, but it's also hypocritical to kowtow to these jerks when you raise such a ruckus about other not-so-great groups / organizations.
I also always have an uneasy feeling when I see our govt / corporations playing footsie with countries in the ME that treat their women like garbage.
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I think the fact Apple's building a car might show that the old lazer focus might be long gone.
One of the reasons why Apple products were good was because they're a very large company that focuses a fairly narrow range of products. Everything was an extension of everything else. The iPod, and eventually the iPhone, worked with the Mac, the iPad paired nicely between the iPhone and the Mac. Even the Apple Watch, which I'm pretty tepid about, did fit into that whole design.
But a car? That's an entirely different product, requiring an entirely new skill set and a very large amount of focus to pull off successfully, which you could argue takes focus away from Apple's core competency.
The article didn't really explain why they blame Apple for this. Some app on the App Store showed it?
That's what every CEO says about China so they don't look cheap. I don't know if it's true.
Where is the rum?
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Maybe not. If Apple products are made to make our lives easier/better, then a car could accomplish that.... It just can't **** up like the Tesla auto-pilot... Which it will, cause iOS.
No question about it, the Chinese people are amongst the most industrious and hardest working people on the planet.
My point was, the workers aren't being compensated very well, allowing the communist elite to flood the world's markets with extremely low-priced consumer goods, and thereby all but killing off the economic engines of the receiving countries, while simultaneously allowing the Chinese authorities to divert those resulting massive trade surpluses, to be used for other more sinister goals.
Two things:
1) Sure, Apple is probably working on a car, but what a lot of folks don't get is, Apple works on a lot of products that never see the light of day. Somewhere in their labs they probably do have a prototype of the proverbial combination refrigerator/toaster. They release products when they feel confident the product actually works the way they feel it should and will do well in the marketplace (note the words "they" and "feel" - doesn't mean they're always right). Versus a lot of other companies who release a ton of half-baked products (not saying every competing product is half-baked) and wait to see which ones catch on in the marketplace. If they do release a car, I'll be quite interested to see what they come up with (no, I won't likely hop on that one immediately, but I am curious to see their take on "car").
2) I remember feeling the same way (as what you're saying above) about the iPod when it came out -- "An MP3 player? WTF Apple, you build the best computers and OS, don't get distracted from that by faddish consumer electronics like MP3 players."
As to needing an entirely new skill set and focus, taking away from Apple's core competency, keep in mind the comments made by a variety of highly-placed people when Apple debuted the original iPhone:
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, 2007: "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get." (Windows Phone now has less than 1% of the market.)
Blackberry CEO Jim Balsillie, 2007: "It’s kind of one more entrant into an already very busy space with lots of choice for consumers ... But in terms of a sort of a sea-change for BlackBerry, I would think that’s overstating it." (For the younger readers, Blackberry was once a company that made smartphones.)
Palm CEO Ed Colligan, 2006: “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone, ... PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.” (Palm made a groundbreaking series of PDAs and one of the first smartphones - what ever happened to them?)
Now the automakers are saying, "There's no chance that an Apple car is going to get any significant market share. Apple's not going to just walk in." Are they right? Time will tell. Like I said, I'm very curious to see how this plays out. I'll get the popcorn.
Yeah Tesla is having such a great time in the USA, not being able to sell cars directly to consumers.
Then there is your health system, most expensive in the world , but not the best.
Wall street, how many trillion did that cost when they screwed up ?
US cable companies....ugh.
Never mind the costs for cellphone data. Last time I was in the USA I had a SIM for my iPad from "Three" in the UK, 1 GB for the month GBP10, AND I can use that data in the USA. I was quoted up to US$70 for the same thing with no data roaming, no data sharing (wireless hot spot).
Then we could talk about how dishonest US retailers are. Prices you see are plus taxes. You can't avoid the taxes so why not be transparent and honest and show tax inclusive prices. Hotels in Vegas are + taxes + "resort fees", this can more than double the price advertised. As for tipping, include it in the price and pay the staff a proper wage.
Its not just communists who get things very very wrong....
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The USA spends almost 50% of the worlds military budget.
Far more than China, Russia, France, Germany, UK. Italy, put together.
Never mind the CIA sticking its nose into the affairs of other countries.
And the US agricultural industry is incredibly heavily subsidised preventing fair competition
Please quote your source for that claim.
But even if that were true, how does that change the point I made about the Chinese communist elite having all but killed off the economic engines of the world by flooding the planet with extremely low-priced consumer goods, made possible by child labor, lax environmental laws and under-compensating the workers producing those goods, all the while suppressing human rights and attempting to control internet access?
After Brexit, Apple needs to learn how to operate in the EUSSR communist state that is forming in Europe.
I needed to rub my eyes to make sure I read the title correctly.
China is actually using the court system to sue a company instead of just detaining or home-imprisoning everyone involved? Never mind about what a joke their court system is, but this is actually something new when considering they are always using the ostrich policy.
China is actually using the court system to sue a company instead of just detaining or home-imprisoning everyone involved? Never mind about what a joke their court system is, but this is actually something new when considering they are always using the ostrich policy.
I agree with most of what you said, we here in the US do have a pretty screwed up system, and yet it's far easier for us to point out other's problems than to fix our own. But the price+tax thing, please try to understand that that is simply a cultural difference, to call it dishonest is to unreasonably apply your cultural norms to a culture not your own (something we Americans are often accused of, and often do). Everyone here understands that taxes will be added on top of prices at the time of sale, and your way of doing it, with the taxes "baked in", conflating one with the other, looks really strange to us (there isn't always only one right way to do things).
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Apple is bedfellows and adept in practicing hypocrisy. With the tables turned, they’ll get a taste of their own medicine. Live by the sword...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...the-biggest-defence-budgets-in-the-world.html
The flip side of this is that is has been the large western corporations taking advantage of 3rd world countries. There is a long history of corporations taking advantage to dump toxic waste, pillage natural resources, etc. If these corporations did not do this there would be a lot less problems.
http://whenonearth.net/20-countries-that-are-used-as-dumping-grounds-for-your-waste/
The next issue is the cost of labour, countries like the USA are simply too expensive, and for many jobs local workers are unwilling to do those jobs. The US also utilises low wage earners http://nfwm.org/education-center/farm-worker-issues/low-wages/
Then there is the issue of does the US want those jobs, low wage, low profit, polluting. If consumers gave a damn they would be willing to pay for more expensive goods, but no they demand cheaper goods.
No, the difference is in New Zealand the price you see advertised, the price on the tag, the price you get quoted, is the price.
When I go into a shop, I know exactly how much each item will cost (assuming I can not negotiate a discount), in the USA unless you are familiar with the local taxes and what the tax rate is for a particular products type you have very little idea what the price you actually have to pay is. You can not avoid the tax, so why not include it in the price.
That is something I always found annoying while traveling in the US, as I'm used to seeing prices that include all the taxes.
It's not the communist elite who pay low wages, it's the private business. There're a lot of countries with the same low standards of living, low wages, etc and it has nothing to do with communism. What Chinese government does is protect its market and who said it's a bad thing? They do what is best for their country. And that plus hard work gives the good results.
It's not true that you can't avoid the tax. Most can't, but if you have at tax exempt certificate or a resale certificate, then you pay the advertised price.
Most people purchase things locally, and they know their local tax rate, so it's no big deal for them, and they don't care enough to make it simple for the few folks from New Zealand who might be trotting the globe.
This is nothing new and exactly why a lot of companies don't bother trying to do business in China. Their patents are stolen, the government doesn't care, and lawsuits have a home court advantage. Such lawsuits are just the cost of doing business when dealing with China.
Jaguar-Land Rover is currently suing a Chinese Automaker for photocopying their Range Rover Evoque and selling it as something called a Landwind. Good luck to them with that. Hahah.
Jaguar-Land Rover is currently suing a Chinese Automaker for photocopying their Range Rover Evoque and selling it as something called a Landwind. Good luck to them with that. Hahah.
.....Evidenced by the millions who want to leave communist (or oppressive in general) countries, to seek a better life for themselves and their family in the west.....
