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Apple as hallmark of imperialism
  • 45 Replies sorted by
  • Apple would not be the success they are if things didn't MOSTLY work the way people wanted. It's really that simple. I've been reading complaints about Apple for decades and they're still a major force. If not for their particular take on Technology we wouldn't be enjoying a lot of the things we love today. I've been alive long enough to appreciate Apple's impact.

    In the U.S. we usually turn on Corporations that get megalithic but in Apple's case people generally like what they do across generations, which is really hard to accomplish. If someone has a better way of doing things they have nothing standing in their way in accomplishing that goal. If I had a better model I could be sitting here right now with every opportunity to make it a reality. What's wrong with the system if that is possible?

  • In the U.S. we usually turn on Corporations that get megalithic but in Apple's case people generally like what they do across generations, which is really hard to accomplish. If someone has a better way of doing things they have nothing standing in their way in accomplishing that goal.

    I am sure many people and teams know how to do better, and not only in Apple case.

    Whole point for this topic was for you to understand that Apple is small tip of an iceberg and huge structures below water allow it not to sink (and absence of this structures leads to simple fact that many other teams sink, or their ideas/best people/patents are bough or stole by... Apple).

  • So now Apple has become Microsoft, copying Microsoft Surface Pro 3. ( I've used Apple stuff since LISA, what a paperweight! )

    http://www.wired.com/2015/09/head-head-apple-ipad-pro-vs-surface-pro-3/

    Raspberry Pi or Chinese tablet woman sprinter must now throw a hammer at Apple Big Brother Screen! :)

  • @jleo

    I think it is for slightly other topic. :-)

    As for tablets

    Upcoming XPS 12 features a 12 inch, 3840 x 2160 pixel display and that it’s an “Infinity” display much like the screen on the Dell XPS 13 ultrabook. That means the bezels around the edges of the display will be super slim.

    Other features are expected to include a Thunderbolt 3 port with a USB Type-C connector, an 8MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera, and a detachable keyboard dock with backlit keys and a touchpad.

  • If those specs are true , then "Dude, I'm getting a Dell!"

  • If those specs are true , then "Dude, I'm getting a Dell!"

    They are, XPS line of Dell is very good.

  • Here's some reading along the lines of modern imperialism: http://monthlyreview.org/2015/07/01/imperialism-and-the-transformation-of-values-into-prices/

    I have a Dell XPS13 since February. Brilliant machine. Only downside to such high res is some programs don't scale correctly, like Quicken and Quickbooks, so I have to temporarily reduce screen resolution when using it. That's not the computer's fault though, it's Windows and a poor job by programmers.

  • Thanks for link.

    The change in the international division of labor is a product of capitals’ perennial quest for higher profits and is based, first, on enormous growth in the number of proletarians integrated into the capitalist world system and, second, on the substantive industrialization of the South over the past three decades. This was made possible by the dissolution of the Soviet and Eastern European “actually existing socialist” economies, the opening of China to global capitalism, and the outsourcing of production to India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, and other newly industrializing countries. The result was an increase of at least one billion low-wage proletarians within global capitalism.

    My point of view is that production places shifted due to complex mix of energy, resources, available human resources and also transport costs. If, as many US/EU patriots want, production stayed - stability could be much higher, but overall efficiency will be much lower resulting to worse overall life level, especially in metropolies.

    From all this mix energy play major role, as it is extremely cheap and efficient comparing to human labor. And China as main production factory of the world had been chosen due to coal reserves - coal is very good due to price and simple fact that it does not induce big competition for oil.

  • Not sure how accurate this info is, but it is sickening:

    "Ecological degradation, pollution, and depletion comprise an array of externalities through which Apple suppliers extract dark value. Each iPad uses thirty-three pounds of minerals (some of which are rare and limited in supply), seventy-nine gallons of water, and enough fossil fuel–based electricity to generate sixty-six pounds of carbon dioxide. Moreover, the production of an iPad generates 105 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions."

  • @Mistas

    It is all cool and such, but blaming Apple for IPads..... Any good engineer will tell you how much energy and resources are used to make everyday things, many of them have very limited life due to design or manufacturing issues. Even simple iron elements corrode all across the world and go into recycling or just to the dump, and it requires big amount of resources and energy to make it working again.

    “In the case of the iPad, most of the expropriated dark value is realized, not as corporate profit, but as consumer surplus in the form of cheaper goods. Consequently, the core citizen becomes an unwitting [?—authors] beneficiary of this exploitative system when (s)he uses one waged hour to purchase a product that embodies many more lower-waged and unpaid hours and many under-valued material and ecological inputs.”

    Yep, this is it baby.. capitalism. We see here advanced solution for very complex problem.

    Second part of the puzzle is - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/6770/the-servant-economy-where-americas-elite-is-sending-the-middle-class-/p1

    Final part of the puzzle (on how elites with lots of workers and poor population behave) - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/13661/unmanageable-complexity-globalisation-and-fear#Item_1

  • I think Apple has done a share of good and bad. Steve Jobs had a vision for his product line that turned out to 'capture the imagination' of the public in the USA and beyond.

    They currently have the ability to charge a premium and run at higher margins than their competitors, but that position seems to be slipping a bit and could slip further if another brand outdoes them. Ultimately the big issue is that Apple participates in this race-to-the-bottom with all other electronics manufacturers. Landfills will continue to grow, earth will continue to be strip-mined, resources will continue to be frivolously consumed for semi-disposable products, etc.

  • I think Apple has done a share of good and bad.

    We do not talk here about good or bad, we talk about example of imperialist monster that is not shown to average public as such, but only as pretty little tip of the iceberg.

    Landfills will continue to grow, earth will continue to be strip-mined, resources will continue to be frivolously consumed for semi-disposable products, etc.

    It can not be otherwise, it is capitalism. :-)

  • Almost all big companies are imperialist pigs.. Most of them obviously try to hide it. So does Apple. But still I want that IPhone 6S+ ;)

  • I have trouble isolating government from Capitalism these days. Banks get federal bailouts and write legislation, USA invades Iraq and Haliburton makes billions, wall mart tells states where to put freeway off ramps. Government and private sector are locked in a giant 69. Lots of pleasure and happiness if you're part of it. If not, just buy drugs.

  • @brianl very true, thanks for the good laugh.

  • I have trouble isolating government from Capitalism these days.

    Well, you just discovered that smart people did in 19th and early 20th century.

  • Well, you just discovered that smart people did in 19th and early 20th century.

    Precious few seem to appreciate it.

  • Precious few seem to appreciate it.

    Yep, very few guys seems to be using results of this work since discovery, just around 2 billion people.

  • Yep, very few guys seems to be using results of this work since discovery, just around 2 billion people.

    You don't understand my point. Must be a language barrier issue.

  • You don't understand my point. Must be a language barrier issue.

    May be just too stupid to dig into such deep though :-)