Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), who admits to owning an iPad, blames the Apple Inc. product for ‘eliminating thousands of American jobs,'” Real Clear Politics reports.
A few short weeks ago I came to the House floor after having purchased an iPad and said that I happened to believe, Mr. Speaker, that at some point in time this new device, which is now probably responsible for eliminating thousands of American jobs. Now Borders is closing stores because, why do you need to go to Borders anymore? Why do you need to go to Barnes & Noble? Buy an iPad and download your newspaper, download your book, download your magazine. – Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL, Chicago) from the House floor, Friday, April 15, 2011
RCP reports, “Ironically, it was only last month that Rep. Jackson was promoting the Apple iPad and Amazon on the House floor.”
Full article, with the video, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Another Democrat moron. No wonder the U.S.A. is so fscked up.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know: I’m a racist.
You’re not a racist, you’re a moron. And if you actually believe that the Democrats are to blame, you’re a moron and an imbecile. The whole system is broken. Anyone who is paying even the slightest attention can see that. There’s an article in this morning’s New York Times entitled “G.O.P. Pushes to Deregulate Environment at State Level”. That’s pure, unadulterated insanity. So go ahead—hide your hed in the sand and throw stones at easy targets.
He threw. You bit. Thanks for tossing in an unrelated to the published topic reference. Still, it was a dumb thing for the representative to say regardless of who he is, or what party he is from, and THAT is the point. Now if we could all focus on the content of the message, that would be great. Thanks.
Amen, brutha.
I would submit that it is exactly this desire to compartmentalize one’s life and, most especially, to filter out anything beyond the narrow scope of one’s immediate attention that allows this outrageously unacceptable state of affairs we are all currently faced with in America (whether we pay any attention to what’s really going on or not) to continue unchallenged and unabated. Many, many people won’t realize that the ship is sinking until they run out of air. What to do?
Jessie is right! The iPAD may well cost thousands of jobs. However, the same could be said of Henry Ford. Just think of how many buggy whip manufacturers he put out of business (not to mention the buggy manufacturers themselves).
Now a case can be made for doing some of the iPAD work in the US. It would have to be automated to the point where few production workers were required in order to contain costs or they would be too expensive to buy.
Stop using oil and electricity. There would be much much much more work for everyone in farming and unemployment would be zero. Keep improving productivity with computerized devices without reducing human population and we will continue to get rising unemployment or underemployment. It’s pretty logical.
OT!
Sad to say, the core cause of most of humanity’s problems these days is overpopulation.
We went past the sustainable carrying capacity of the Earth back in the 1960s or earlier. We knew about it then and buried both the data and conclusions. Meanwhile, the problem only gets worse.
But short of Red China’s crazy and nasty solution, how do we as a species stop increasing our population?
And no, I have zero belief in the nonsense being foisted that humanity will naturally converge its population level to a steady state. I’ve seen no believable data to prove than myth. Human population continues to grow geometrically across the planet. Only in very few areas, among relatively few cultures, has population growth slowed. I don’t know of anywhere that it has leveled and stopped.
End of OT!
Yes, by all means, have the government “regulate” the environment, that will save us all :-b
Insanity is believing that such programs exist for anything other then moving money to government “worker’s” accounts.
Joe, you are correct.
You died 16 years ago, are you coming back from the grave? Sincerely,
Kasparov, Karpov and Kramnik
You should have asked if he had spoken to Emanuel Lasker recently.
das vadanya, Comrade Gary.
Do you honestly believe that crap? The EPA was signed into law by Richard Nixon! The air over Los Angeles and other cities across the country is cleaner, and we are HEALTHIER because of environmental controls.
Joe, you are an imbecile.
Insanity is also believing that dismantling what little actual protection the environment receives from our corrupt form of government can possibly make anything better except the bottom lines of the wealthy mega-corporations that will undoubtedly benefit from further deregulation. Let’s not forget that the environment we’re talking about is not only a beautiful wilderness—it’s the human life support system.
The Dems went to State level to implant gay marriage, so what’s good for the goose….
Ditto!
Both Republicans and Democrats are destructive polarizing morons. Anyone who doesn’t weigh each issue on it’s own merits and not automatically subscribe to some idiotic party line is a complete moron. Sometimes you might be left of center and sometimes right. They used to call this “Common Sense.”. The party system is broken and doesn’t work and nether party is what they used to be.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Apple news…
Amen
Curious, isn’t it. “Common sense” has become extremely uncommon.
It’s not uncommon – just unequally distributed 😉
New York Times??? Pure progressive/marxist PAP…
And where do you get your news? From the pathological liars at Faux News?
The Goverment is just messed up… PERIOD.
It’s the people’s government. So it’s the people who is messed up PERIOD. Try reading the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
“No wonder the U.S.A. is so fscked up”
For instance, your Postal Service used the Las Vegas copy of the Statue of Liberty on a stamp…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/16/us-stamp-statue-liberty-las-vegas
The Las Vegas version is much nicer looking, don’t you agree?
C’est bon. Sure is.
Oui, Oui
Theeey turk errr jerbs!!!
Great reference from SP. That episode was an instant classic.
Democrats SUCK! Impeach Maobama the foreign impostor. He wants to take the US to it’s knees. If you’re a liberal you’re a horrible person.
I guess I’m a “horrible person” then. BTW, UK Ted, if you really are from the UK, WTF is up with you?
And for that matter, WTF is up with the anger in this country? The inflamed rhetoric? The tea party fear mongers?
Hell, why don’t we just head for the civil war everyone is driving toward and get it over with?
And BTW (and I’m just as guilty) – why don’t we stick to Apple news on this site? Sick of the political diatribes.
Bring it on Smurf. We’re not backing down. You commies are out to destroy the US, we are here to stop you starting with first and foremost using your own tactics right back against you. You Marxists need to “compromise” meaning do it our way. Low lives.
Yeah, because the Republican jobs plan is to put more people out of work, make their lives more miserable, ship our jobs overseas, and reward the assholes on Wall Street who f—ed up the global economy. “Country First!”
Tommy Girl, everything you posted is the opposite of reality. Democrats have utterly destroyed the economy with all of their failed and miserable policies. Fanny, Freddie, Dodd, Maobama, Reid, and on and on. Forcing banks to make risky loans. Look at every area of the country controlled by democrats for decades, complete all out disasters. When has a poor person every given you a job you jack ass. Get the effing government out of our hair and let the economy shine. We’re on to you commies and we will vote your asses out and put a stop to this nonsense.
Something similar was said when cars began to replace horses. It’s true there are fewer blacksmiths.
let’s not forget the plight of the whip & buggy makers… (never mind, they’ve all gone into fetish gear)… oh, wait! that’s part of the point. as technology evolves, the workers either adapt or perish. the brick & mortar book sellers were in trouble w/the rise of the internet & amazon. newspaper classified revenue was mortally wounded by craig’s list. the old business model is not viable, the new business model is still developing…
& politicians of all stripes just say what they think we want to hear…
Exactly. Let’s not concentrate on the jobs lost with the iPad “killer” competition, but at the additional jobs created around the iPad ecosystem, and all the jobs facilitated by those companies who equip their workers with iPads.
Great point. Now if we could just get this same logic to stick re: replacing deadly coal mining with building American renewable power to run our iPads…
Deadly coal???? WTF??? You are sick. Get some help. Coal and oil are responsible for you being able to post on this website idiot. You think solar and wind are going to provide enough power to the people. I’m all for better technology and power sources but there aren’t any yet.
I was just going to draw the same comparison. Times change and technology improves. It’s a fact of life J.J. Jr. get over it!
Chip of the old block and about as smart.
Has junior learned how to shake down companies with threats of crying “racism,” yet?
Hello, Hymietown?
Well-said, ‘First’.
Give him credit, he’s learning, only the inexperienced ones play the race card early.
Like Obama?… We all know how inexperienced he is!
Besides, that’s what Bill Clinton said…
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/bill-clinton-ob.html
Like Shit like son.
..and about as smart is right!!
Me thinks the reports that Apple is increasing it’s spending for Lobbyist in Washington DC has caused Jr. to find a reason to mouth off about Apple. I’m sure Apple’s Lobbyist are now aware of Jr.’s banking information and the extent to which they are expected to “contribute”.
Worry about the high cost of healthcare where half of hard working people paycheck is going to Mr. Jackson.
Congresscritters are immune from prosecution for libel for what they say on the floor of the House or Senate. This lack of accountability is excellent reason to assume by default that anything they say is a lie.
You mean they can say things that aren’t “intended to be factual statements”? What a way to run a country. Horse crap and hyperbole.
Apple has added something like 30,000 jobs in the last 5 years. Just check their employment stats.
Not to mention the entire iOS developer ecosystem. A lot of people are learning new skills and working hard to make a go at that. Hardly a job-killer. Better to have the skills to program computers than to stock bookshelves, IMHO. But I will miss browsing through stacks of books. So far, I find it hard to get a feel for the content and quality of a book in electronic format, and the plethora of readers is a PITA. All print publications work pretty much the same, with e-readers, not so much. We need a national standard. Some of the e-reader UI features are about as bad as a book publisher deciding to bind the top edge of a book, rather than the left.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), who does not own a combine harvester has denigrated Massey Harris for eliminating thousands of farm jobs by eliminating reapers, thrashers, horse handlers, and slaves.
Not a bad analogy except that he admits to owning an ipad, therefore needs to own a combine in the analogy as well.
Buggy whips forever!!!
sell your stock this is going to kill the lineups
This is complete ignorance. Apple is currently the shining star in an abysmal American business environment. Our Government is such a joke.
Dumb@ss…but he did get press coverage for saying it, which is the whole point for any politician for either party.
1. How many people do Borders hire? Not too many per store. Apple on the other hand must have at least 20 per store.
2. 10-20 years ago stores like Borders were accused of killing the small book store.
3. Apple have generated many more high level and skilled jobs in Cupertino. I have a friend who works there now after being laid off by a semiconductor company.
4. This is the biggest – adoption of media tablets will allow for digital schoolbooks that will save significant money.
5. Apple sell about half of their products overseas. That helps improve the balance of payments for the US.
It’s called progress and innovating companies like Apple are keeping the US ahead in technological terms.
Don’t forget the economic benefit Apple Stores bring to malls and retail strips across the nation. An Apple Store is one of the largest generators of foot traffic in retail.
Border’s business model was flawed. fhe the start. It became an air conditioned study hall -free wifi, Want a break – go borrow a few magazines. Want to read to your kids – find a corder and “borrow” a book. Never buy anything there except with the 33 or 40% discount coupon, which can be applied to any item – even discounted book. I believe Borders store is hard pressed to gross $2,000/ day. Apple store must do at least $20K-$50K.
Barnes & Noble almost the same, but there stores are larger – so must be harder to make a buck.
“I BELIEVE in a world with paper stuff!”
darkside of technology advances is it will cost jobs. That is basically what he is getting at. His mistake is mentioning a certain device.
Stick to the subject boys and girls. No nasty comments.
This is no more an issue than the people who made buggy whips and were forced to learn a new trade when the automobile made its debut. Would you blame the makers of transistors for putting all those vacuum tube factories (and their workers) out of business? Or mimeograph machines, or those who pressed records, prepared them for sale, and distributed them by the tens of millions?
With any new technology, there will always be some who lose their jobs and who must learn anew. That’s life! Bad when it’s you out of a job. Good when you can enjoy the new technology.
If these people retrain for an emerging field, they will be good for at least another generation or more.
Thanks RW
1) did he read the reports of Chinese resellers sleeping over night in front of Apple Stores to buy iPads? How much money is Apple pulling in back to the U.S.A via foreign sales?
2) I’ve read dozens of articles blaming Apple but shoot no one ever blames Google. Google is giving away intellectual property (the last bastion of American industry) Android FREE to Asian OEMS like HTC, Samsung, LG and dozens of chinese companies to compete with American companies like Apple, HP and Microsoft all over the world. Foreign companies already had the hardware manufacturing advantage now Google is giving them the software – for free (and in Google’s own claims with ‘no strings attached’). Foreign companies are free to modify Android to their own OS systems like OMS and load then with Baidu etc and their own apps so Google unlike Apple does not even bring back cash to the U.S in many instances. When Android tablets loaded with Android and Baidu ding Microsoft PCs (which admittedly are pieces of crap) is that going to be good for the U.S economy?
3) and yes Mr. Politician help America by BASHING Apple the most innovative co. in the U.S, help America by bashing INNOVATION the key to American survival. Yes, enact laws that will limit Apple from innovating things like digital downloads … LET the Asian and European companies slowly innovate those tech on their own AND PATENT them (did you hear about the Canadian Nortel patents being auctioned off for start price of 900 million ? that U.s companies are currently paying big wads of cash to use them? ) .. !
(I’m acting as a bit of a Devil’s Advocate here against Google. I’m actually pro free trade – as long as it’s fair – but too often Apple has been single out and Google let off). I’ve even read moronic pieces where people say don’t buy Apple (they’re made in Asia) but buy HTC Android phones!!! ???? )
I forgot to add that I am concerned for people losing jobs and it’s a sad thing
but politicians aren’t going to solve issues without thinking CLEARLY
and I’m tired of Apple picked for bashing as it gets news headlines (go ask Green Peace: Apple is bashed ten times more often by Green Peace than PC makers who mostly make PLASTIC PCs vs apple who mostly use recyclable Aluminium… )
“politicians aren’t going to solve issues without thinking CLEARLY”
Which means they’re not going to ‘solve’ anything at all. Ever.
Very good points Dave.
Does the opening sentence in the quote make sense to anyone? Where do we find Representatives so erudite?
It’s the non-employed that keep people like Mr. Jackson and his father in business.
Who else would buy the snake oil they sell?
“unrelated”…! Are you fking kidding?
The whole MDN post is unrelated to fking anything! It’s pure hit bait; nothing more.
Jackson loves Apple products (I don’t care)
Hey, here’s a tip for everyone:
Anybody who doesn’t know that technology reduces jobs; that that is the purpose of technology; and that that has been the purpose of technology since the flint arrow head was invented; Is an idiot.
I love seeing this point being made over and over here. Now if only we could start applying it to supporting 21st-century renewable energy technologies, and stop fretting about all the jobs it would cost in dirty, inefficient 19th century coal and oil industries, we might have us an economy again…
bbb, you have the wrong slant. The purpose of texchology is to improve productivity and/or enable things that were not previously possible.
The most energy-efficient form of agriculture is hoe culture. But that leads to unremitting human drudgery and poverty.
Bucky Fuller used to say that problems such as poverty and hunger could be solved by freedom, education and technology, but the politcians always screw things up.
Witness the ‘war on poverty’ started by politicians in the 1960s.
I’m pretty grateful it’s Apple doing this with the customer at heart rather than someone else who has other agendas.
What I love the most is how it’s clear nobody here bothered to watch the video.
He is not “Blaming” Apple for anything. He is making a point for having American manufacturing jobs HERE in America rather than in China.
Yeah, what a wacko. (rolls eyes)
Good job with the brainless twist though from TeabagDailyNews here though.
“nobody here bothered to watch the video.
He is not “Blaming” Apple for anything.”
this sounds like he’s not blaming apple? ” this new device, which is now probably responsible for eliminating thousands of American jobs. Now Borders is closing stores because, why do you need to go to Borders anymore? ”
sound like he’s directly blaming apple WITHOUT mentioning apple brings in billions in foreign sales the helps keep the U.S afloat.
Aw, I thought he was gonna bash the white iPhone. That would have been much more exciting. Darn.
Whatta prick. American jobs were sunk starting back in the 80’s. I’ve heard it was the unions that killed them. Although, I’m sure outsourcing jobs to foreign countries for cheaper labor costs didn’t help much, either. At least Apple is hiring employees for their retail stores. All companies could be putting more effort into local hiring, but Wall Street would jump stink on a company if labor costs drove down profit margins.
You can’t stop progress, if may kill jobs on one area but it creates some in others. China, Japan, Korea and the Apple Stores.
@ed
Exactly right. I’ll reiterate that: his mistake was mentioning a particular device. The takeaway isn’t that “he doesn’t get it,” it’s that technology does what humans used to do, and will continue to do so to a more pronounced and profound degree in the future. And that’s something well worth lamenting. He might has well have bemoaned our use of drones in Afghanistan.
. . . and the buggy and whip makers were pushed out of jobs because of the automobile; wire makers have been pushed out of jobs because of cell phones and wireless; radio makers saw a decrease of users because of TV; CRT makers lost jobs to flat screen makers; and on and on and on . . .
… and, I presume based on everyone’s sage comments here, the [insert-job-title-here] gets a job at the Apple Store? That’s what I call progress!
Actually, like all politicians, he was paid to say what he said. Guessing there was a big, fat “contribution” from both media retailers and print media providers coincident with the paid for performance. Nothing new to see here, nothing else going on. Print media didn’t die, it evolved; for the jobs caught in the middle, adapt or die.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard… There are more popular e-book readers for reading than the iPad… something called the Kindle…There’s also a lot more jobs lost from other technology apart from this… This Jesse Jackson Jr. is a nobody with a famous father, just trying to bring up an issue because his father’s spoon feeding him every political endeavor without having any REAL purpose for politics
Here we have the single most innovative and ‘progressive’ company in the USA and we care what this TechTard politician is moaning about? Where is this guy’s perspective?!
HEY JESSE! Go moan at The Corporate Oligarchy who are busily driving the USA into the next MEDIEVAL AGE! Leave the most conscientious and best job generating company in the USA the frack ALONE. Take a long stare into the psychopathic eyes of the REAL biznizz bozoids of the USA! Either that or STFU until you know what you’re talking about.
Great. A new term just for Jesse Jackson Jr:
PoliTechTard
You are the “tard”. Use your great internet skills and actually listen to his speech. Unlike you obviously, he is concerned that tech jobs are being sent overseas. He was not only speaking only about Apple but used it as an example of the entire industry. Try not to be so simplistic and insulting. The internet does have the ability to distort news by relying on out of context quotes and soundbites. It is up to readers to go to the source to get the whole story.
Dear anonymous coward @gkent:
Apple is NOT an example of the entire industry! Apple is an EXCEPTION to the entire industry, as is obvious to anyone with actual industry knowledge! That make YOU at TechTard! YES Jacson WAS simplistic! YES he WAS insulting because I know first-hand how screwed up biznizz is in the USA, and how comparatively screwed up Apple is NOT!
(I will caveat how incredibly detrimental it is for Apple to throw money at Red China, who in 2007 declared a “Cyber-War” against the USA and who consistently spend the money we send them to BUILD UP THEIR MILITARY!!!)
Meanwhile, YES I agree with you that it is extremely rare for people to read and watch source material. It’s called homework. The dummies of the world avoid it at all costs.
Did you see his speech or are you just regurgitating an out of context quote from another “teaparty” website? His speech was focused on the loss of jobs due to the outsourcing of tech jobs to other countries. He wants American companies to create jobs in the U.S. He is not against the iPad, he is against the high unemployment rate in the US and the loss of production to other countries. You may not support his ideas but at least report them accurately and intelligently.
Here’s an intelligent point and question:
Point: Capitalism demands the highest profit for the best product at the cheapest price. This means there is extremely high pressure on the US to LOWER WAGES. Otherwise manufacturing jobs go overseas.
Question: How do we bring manufacturing jobs (as part of overall production costs) back to the US without lowering wages?
Whatever the answer: NO WAY should the US be supporting Red China with ANY of our money. This is a sick disease of our era that is ALREADY biting US in the ass. Red China uses our own money to destroy US. Watch and learn kids.
Have fun at WalMart et al. Buying cheap these days = paying cheap overseas labor.
While you are right about the Walmart problem and Bubba’s choice of cheap over quality and local production, you are wrong that “Capitalism demands the highest profit for the best product at the cheapest price.” Capitalism is merely the the economic/political system based on private ownership. It’s capitalisme sauvagethat puts profit above every other consideration, and abhors any regulation or oversight. A true, rational capitalist recognizes lower profits can be a better long term strategy, and that there may be other goals that are just as — if not more — important in the long term.
“NO WAY should the US be supporting Red China with ANY of our money”
Uhh…..this is an Apple site. They make their money off cheap Chinese manufacturing.
“Question: How do we bring manufacturing jobs (as part of overall production costs) back to the US without lowering wages?”
Simple. Repeal the Corporate and Individual Income Tax Acts.
Borders closed all its UK stores before the iPad was introduced. Sounds like poor management.
Fewer physical books, magazines & newspapers = less paper = more trees. People ought to receive carbon credits for buying iPads. Lots of them.
Notice no-one here of any political stripe defends Jackson. With good reason. The man has a history of extorting “donations” from companies in exchange for not calling them racist or some other bad thing. This is not the first time he’s tried it with Apple and the company has shrugged as he carries out his threats.
It sounds like an opinion that could easily be changed with some lobby money.
headline and article are misleading and disingenuous. junior was promoting a radical technological shift in education and some idealistic equal rights of education, technology, in this case the ipad, is just the medium to delliver the idealistic goal. the impact on jobs is taken out of context. he is complaining that the congress has not focused on job creation (except jobs funded by the govt and tax dollars). he nailed that as well as any republican or tea bagger.
i’m closer to a tea bagger than a socialist, so i found his comments refreshing to some extent for a chicago democrat. then i realized that he is better than his dad in getting you to believe something that is going to hurt you will actually feel good. cum laude from NC A&T majoring is reality distortion.
the real agenda here, if you watch his video, is more govt investment in education. creation of more public sector jobs. this helps solve the high unemployment rate. the problem is this tactic is not sustainable unless you believe the private sector kicks in and relieves the govt. this is where you have to decide which side of the aisle you want to believe.
Jesse Jackson, Jr. and GW Bush are both living proof that stupidity can be inherited.
You’re just too clueless to understand he’s talking about the “technology” not “his” iPad.
I just wonder if you are too clueless to understand that, in that respect, he is correct.
It’s not like he was up there saying we need to protest against Apple for destroying American jobs. He used the iPad to make a point about an industry shift toward electronic reading that will result in a loss of American jobs while China benefits by producing the devices we’ll come to rely on for everyday needs.
Hell, a month ago he was lambasted after suggesting all students might someday benefit from having an iPad for schoolwork. MDN and RealClearPolitics.com would have us believe he’s now done a 180 with their misleading headlines that took his point completely out of context.
I happened to believe, Mr. Speaker, that at some point in time the American labor movement, which is now probably responsible for eliminating millions of American jobs, will eventually disband, take those $10/hr jobs that are available and start America back on the road to prosperity.
Prosperity for whom? That $10/hr jobs brings in $18.4K per year. After taking out 10% (for taxes, retirement, health & life insurance, etc), and ($400 groceries, $800 rent, $100 car+insurance) per month, that leaves $80 “disposable income” for things like utilities, gas, clothes, laundry, TV. When the middle and lower middle class have no disposable income, they don’t purchase goods. Since our ‘prosperity’ is predicated on consumer purchasing, no one wins when the only jobs have salaries that low.
Meanwhile the typical CEO has had an average 27% raise over the past 2 years.
Both companies were hurting long before iPad. Amazon’s prices and convience had taken a serious bite out of their sales. The arrival of the Nook, Nook app for iPhone and iPad have actually given them back a fighting chance.
So glad to see MDN / Steve Jack got a story that would generate a gusher of hits / comments.
I don’t often agree with Communist like Jackson, but many companies like Apple out sourcing jobs to Communist countries does hurt people here in the USA.
Communist Jackson? No. Technology illiterate Jackson? Yes. Apple outsourcing manufacturing to the WRONG country? Yes. Red China are a dedicated enemy of the USA. We know it. We still buy their cheap labor made stuff. That’s OUR fault.
Communists, Progressive, Liberal, same thing, different label used by different people.
Here’s a bit of insight:
1) Publishing is NOT an industry hurt by electronic books. Publishing continues on as ever and benefits from LOWER PRICES for books thanks to cutting out the cost of printing.
2) PRINTING is an industry hurt by electronic books. Printing has been in decline for 3 decades because of computers in general.
3) Brick and mortar retail is an industry hurt by electronic books and electronic sales in general. That’s been going on since 1995 when the web went public.
4) The one retail, brick and mortar book store that continues on is the one that EMBRACED electronic publishing. They are Barnes and Noble. They created (with help) and sell an award winning electronic book reader: The Nook. Borders, much as I loved them, got into electronic books too late with cruddy reading devices.
5) Those publishing companies that do not embrace electronic publishing are the ones that suffer and disappear.
6) Printing = Paper = Trees = loss of carbon uptake on earth. Therefore, keeping the trees is a GOOD THING, not bad. The more carbon update on the planet, the less Greenhouse Effect (which is the source name of the phenomenon), AND the less reliance of foreign unrenewable energy sources. That’s one reason why we’ve been working to reduce paper use for the last 3 decades.
RIght — living trees are great!
Unfortunately, Barnes & Noble may not be doing as well as you think:
Mar 9, 2011: Shares in Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) have plummeted 37% since mid-February. Now it appears that no one is interested in acquiring BKS after the nation’s largest book seller put itself up for sale last year.
Last month, Barnes & Noble nuked its dividend in an effort to improve “financial flexibility” and make itself more attractive to a potential acquirer. Now Barnes & Noble investors are left with no dividend and no potential buyers. That leaves little to prop up its sagging stock price.
And also unfortunately, many of the college textbook publishers are pricing their texts too high. That electronic book with imbedded DRM can’t be resold. Students think they’re getting a bargain without realizing that the publishers are gleeful over killing the used book market.
FRACK DRM. I am wholeheartedly in favor of stripping DRM out of EVERYTHING. I consider DRM to be a criminal act on the part of companies. Therefore, if it doesn’t already exist, let’s create a simple utility for removing DRM from ALL ebook formats.
What is DRM good for? Destroying the reputation of the company that infects it into their products. DRM is a form of what I call Marketing Moron Disease. It treats customers as criminals. Full force retaliation by customers is required.
Marketing Mavens respect their customers and enhance the reputations and success of their companies. Marketing Mavens abhor DRM. Want a great example? TidBITS Publishing.
I wish all the political fanatics would leave and continue their debate elsewhere. Get a room!
And, of course, MDN continues to pour gasoline on the fire.
What- no Kardashian news today?….
Senator failed to mention one thing, iPad created tens of thousands of “jobs” for developers and writers alike who had no capital and publishers who would accept to publish their work by giving them essentially FREE publishing platform with almost 160 million potential customers across the globe, FREE Publishing by hosting their material for FREE. Someone might say, they get 30% cut, yes but AFTER you make money and AFTER they blessed your ass with free advertising and publishing and hosting that you could only dream of… In matter of fact Apple created FREEDOM from job and encouraged Entrepreneurship by giving someone the opportunity to start an app or ebook business and scale it up should he/she choose to and indirectly created millions of jobs. Look at the guys that created Angry Birds, they started out as 2 men company and they keep hiring employees, would any of this happen if it wasn’t for iPhone and iPad? I think NOT. Food for thought senator!
Four pages easy on this one. lol
We wouldn’t even have representatives in government to make statements like these if we didn’t allow taxation to take from those who succeed in order to give to the unsuccessful.
We end up with a system that rewards people to stick with status quo a d penalizes those who diligently innovate. We razed a generation who believe they are entitled to sit around, play video games, and party and the government ought to sustain it. How sad.
Will we as the United States ever stand up again and respect one another and honor true principles that allow people to dream and prosper instead of bringing enslavement and shackeling the spirit that founded the greatest nation ever?
Check your history books Rev Jackson. As a Chicago man you should know that in the 19th century Chicago changed America. The railroads heading West and South from Chicago filled orders for Sears & Roebuck who put hard working craftsmen out of work all across America. Instead of paying a local carpenter to make you some kitchen chairs, the Railroads brought Chicago made products for a fraction of the cost. Wal*Mart does it today. Its progress..
No, just another moron period.
Some books I’d prefer to have on an iPad – particularly reference books. But others I’ll still want to hold in my hand and feel the pages between my fingers. There’s something special about having shelves filled with your most loved books that will never disappear.
I think its inevitable that every physical book sold in the future will come, for an additional fee, with an a digital copy bundled, downloaded from store X, Y or Z.
Poorly run companies ultimately fail, as is the case with Borders, but technology isn’t to blame here.
And to try before you buy and everything else you have the local library.
I don’t understand how this is news? Thanks fir more political fodder MDN. Mac news is NOT whenever someone mentions Apple or it’s products.
Yes, MDN frequently pokes a stick into the political hornet’s nest. It gets attention and site hits when one dumbass thug beats up on another dumbass thug. IMHO it’s a total waste of time and concern. Good luck getting a dumbass thug to increase their intelligence quotient or insight.
However, anything related to Apple is indeed news here and fair game for commentary by MDN and readers.
i am sure apple is responsible for slavery as well. What a moron. Mr. Jackson , Unions are to blame.
Just like the flipcharts put the blackboard and chalk manufacturers out of jobs. Life and technology are changing at the speed of light. For the last 15 years or so, Rev. Jackson’s voice has been largely irrelevant to the African-American community.
But … take a high profile liberal making some assinine
This guy would have stood up in Congress in 1905, and would have claimed Henry Ford destroyed millions of jobs in the horse and buggy industry by creating the car.
Borders hasn’t recorded a profit since 2006.
Rep. Jackson’s iPad bashing, given his initial iPad comments, just makes me want to shake my head.
iPads are affecting my industry (printing) tremendously. Eventually I’ll have to change professions, so what… that’s progress. Me slinging mud on Apple does no good.
Holding back true progress or making inane negative comments does Jackson’s constituents a disservice.
Yeah, OK Whatever Rev. Jackson.
I love Apple products and, as long as there are enough of us around to keep Apple R&D going, that’s all that matters to me. It does not impress me when a politician or actress or pundit owns an Apple product. In fact, I would rather not have Apple products associated with a fairly large cross section of the U.S. But that’s life. You have to take the bad with the good.
Wow. Talk about coincidence. This week, the movie “Atlas Shrugged” premiered, and in the movie the Federal Government prevents companies from growing and innovating in order to prevent “economic unbalance.” And from the mouth of this politician….
Jeese Jackons Jr. should go back to the cotton field!!
Jesse Jackson Jr. should go back to cotton field!!
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. is a horse’s ass.
There’s no point in pursuing this further. The fact that his opinion was even reported is ludicrous.
If this even has the remotest hint of truth I hope Apple is forking on iGovernment! Maybe it would put politicians out of work…
It’s both the friggin’ Republican and Democratic politicians that were to be blamed for the sorry state of affair in American decadence. It is not far-fetched to say that the American political system in its present form is very corrupt. Democracy is okay but it was the wrong people who were at the apex of the political pyramid that screwed up everything. Political corruption is legally recognized in the United States: lobbying to fill the pockets of politicians is the worst form of crime against the American citizens. Lobbying is akin to the indulgence system in the papal hierarchy during the height of the Roman Catholic papal power. It stinks and it corrupts.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not against any religion or political system. These are powerful instruments that can be easily abused by the wrong type of people. Absolute power corrupts.
Stupid groid has his head up his lib dem anal cavity
Apple pays a ton of employees, more every year.
Apple creates huge traffic in malls.
Apple pays premium dollars for select real estate.
Apple creates many jobs making accessories for their products.
Apple generates big time sales tax revenue.
Apple is growing and leading an industry.
Jessie Jr. is pretty much retarded.
We need to hear the speech in context in order to understand the drift of the Senator’s point. He is not against the iPad per se. He is using the iPad to illustrate the point that times are changing, and what is Congress doing to create more jobs, or to protect existing ones! Steve Jobs does well in creating iPad (his point), but China is producing it and benefitting from it! So what policies would Congress create to ensure Americans are looked after? In that light, that is a good speech!
Please don’t screw up the opportunity for all the intellectually lazy to post diatribes against ‘libs’ and politicians by using facts!
Jackson is absolutely right…there ought to be an outdated business model protection subsidy implemented immediately…this should be overseen by the OBM czar.
Sent from my iPad.
well, he is still living in traditional life. we are in 21st. he forgot something that ipad could create new job as well. not just selling fscking device but creating specific type of job by ipad. if you don’t know what I am talking, you are way behind in modern life.
So now the little boy that runs MDN out of his Mommy’s basement has stooped to inflammatory posts just to troll in the vitriol.
It was too obvious when it was in the “take”. He has figured out how to spew his hatred anonymously, while sitting back and laughing at those he despises.
I think Dvorak would agree with JJ 3rd. That doesn’t mean the are right. The economic issues that are killing the dead tree publishing industry existed long before iPad or even Apple was around.
one word…….idiot.
So the anti-Apple onslaught continues. I guess the thought is that even the insignificant mud slingers can weight to the overall effort.
Done with MDN. The fish in the comment pool need to stagnate
A man who has lived beyond his time sadly. Borders owned shops this side of the pond were closing through lack of demand before the iPad ever came onto the market, the simple fact is that their market has been declining for many years and being a Luddite is the last thing that is going to some them long term. The only hope of the West generally is to create more companies like Apple who can offer something that Asian companies cannot and create and preserve jobs. Unfortunately it is the sad conservatives and yesterday’s men like Jackson who will likely obstruct that lifeline.
If you watch this video, there is nothing that Jackson says that is not true. We are entering a new era of publishing and old world methods are vanishing. 20th century methods of distribution are vanishing. He is not wrong about that. Those jobs are gone and they will never come back. What he is wrong about is when he says that instead of being obsessed with debt and deficit that Congress should be doing something to protect those jobs. He is incredibly wrong there. Getting rid of debt and deficits will ensure a stable economy capable of creating new jobs. He is also wrong when he says 13 million unemployed Americans are counting on Congress to do something. Most of us unemployed folks are counting on Congress to do absolutely nothing, except address that deficit and that debt. As far as finding work, we will fend for ourselves.
What an ass
Stupid, new-fangled cars. It put all those horse-and-buggy drivers out of business…
Chinese workers only gets 5% of the wholesaler price for making an iPad, which is:
5% x $300 = $15.00 (16G wifi IPad) each.
Apple robbed $150.00 each iPad, then they pay tax to feed some people knows nothing about economic and maths….e.g. Jesse Jackson Jr.
The problem is our workers won’t be able to make any working iPad even we pay them $100 each. too many Jesse Jacksons Jr…in states…