Biden touts Steve Jobs’ ‘Think Different’ motto

“Vice President Joe Biden’s new pitch for why America will always beat China leads right back to China,” Edward-Isaac Dovere reports for Politico.

“Picking up President Barack Obama’s praise of Steve Jobs in the State of the Union, Biden used a jobs speech in Iowa this week to tout the Apple founder’s ‘Think Different’ motto,” Dovere reports. “The vice president said the slogan encapsulates the root of America’s economic superiority over China: an environment that fosters the free exchange of ideas and creativity. And, as a result, produces wealth.”

Dovere writes, “Left out was the growing criticism of Jobs for moving Apple’s manufacturing to allegedly exploitative companies in China — and for telling Obama directly that he had no plans to bring any of that work back home.”

MacDailyNews Take: Blah, blah, blah; more vapid talking points. We get it: “Apple is bad because they assemble their products in China.” It isn’t working. It’s past time for FUD, Inc. to concoct some new bullshit about Apple.

Dovere writes, “Biden sketched out his national spirit theory of economics on a trip meant to promote American manufacturing: The reason China, with all its people and all its engineers, is still stealing U.S. intellectual property and trade secrets is ‘because they’re not innovative,’ he said… His office declined to comment on the juxtaposition of his praise of Jobs and Apple’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take:
514,000 U.S. jobs created thanks to Apple Inc. – March 2, 2012
Launched by Apple, ‘App Economy’ has created 466,000 jobs in the U.S. alone since 2008 – February 7, 2012
Apple and the American economy – January 24, 2012
Apple’s real market value: How many U.S. jobs it creates – November 21, 2011
iOS developer salaries skyrocket – November 9, 2011
How many U.S. jobs has Apple’s iPod created? – July 8, 2011

ABC News ‘Nightline’ airs report on Foxconn factories (with video) – February 22, 2012
Apple supplier Foxconn again lifts pay for China workers; 16-25 percent increase – February 17, 2012
FLA President: Foxconn factories ‘first-class; way, way above average’ – February 15, 2012
Apple CEO Tim Cook calls New York Times supplier report ‘patently false and offensive’ – January 27, 2012

[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]

87 Comments

  1. Do’you think that even if you put an Apple assembly line in the poorest part of Detroit & paid them minimum wage, that you’d get people to work. I don’t think so. People have other ways of making much more money with get better hand outs. That’s just one of the reasons & there’s plenty more.

      1. Pimps and drug dealers in the poorest parts of Detroit make a damn good living.

        Thank God for free enterprise. The most profitable, cutting edge of Capitalism right there in the poorest neighbourhoods. Who needs unions?

        1. Those at the top of the criminal food chain make good money; those at the bottom actually make less than minimum wage.

          So why do they do it? Because there is the chance they might move up the chain and make more some day.

          Which is more than you can say for a lot of corporate America.

        2. Why would you ever want to bring a manufacturing job to the US?? The ENVIRO-NAZI-LIBTARDS-UNION-ECONOMY-DESTROYERS would just absolutely make doing any business in the US impossible.

          On purpose to collapse our system and way of life. Wake up people.

          The usual lemmings that post here will try to pretend it’s not happening but anyone who has grown up in this country that does think different and doesn’t drink the zombie Kool Aid knows what’s happening. Vote them out this November.

        3. This is exceptionally delusional, even for the MDN knuckle-draggers!

          Interestingly, the sum of your keystrokes is MORE than the meaning conveyed: it adds up to so little, one might think you were being clever, or artistic…but then, your main mode of communication may well be moo….

    1. We recently learned that the iPhone 4S is built almost entirely by hand in China, and we’ve all seen pictures of the “line” presenting shower-capped young women in long, straight rows, fixated intently on the assembly process before them.

      If anyone in this country thinks that young American workers will EVER consent to that kind of discipline and mind-bending work again, he’s crazy. No parent is raising his or her child today to become part of that type of manufacturing process. Ain’t ever gonna’ happen, not again.

      Each and every one of our high school and college graduates is going to be a philosopher, a scientist, a writer, an entrepreneur, a stock broker, a musician, a doctor, a teacher, a poet, an architect, or the like. No one is being prepped for the “drudgery” of manual labor and repetitive manufacturing in general. NO ONE.

      Once upon a time we were perfectly content with making things (“BORING!”) in America, from steel to clothing to nicknacks of all kinds . . . but no more. We are a SERVICE ECONOMY NOW, with clean hands and sanitizers all ’round. We’ll never dirty our hands or bend our backs to physical, menial, manufacturing labor again. (Hence the unstoppable rise of the Far East.) Good luck, USA.

      1. That may be true in the macro, but the micro. There are PLENTY of individuals who would LOVE to sit and assemble. It is still happening every day in America. It’s just not what it once was. I want people to quit using the “Americans won’t do that kind of work” excuse. It’s bullshit. A good chunk of American populace is praying right now that they find a job like that.

        1. I’m with you Spark.
          I believe the term is used out of guilt.
          One more thing wrong with America and why they believe it should change.

        2. When times have been tough I’ve fallen back on factory work. Not what I want to do, but had to. Yet a lot of folks I met there liked the boring work. Check your brain at the door, do what you’re told for your shift, go home, and leave work behind. Complete work/home separation. A lot of professional jobs, you wind up taking your job home with you.

      2. I concur, I just finished reading an article posted at Yahoo that wa from a few manufacturing company presidents.
        They were saying that there are currently over 600,000 vacancies in high paying manufacturing (factory) work going unfilled in the US.
        The reason they all say is that the younger generation is not interested in this kind of work.
        They see it as boring. Also they say that the younger generation is only convinced that after being told that the only way to succeed is to go to collage.
        Heck these jobs are paying 40 to a hundred grand after a few years as an apprentice. When I was a kid I would have taken one.

      3. You’re right unfortunately. We can’t even get these teenagers to put together a low quality fast food hamburger correctly on a consistent basis. And people want them putting together their iPhones?!

        I’m not so sure that we are a service economy now though – service has gotten pretty damn bad here.

        I fear for the future of our republic.

    2. “The reason China, with all its people and all its engineers, is still stealing U.S. intellectual property and trade secrets” —

      http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=20399

      China ? Samsung is Korean… FUD or not… it isn’t just China.

      A leaked Samsung Securities document reveals that Apple is launching a new 7-inch product in 3Q12 temporarily called the iPad mini, according OLED-Display.

      The document belonging to Samsung’s investment bank was obtained from an ‘anonymous user’ and discusses the state of AMOLED in the industry.

      Following the success of its iPad 1 and iPad 2, which have together achieved sales of 55m units, Apple plans in 1Q12 to launch the iPad 3 and in 3Q12 a new 7-inch product temporarily referred to as the iPad mini. The company is reportedly aiming to sell more than 100m iPads in 2012, and plans to use higher resolution IPS panels in the iPad 3 – Sharp is trying to product panels for iPads at its 8GB lab, hoping to develop and mass product IGZO LCD panels for the iPad 3. That said, Apple may yet decide to use flexible panels in its next iPad models, if panel makers (such as SMD) can mass produce flexible AMOLED panels and improve resolution. SMD could produce only 54m AMOLED panels per year, even if ti 5.5G line were fully used for tablet PC production.

      The report also notes that the price of AMOLED panels for the 9.7-inch iPad are still too high.

      A 4.3-inch OCTA panel is priced at USD 50-55 while the price of a 7.7-inch Galaxy Tab panel (three times larger than that for a Galaxy S2) is estimated at around USD 150-170 — higher than the USD 127 of an iPad 2 IPS panel and touch-screen module combined. The iPad 3 will incorporate a new high-resolution TFT-LCD technology, making its display more expensive than a iPad 2 IPS panel, but close to the estimated price of a Galaxy Tab 7.7 panel. That said, if Apple were to use AMOLED panels in its 9.7-inch iPad, the estimated cost would be around USD 250-290 per unit, making their inclusion unlikely in the foreseeable future as a product margin exceeding USD 100 would be sacrificed.

      This appears to corroborate recent reports that Apple is working on a 7.85 (8-inch) tablet that will go into production in Q3 and launch by Q4.

    1. Uh… methinks you’re misunderstanding this article. Biden said a good thing. He used “think different” in a positive light to describe America’s economic edge over China, crediting Steve Jobs for it. It was the writer of the article who drags it down by bringing up all the negative stuff about Apple and exploitive working conditions in China.

      1. Uh…methinks you’re misunderstanding this post. I said ‘sometimes’. I’ve followed Joe Biden since the late 70s, when I saw him at the DC train depot (I was a teenager, he had his real hair….).
        I personally like the guy, but politically can’t stand him. He is a good team player and a useless Vice President. He gets away with saying things that would sink a Republican, regardless of the intent.
        So, hope this helps to clear your thinking up.

  2. Nine days until it all comes crashing down:

    “I’ve got videos… This election we’re going to vet him.” – Andrew Breitbart, February, 10, 2012

    “What did Breitbart have on Barak Obama? He planned to release a series of tapes recorded during the president’s Harvard days showing Obama in an extremely negative light. Now, a friend of the late Breitbart plans to release the tapes in less than two weeks.”

    http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/308200/20120302/andrew-breitbart-tapes-obama-revealed.htm

      1. Yeah, cause the government assassins would shoot him in the head instead of taking advantage of a known medical condition. You need to watch shows like NCIS to learn how this stuff works.

        1. Look. I know this is reeeaaally hard for you Right wingers to understand, but you lost in 2008 because the majority of American voters thought your party was heading into whackjobland with no chance of pulling back. All this Birther nonsense does is confirm that the majority of American voters in 2008 were quite correct.

          So please, keep this pretend Cold War Enemy Within crap up. Nothing helps destroy your arguments better than everyone pointing and laughing at you.

          And boy, there’s a lot of people laughing.

    1. You are on to something. This is extremely suspicious.

      Andrew was a hero and patriot and an obstacle to Maobama getting re-elected.

      One more layer of filth around Maobama.

      1. Man, stupid and crazy really are the GOP colors this year!

        You guys keep making up up more crap to account for how your made-up crap didn’t work last time, but “this time, for sure!” You really are a self-inflating lunatic fringe, and I say go for it! The more you self-abusing noodle-spines sound off in detail about the SO-not-real crazyworld you are determined to make, the more of the American electorate wants to have nothing to do with you.

        Your ignorant psychobabble is the best inoculation possible against “modern conservatism” being taken seriously by anyone capable of dressing themselves.

        Oh, and thanks!

  3. I really wish our government would think different. It has become almost seized with both parties fight against each other. If they could “think different” and run their respective budgets like an average American’s budget and live with the “same” rules we have to live by.
    Pompous Bastards!

  4. The US is on a path to self-destruction. China is on the upswing. They value education. They turn out more engineers in a week than the US turns out in a year. In a Post War world (WW II) the US used to say that Japan would never amount to anything because they could not innovate. …. They seem to be doing fine now. Unless the US changes it’s attitude towards financing education and support for teachers, you will see the end of it’s supremacy in our lifetimes.

    1. All good things must end, so new things begin. Steve Jobs called it life’s “great change agent”. Countries come…countries go. Same with People and all levels of society. “The Good Old Days” are a myth. Every age has sucked for some reason or another. Yet, life goes on and on and on. Just ask the dinosaurs.

    2. Move to China Swing Idiot. The union teachers are all about the money for themselves and could care less about the kids. It’s pure communist propaganda going on in the public schools now.

      1. Well. You make a very persuasive argument in favour of disbanding the unions.
        No, wait. That’s no argument at all. It’s just a silly rant. I think you’ve proven my point that the school system needs significantly more money if you are the product of the system.

        1. ???? Once again non-sense seems to proliferate in this forum. ‘Sad, really. Most of the folks I speak to on a day to day basis are well educated and thoughtful folks. I have always welcomed differing opinions as a basis for discussion and mutual understanding. But name-calling gets no one anywhere.

        2. Since when does being critical become anti-anything? What’s happened to a free exchange of ideas without abuse or insults. I dislike being called an idiot. It seems as if the insults and abuse take the place of intelligent discourse when politics or religion are broached.

        3. I see. And only your particular brand of ‘conservatism’ has the only possible answer? What about mine? I actually consider myself a conservative. This is why it’s far more important to talk than to chuck insults. I have discovered over time that I can learn from anyone, even folks I disagree with. There was a time when political discourse was an honoured past-time.

    1. Yeah, these are ‘paleo-cons’ up in here, knee-jerk rabid anti-Obama types. “Neocons” refers to a specific group of so-called intellectuals who were/are not interested in anything other than starting foreign wars through puppet-mastering Republican politicians. Certainly if Romney were to win there would be neocons pulling the strings as he invades Iran.

  5. There is no way manufacturing jobs like what apple does are coming to the united states (or back to). I dont think the united states ever had anything close to what they can do in china, nor could it. Ever.

      1. Unfortunately, TI is moving a lot of their manufacturing to China and the Philippines as well. They do still do manufacturing here as well though (I believe it was in ’09 when they built a new fab in Texas).

        I don’t think that manufacturing jobs will ever come back to the US in large numbers. The economics of it just won’t work.

  6. We in America have moved past manufacturing goods. We’ve evolved. Why go backwards? We design, create, market, and manage. Being manufacturing to the US is pushing America int he wrong direction. Fix education and in 50 years the country will change.

    1. Exactly. Unfortunately our failing education system is leaving the majority of people unable to do the jobs in our “new” economy, and now there is an education gap that is creating the conversation about bringing manufacturing jobs back.

      There is no shortage of jobs in the “new” economy, but there is a shortage of qualified people to do them.

      Everyone SHOULD be screaming at the top of their lungs about fixing our education system, rather than even broaching the subject of large scale manufacturing coming back and taking us back to the beginning of the industrial age.

      1. Fix it? No. They will just throw more money at it.
        To fix it, you have to go back to the family, and unfortunately, the same people that run Big Education are the same ones that bear responsibility for decimating that important piece of the puzzle.

        1. Oh, and I wasn’t implying that everyone should be screaming for the government to fix it – just that this should likely be the most important issue on everyone’s mind, and they should be focused on getting the education system back on track. And like you said, it starts at home and in the local communities.

  7. Speaking of Obama, I challenge anyone with basic computer knowledge to go the official White House web site and download the PDF of the Obama’s birth certificate.

    Open it in Adobe Illustrator and see for yourself that it is a forged document.

    The man should be impeached for this fraud.

  8. Who are our government officials kidding? I am sure there are many innovative people in China – look at the Olympic stuff & what some of their artists are doing. I am ashamed of our leaders when they talk like this. It’s a country of 1.2 billion. I hope Mr. Biden does something innovative someday – oh, but he’s in politics not business.

  9. Your president is a quack and anything he says now to try to praise Jobs is a crackhead bullshatted comment he was probably forced to say, either by his momma or whoever. He was the same grease ball who was saying underhanded crap about iPods and iPads etc. You can still find youtube videos of him bashing Apple gadgets.

  10. What a “good laugh”! Come on folks: USA is beaten by itself and “its way of life” since years already and never will crawl back in any sane way anymore. Too much will for making easy profits on world’s back. No care for anything else than one’s own “economy” and hegemony. China could do everything cheaper, and we could buy everything for cheaper… But now Dependance is sealed. The trap has done it!

  11. The vice president said the slogan encapsulates the root of America’s economic superiority over China

    Capitalism (the real kind, versus our current criminal, Corporate Socialism, self-destructive version)
    = competition = incentive = innovation = Apple.

    Socialism (aka ‘communism’, which consistently decays into totalitarianism)
    = stagnation = disincentive = anti-innovation = China.

    Stupid & Evil = ReTardlicans
    Stupid & Lazy = DemoCraps = Biden

    No party worth my vote. The idiotic 1 dimensional political system lives on. 😯

    1. The system the Western world is operating under right now isn’t capitalism, but it’s certainly not social either. Consumerism is the mantra. Everything designed to be instantly disposable, and all efforts concentrated on the short term. That isn’t Capitalism as it’s supposed to be.

      Apple stand out because of their constant investment in the future. They don’t care about the immediate, they care about what will happen in 10 years, 20 years, even further afield. If the rest of the economy could remember how to operate like that the US and by extension all the major economies would be far healthier.

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