COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Dear Steve Jobs





How about using your cash to manufacture in the USA?

Hey there. You don't know me but I know a bit about you and have supported your company since I paid $4,000 for an SE-30 in the early 80's. I gave up my Osborne for your computer, and have enjoyed and suffered through everything and every system since then. I estimate to have purchased fifty computers for me and my businesses.

I bought your stock at $5 per share and every model of laptop. I am typing this post on my 17" MacBook Pro.

This weekend, there are a lot of articles about what Apple is going to do with its your cash.

It is said that Apple Computer has $46 Billion in cash and cash equivalents. Its market share keeps expanding and its designs and products are outstanding. It is missing one thing: Made In USA

Apple has made great strides in bringing new technology to its products. You are a great innovator and a political progressive and I understand that you are concerned about social issues. I have a suggestion and a challenge:

Why not develop US factories that can be built on brown fields and be the most efficient users of technology, materials and American labor?


Put state of-the- art manufacturing facilities in Detroit, Philadelphia, Patterson, New Jersey and other US cities.

You could design them so that labor unit costs are minimal while using well paid and well trained American workers. The cost of labor could become irrelevant to the production capacity. You can do it and you should. It would be a great legacy.

There is no charge for the logo change.

Your friend and customer,

Deuce

Here are the Board of Directors:
  • Bill Campbell, Chairman and former CEO, Intuit Corp.

Corporate Headquarters

2632 Marine Way
Mountain View, CA 94043
650-944-6000
  • Millard Drexler, Chairman and CEO, J. Crew
  • Albert Gore Jr., Former Vice President of the United States
Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Ave.
Suite 620 Nashville, TN 37203
Fax: 615-327-1323
Phone: 615-327-2227
  • Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple

Apple

1 Infinite Loop

Cupertino, CA 95014

408.996.1010

  • Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO, Avon Products
Avon Shareholder Relations
Avon Products, Inc.
1345 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10105-0196
(212) 282-5623
individual.investor@avon.com
  • Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D., Chairman, Genentech
Corporate Headquarters
South San Francisco, CA
(800) 626-3553




Please contact the directors and have your friends and associates do the same. Pass this post along. Encourage Apple to make the move.

48 comments:

  1. Hell, the EPA would just find some way to put'em out of business, anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just dropped by this morning for a lurk around. Saw this:
    Rufus said...

    "Every man should own one hot rod Ford before he dies."

    Go to the 1:50 mark. This is what it sounds like in my interior. Nick used to be my tuner.

    This is my ride

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome!

    I just had to click on Junkyard Preachers

    ReplyDelete
  4. More Junkyard Preachers from V.S.'s link Hwy 49

    ReplyDelete
  5. Where is Highway 49? That is about a scenic highway as you'll find anywhere. Whoa!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Back on topic:

    You can expect to see more manufacturing move to China which offers practically free energy, no taxes, and low, low rent.

    Hard to compete with that as too many states and communities already know since they can been competing with one another for decades.

    ReplyDelete
  7. De Crossroads, Whit. Hwy 61 and 49. Robert Johnson made his "pact with the Devil.

    A few miles south of where I live.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, that cross roads...No wonder those women were so tempting!!!

    I knew they were trouble but I couldn't help myself.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Whit, I "think" I-55 might pretty much follow the route of old hwy 49, at least for aways. It takes you down through the middle of Ms all the way to Gulfport.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I knew they were trouble but I couldn't help myself.

    Yeah, know That song.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just woke up.

    Had some coffee and a bagle this morning.

    Tuned into the EB. Listened to Whit's post. Then listened to Mel's dirge and the combination put me back to sleep.

    Now I'm hours behind in the chores.

    Damn.

    (Suggestion: Next Sunday why don't we have some real bible thumping, baptizin hole, alleluia and amen brother gospel music. Or at a minimum some New Orleans funeral procession jazz.)

    .
    .

    ReplyDelete
  12. It takes you down through the middle of Ms all the way to Gulfport.

    Heck, even I've been there, wife used to teach in Gulfport, she showed me the place.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yeah, yeah. The Junkyard dogs over at Vic's place were good but it was the eye candy that made my toe tap.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What was the elephant doing on the Highway 49?

    About 5 mph

    How do you make an elephant fly?

    Start with a 3-foot zipper.

    What did the elephant say when he saw the naked man lying on the ground?

    How can he eat with that thing?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I saw one who I thought T would really like...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Correction, that should be ...the Junkyard Preachers....

    I have no idea which denomination they belong to.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Why did the elephant paint his toe nails red?


    So he could hide in a cherry tree.




    Have you ever seen an elephant in a cherry tree?



    no.













    See. it works!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Assessing what China’s newfound clout means, though, is complicated. While the country is still relatively poor per capita, it has an authoritarian government that is capable of taking decisive action — to stimulate the economy, build new projects and invest in specific industries.

    That, Mr. Lardy at the Peterson Institute said, gives the country unusual power.

    “China is already the primary determiner of the price of virtually every major commodity,” he said. “And the Chinese government can be much more decisive in allocating resources in a way that other governments of this level of per capita income cannot.”

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'll call your Anesthesiologists, and raise you a Caribou Barbie

    Ray Stevens - This one'll make you smile.

    But, keep an eye on Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Good one, Ruf!

    V.S. - Interior sound. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Actually, I kinda thought that interior sound was pretty sweeet, also. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. After hearing that, I realized that I Never Did own a hot rod ford. I just thought I did.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I thought, for sure, that someone would comment on the licence plate.
    :-)


    Viktor

    ReplyDelete
  24. BTW, it takes about 1200 hp to go 0 to 154.47 mph in 8.66 secs.


    Viktor

    ReplyDelete
  25. Were you stationed in Japan, Victor?

    ReplyDelete
  26. I should say, "Okinawa."

    ReplyDelete
  27. Those things could photograph a Golf Ball on a Putting Green from 16 miles up.

    Them's good eyes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. How could we miss the front plate?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Some here think we had a visit from the another one who uses the same name.

    (I don't want to say it.)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Good article, Allen. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  31. The pace of Japan's recovery has slowed, with the economy growing a weaker-than-expected annualized real 0.4 percent in the three months through June on weak consumer and business spending amid the diminishing effects of fiscal stimulus, government data showed Monday.

    ...

    Among other components, public investment decreased a real 3.4 percent.

    Exports rose 5.9 percent on strong demand from Europe, adding to signs that Japanese economic recovery has been mainly sustained by external demand.

    ReplyDelete
  32. In a separate interview with The Washington Post, Petraeus made clear he was not looking to shake up the war strategy pursued by his predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal was forced to resign after he and his aides were quoted in a Rolling Stone article as being dismissive of their civilian bosses.

    With Obama's troop buildup under way and a plan to increase civilian capacity, Petraeus said, "What you have to do is to start turning inputs into output."

    "I didn't sign up for a honeymoon," he said.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Maybe someone ought to comment on Deuce's post. Apple probably saves around $50.00 by assembling a Mac in China.

    I read that it costs them about $6.00 to get an iphone assembled there. How much could they be saving on that? $15.00 or $20.00?

    Their products are "top-end" products, that yield huge profits. Are you telling me that it wouldn't be worth another $50.00 on a $3,000.00 Mac to put the Made in USA label on it? Seems doubtful.

    Don't be surprised if a few "high-profile" companies like Apple do start returning some jobs to the USA. Wages are rising around the world, and the Dollar is very competitively priced.

    Dell's manufacturing costs in Texas are very competitive, and they operate in the "low end.". It was their outsourcing of "support" to India that kicked them in the butt.

    In short, I think you might get your wish. If the EPA doesn't outlaw manufacturing, altogether, anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  34. However, having said all that, Asia is probably a bigger market for them than the US. If it's not, it's surely heading that way.

    3 Billion, or so, potential future customers over there. I doubt they'd want to move "all" of their manufacturing back to the States. Maybe we can get "some" of it.

    ReplyDelete
  35. My pleasure, sam.

    I thought "The Sugar Man" touched all the bases in just about the right way.

    Zuckerman's piece was also an murderous indictment of the Administration of Mr. Obama and his hencemen.

    Finally, I thought Zuckerman validated my claim that you just cannot bank on what you hear and/or see in media these days.

    ReplyDelete
  36. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Foxconn's New China Plant to Produce 200k Phones/Day, Mostly iPhones

    Foxconn is building a new plant in Central China. The plant, to go online next year, will produce 200,000 phones a day and help relieve the company's production shortages. (Source: Xinhua)

    The plant will largely produce Apple iPhones. (Source: Mac Rumors)New factory should help improve employee working conditions

    In its bid to improve the working conditions of its employees, in the wake of a string of suicides, Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry has raised the pay of employees at its Chinese subsidiary Foxconn. Now it's announced more good news for Foxconn employees.

    Foxconn's subsidiary (yes, the subsidiary of the subsidiary) Futaihua Precision Electronics will build a new $100M USD plant in central China's Henan. That plant will employ almost 200,000 workers, will produce 200,000 phones daily, and will yearly produce $13B USD worth of exports. Previously the plant had been rumored based on job postings, but unconfirmed.

    ---

    Iphone Suicides:

    ReplyDelete
  38. The SE-30 was their greatest product ever.
    (for it's time, of course)

    Could probly make them in China for under 100 Bucks...

    ReplyDelete
  39. The vast advancements in technology have introduced many changes in people’s lifestyle. Now, the majority of generation love

    to use advanced software, gadgets, and applications. AOL Inc. is a very renowned name in the telecommunications and worldwide

    known for its quality products and services. download AOL desktop

    gold
    install is one of the incredible innovations of AOL. This software allows the users to use the mailing and browsing

    services at the same platform. In this guide, you are going to get all the details about AOL gold download install and its

    use. Let’s start with the basic system requirements for the AOL Gold software.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hi I’m Steve Max is a professional service provider who is an experienced technician and has more than 5 years of hand on experience. If you are facing any kind of technical glitch in your walmart gift card balance then it’s time that you must definitely consider us. We will help you to solve your query within minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Epson Printer assistance available 24*7. If you are facing any issues in printer you will get expert assistance through Epson Printer helpline number for fixing all kind of printer related issues within seconds.

    Epson printer support | Dell printer support

    ReplyDelete
  42. ConVox Omni-Channel Solution-Deepija Telecom
    Omni--channel contact center centralizes multiple communication platforms
    ConVox Omnichannel Solution enables communication across all popular channels like Voice,
    Chat, Video, Social Media & Email from a single user interface.Omni-channel is Suitable for Incoming & Outgoing Process, IVR Enabled Contact Centers,
    Customer Service Agency, BPO,KPO, Debt Collection, Insurance Marketing, Customer Surveys and Loyalty Programs.
    https://www.deepijatel.com/omnichannel.php
    omni-channel, omni-channel contact center,
    omni-channel communication platform, omni-channel solution, centralized solution
    omni-channel
    ivrs
    ip-pbx
    Call Center Software
    Call Center Solution
    Call Center Solutions

    ReplyDelete