The Apple of Technology's Eye

Rather than focus on the broad topic of general technology, I thought I would focus this post on Apple and their business strategies and product innovations. Apple has for many years now been regarded as the "trendy" computer manufacturer, exclusive because of high prices and highly-desired because of stylish product designs, all of which utilize visual-based Macintosh operating systems. I remember my good friend's father once referred to Macbooks as the computers for pseudo-intellectuals, as you will no doubt see several aspiring (albeit talent-lacking) writers typing away on them in nearly every Starbucks in the Western hemisphere. Lately, however, this whole vision of Apple has gradually begun to change. Because of immense cash reserves and large quarterly profits, Apple has been able to secure better wholesale deals on better parts for their products, enabling them to lower prices and compete more effectively with PC rivals. I believe that the genius idea of planned obsolescence is one of the hallmark business strategies of Apple, as it is no coincidence that at least once per year, almost every product in Apple's lineup gets stylistic makeovers and technological upgrades. This results in further consumer attraction to Apple as every upgrade causes people to think "Oh my God I need this now!!!" Overall, when analyzed closely, Apple's business plans seem fairly simple and transparent, in that they seem to rely mainly on a combination of product quality and brand reputation. In my opinion, the only question left to ask from here is, "what's next?"

Response to articles on Greece's Economic Crisis

Until reading many of these articles, I hadn't even realized how dire the situation in Greece has become. While I already knew that Greece was in trouble financially, I had no idea about exactly how far their financial woes currently extend. One piece of information I learned about that particularly caught my attention was the animosity resulting from World War II that continues to exist between Greece and Germany today. I was absolutely taken aback by the idea that some Greeks are still so anti-German that they favored rejecting German-led aid over accepting it as the aid packages offered hold a substantial amount of potential from which Greece could benefit. However, probably the most shocking thing I learned from these articles is that the EU had actually considered dropping Greece from their organization. Regardless of the internal turmoil currently occurring in Greece, this move is something I would wholeheartedly oppose. The European Union was founded in 1958 as a political and economic alliance with aims of mutual growth and prosperity. Since its foundation, the EU has since grown and flourished so much that it now consists of 27 member countries and is responsible for generating approximately 20% of global GDP. With such success, I figured that its member countries would have realized that despite the fact that Greece's economic crisis has negatively affected the EU as a whole, they are all still substantially better off than they were pre-EU and all still have potential to benefit further. Furthermore, because Greece is a member of the EU, its fellow union members should all have enough loyalty to Greece to provide support and aid rather than let an entire country fall into bankruptcy and be consumed by the inevitably-ensuing chaos, which could also potentially spread to other parts of the EU and cause further harm. In summary, the point I am making is essentially that in order to maximize the chances of recovery and success, the members of the EU must let old grudges go and stand together to help each other in order to remain strong in such a prosperity-adverse economy.

For Those Who Are Interested In Education Reform...

As a followup to my essay and presentation on education reform, here is a link to an animated video which was paired to a lecture given by Sir Ken Robinson on education and various issues/perceptions related to that topic. If you found my presentation interesting, take a look, it's definitely a worthwhile video.

Hysterism and The Difference Between Sexism and Quality

In response to The Money Illusion's article on Larry Summers and Obama, I would first like to point out that the article primarily reviewed an idea from Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President that should be irrelevant in this particular situation to begin with: gender discrimination/sexism. In the suffering economy that our struggling country currently possesses, an advisor's gender should not even be a consideration in high-level decision making. Rather, decisions should be made using the best information available provided by the best-qualified advisors possible, as this would eliminate the issues addressed by the blog's author towards the end of the article. 

On another note, I found Paul Kruger's article entitled "Hysterisis Begins" to be both thought-provoking and interesting. Kruger provided valuable insight into the effects current economic policies will have on the future. One point Kruger addressed that particularly struck me was the idea that continued failure to expand as well as continued economic austerity policies will reduce future potential for growth and revenue and therefore harm America's battle with debt in the long run.