I believe in the balance, and according to the article, the Apple Shareholders are more interested with $$$ then life.
Sorry, I don't see anything in the article that would suggest this. Its about Apple's supply chain; There is nothing about shareholder views, much less comments that would imply that shareholders value money over life.
I don't just think that they were scalpers, I know that for a fact.
One of the people I was waiting with was a Chinese guy, and he wasn't a scalper. He was just a Mac fan, just like me. And he gave me realtime translation of some of the scalper's conversations.
And here's a link to a major newspaper detailing the Asian scalpers.
A cutthroat Asian group has set its crosshairs on the flagship Apple store on Fifth Avenue at 59th -- scoring nearly every iPad 2 it can get its hands since the hot gizmo went on sale last week, to re-peddle at exorbitant prices here and in China.
The illicit, highly orchestrated scheme was in full gear yesterday, with a ringleader doling out massive wads of $100 bills to about five cohorts.
Illicit? How's that? They weren't doing anything illegal.
Also, you said that the scalpers waiting in line had no life. That seems backwards to me. They were doing a job to earn money. Everyone else was waiting in line for the fun of it.
I'm not saying it is a good thing. But let's at least be accurate in our outrage.
Expecting every single entity on this planet to provide all the needs for a balanced existence is naive.
AAPL shareholders should expect Apple Inc. to be focused about profitability of their computer and consumer electronics sales. That's what they do. Apple can't cure AIDS or eliminate the world hunger. Neither can Dell, neither can Amazon, neither can Microsoft.
I will bluntly point out that Apple is collecting donations for the American Red Cross through the largest digital media store on this planet, waiving their 30% cut. It's not like they aren't making an effort to help. Note that they also market Product Red iPods, for AIDS relief.
I laughed at your comment, cause in all reality Apple Inc. actions are based off Steve Jobs, if steve wants to spend apples money on japan he can, screw the shareholders. they're all puppets to apple.
But like I said, I'm for business, but not when its valued over life
Quote:
Originally Posted by ForceQuit
Sorry, I don't see anything in the article that would suggest this. Its about Apple's supply chain; There is nothing about shareholder views, much less comments that would imply that shareholders value money over life.
This article did not explain how the lack of parts will affect the supply in the USA. When will supplies be affected? How long will they be affected?
Is the quality of flash memory from different suppliers equal? I've read that intel flash drives are better than the other brands of flash drives. Is that also true with the flash that Toshiba makes compared to others?
You sound to me like someone who is pissed off because they didn't buy Apple when it was at a price they could afford .... if it ever was.
nah not really (was never into paper assets, I prefer tangible), ....you sound like someone who just can't see anything that doesn't revolve around apple
... countries like america england and others care only about themselves at the end of the day.
You're being completely ignorant. The US people are contributing a lot to Japan right now:
sent one of, if not the, largest search and rescue teams to Japan (140+ people),
has many US Navy ships heading to Japan to protect them militarily in their time of weakness and provide logistical support,
has experts assisting with the nuclear crisis,
many US companies have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars each and offered technology support (just one example: Google Person Finder), and
many people like myself donated to the Red Cross and other organizations to support recovery efforts in Japan.
Your strange idea that all life/work/hobbies (including having an interest in financial systems) should be paused so people can sit around and mope is not sane. People do what they can (e.g., donate money) and then have to watch as reality unfolds while they continue doing the things that must be done in their lives; being sad about the plight of others doesn't get you a free pass to relinquish your responsibilities.
nah not really (was never into paper assets, I prefer tangible), ....you sound like someone who just can't see anything that doesn't revolve around apple
People that write on forums are sad, lonely, narcissistic, psychopaths who are angry at a world where they don't fit in.... uh... just a minute... um... let me rethink this...
I finally made an effort this morning to get an iPad and was unsuccessful.
So, you have been posting that you have been to this store and that store since Friday. and you just decided today is the time to buy your iPad? How much time have you spent already?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
I arrived at the first Apple store this morning at 6 am and there were already about 300 people ahead of me in line. It was ridiculous, scalper after scalper. I would venture to guess that at least 75% of the crowd were Asian scalpers. Many of them had probably never even touched a computer before in their entire life. There were lots of real old people waiting also. Then came the announcement that there would be no iPads today at all!
I do not doubt for a second that there are scalpers, but where in the world did you look at people and you know without a doubt that "75% of the crowd were Asian scalpers"?
When and how did you ever get these powers???
And, because they are Asians, they must be scalpers? They could not be Asian Americans who have as much right to own an iPad2 like everyone else? Have you even taken the time to look at the ethnic demographics of metro areas recently?
Here's a dose of reality for you. If someone in another part of the world is willing to spend money to get hold of an iPad2, and willing to use any means to do that in a free-market world, what is so wrong about that?
Should arrogant Americans feel so entitled that because they want something they must have it first at the price they want, and the rest of the world be dammed? By the way, here's another news for you, it is not only Asians paying higher price to get hold of an iPad2 now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Many of them had probably never even touched a computer before in their entire life.
Again, where did you get your new powers to divine people's lives, just by looking at them? You judge people simply by looking at them? You might be surprised that some actually may be even richer than you or your entire family or clan. Not everyone flaunts their wealth or posts about how they could afford an iPad.
I was surprised myself with the number of Asians and African Americans and older people who were at the Boylston Apple Store last Friday, and they were among those who waited patiently. They were the ones who spent time, asking this and that, before a purchase.
I have not talked to everyone of them, but it is not difficult to observe and overhear conversations. And here's a news for you -- one that I actually talked to never used a computer before (he just bought a Dell) and never even had internet (he was debating whether to have comcast or verizon). He lives in Ashmont, very far from the Boylston Apple store, it would take two subway rides. Ashmont is a place in Boston associated with a "socio-economic reputation" to be poor and crime-ridden but really stereotyping. The African American guy just retired. He was dressed simply. To be among the first, he must have left his home about noon, in a bad weather and lined up to be among the first to be let in, along with many other older people, apart from the usual mix.
How exactly he found the Apple Boylston Store, and chose it over the other Apple Stores was an interesting issue to me because you have to be online or must know someone to have been there to find it. This means that within his community, lumped as a bad neighborhood by even many Bostonians must know about Apple, and the latest products of Apple. So, yeah. even poor people buy "costly" Apple products, like the iPad2, because in the case of this older guy that I met, he thought it was the best for his needs. And here is another kicker, he may not know computers but he was not illiterate. He knew African American authors that were not mainstream and want to use the iPad mainly for reading (based from his initial tutorials with the Apple staff. When we talked briefly on what exactly he wanted to do with it, he stated he wanted to do some writing, including writing some music. And so, I introduced him to the possibilities of the Garage Band. He got even more excited.
But looking at him, without knowing him and talking to him, he could have been easily one of the poor people you might have lumped derisively as those waiting in line, who have no reason to be there but to scalp.
He left at around 8:30 pm, after spending more than 3 hours after purchasing his iPad. In that crowded setting, a blue-shirted Apple staff spent more than three hours with this "clueless" guy who never had a computer before. That says something about Apple staff.
This African American would be typical of what you described and derided so dismissively. You might say he is an exception. But not really. I happen to have just started my One-to-One, and have been at the store since Friday.
i go there during my free time later in the afternoon. Quite a number of people attending the one-to-one sessions, as well as the tutorials and seminars, based on their attire, you might lump as among the clueless and poor people. I do not know about their economic status, but they were not hesitant to admit that the are clueless of their technology, even their new "Apple toy". And they get so excited when they learn something new they have not done before.
But, they know what they want to do with it, and bought an Apple product for the first time and want to learn about how they can use it to do specific stuff -- mostly doing email, creating electronic albums, videos. And yes, older people who must have lost their jobs and are writing their resumes again, maybe for the first time. The one-to-one teachers and tutors patiently guiding them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
So I jumped in a cab along with a few other people whom I had met on the line and we headed down to another Apple store which was near by. At 6:45 am there were about 400 people ahead in line already. It was also full of Asian scalper after Asian scalper. It looked like entire families were there. Insane! Two Apple employees came out at about 8:00 am and let people know where the cut off point for the line was. By that time, close to 1,000 people were waiting in line. I was way behind the cut off point, so I just left.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
I'm not going to bother to get an iPad anytime soon from any Apple store. It's a waste of time to be spending hours waiting just to come up empty handed. Those scalpers are losers and have nothing better to do with their time than to spend 12 hours waiting each day. They camp out every single day.
We have no lines in Boston anymore, with four Apple Stores to choose from that are accessible using the subway, I think there is another Apple Store in Massachusetts. And there are many outlets like Best Buy and Target (two near my place). If you really spent as much time as you are saying, there are cheap trains and buses as well as airlines flying directly from New York. Take a weekend, our weather has been good recently. I have never tried it myself but the trip by bus, according to some friends who tried it is about an hour or so. The train is less that two hours. Both stop at stations that connect directly to the subways, and bring you conveniently to the Apple Stores, with just a short walk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
I'm thinking about buying up every single chop stick in New York. After that, I will start selling them for $10.00 a stick. That's per single stick, not per pair. That'll teach those scalpers and the chop stick shortage will surely cause them numerous hardships and problems. And it certainly wouldn't be illegal if I did exactly that.
Do you even think or read? Based from how you describe yourself (well at least definitely not one to want to pay what Asians and other non-Americans from all over the world were willing to pay to get the iPad2 now), but billionaires like the Hunt Brothers have attempted to "own" all the silver supplies in the world and lost their shirt doing it.
And, here's the kicker, it is far easier to corner the entire supply of gold, silver and diamonds in the world than to corner the market of chopsticks even in New York City.
I'm sure there are Japanese realtors already trying to acquire land from displaced and missing persons. Life goes on. Using human tragedy is a fine way to make money. Japanese-owned crematoriums are gleefully running 24/7. They undoubtedly wish for daily tsunamis. Nothing is more profitable than price-gouging during times of short supply. Why? Because humans are greedy. Nothing unusual here. Humanity and suffering goes hand in hand. There's always the hope that if you stockpile enough cash, you might be spared some of the suffering. If I were Japanese and had plenty of cash, I'd probably flee Japan before it comes a nuclear wasteland.
I sincerely hope this is meant as sarcasm. If not then you've obviously never been anywhere near Japan or it's people. I lived there for over a year and absolutely nothing of what you said is true of Japanese people. Nothing. What you've said about the crematoriums is simple a horrible thing to say, and to paint the whole of the Japanese people as greedy in the time of a natural disaster such as what's going on now I grossly ignorant and disgusting. The Japanese are quite possibly the greatest group when it comes to taking care of their neighbors. There are no riots, there is no price gouging and the Japanese are taking to burying the dead which is very unusual for them.
I'm sure there are Japanese realtors already trying to acquire land from displaced and missing persons. Life goes on. Using human tragedy is a fine way to make money. Japanese-owned crematoriums are gleefully running 24/7. They undoubtedly wish for daily tsunamis. Nothing is more profitable than price-gouging during times of short supply. Why? Because humans are greedy. Nothing unusual here. Humanity and suffering goes hand in hand. There's always the hope that if you stockpile enough cash, you might be spared some of the suffering. If I were Japanese and had plenty of cash, I'd probably flee Japan before it comes a nuclear wasteland.
Yep. That's exactly what I'm certain all crematorium owners are hoping for. Probably why they all went into business, right? And all contractors who operate in zones where there are hurricanes.
Sheesh!!
Capitalism has defects, certainly - many and we're trying to figure out how to cope with those. But in societies where it's been eliminated or suppressed a whole other set of problems and side effects exists.
Take South Korea - again, an imperfect society - and "greedy shareholder free" North Korea as examples. If the DMZ were suddenly opened to allow totally free movement in either direction, which direction do you think 99% of the movees would migrate??
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
Sure, that's true, but you can leave behind more for your descendants, or for charity, or fund more research into things that make the world better off, etc.
Regardless of global circumstances, I'd rather leave behind more than less.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
I am trying to that, but with my carbon footprint.
Without sufficient capital to advance energy, ecology management and other technologies in a world of 7 billion increasingly interconnected people all with aspirations for a decent standard of living (shame on them, according to some posting here!), there's no feasible way to do that.
Abandoning our entire way of life in a back to Eden movement would result by far in the largest catastrophe the world has ever known. Not only would the balance of the pre-human world be suddenly restored, we'd eat all the bark off the trees and every critter moving in the process of billions of starving, ill people.
And even if the dust settled, how many here would trade our lifespans and options for living - for 25 year life spans in caves punctuated by periods of famine and disease - the way of things for most of human history and pre-history. Because anything more would only start the cycle of development again. That is, some damn fool would start to get ideas for improving things and then........
The human race made a Faustian bargain with economic systems and resource usage when it adopted fire, the wheel, agriculture and language - and while there was a time we could have returned to a pastoral, tribal existence without such consequences (tho' a time when we lacked the scientific/technology base to understand the ecosphere in terms of science, tho' granted, there were Thoreaus who grasped some of it on a spirtual and philosophical level, and some societies which had a real relationship with nature that most have either always lacked or lost) - it was hundreds of years ago.
Ecological sustainability is inextricably interlinked to "economic sustainability." The failure of the left to grasp the role of wisely managing the world's "debt footprint" and banking wealth for R&D and "rainy day" savings is - in both the short and long term - as at least as dangerous as the right's failure to see the ecological impact of untrammeled resource exploitation.
And considering us from the rich to the poor, without a healthy economy with the human, scientific and monetary resources to develop things like, say, fuel cells, someday there won't be food stamps. Or libraries or parks or whole lotta things we take for granted, but which don't "grow on trees," except in well-managed orchards.
And neither do efficient extractors of solar or any other advanced - less dangerous and disruptive sources of energy - nor machinery that will sip instead of swig it - nor allow a transition to a post-max raw consumption economy that doesn't involve mass suffering, resource wars and much worse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncee
Apple and others aren't dumb. If getting over there and rolling up their sleeves is going to help, you can be sure, they will send folks over to do just that.
I won't make an assumption and slam you, but I will ask: do you have a specific objection to the concept of "doing well by doing good"? I don't.
Win-win-win solutions, i.e., the inventors, managers, stockholders, consumers, society and the planet are where we need to focus - on what we have in common, rather than on the many things which will always tend to separate us until utopia arrives - which will be... ...never.
And not to slam art, as I am an artist of sorts, but the world will not be solely saved by whiny would be artists "sittin' round the floor, makin' up songs about bein' poor" (-Frank Zappa). Inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, and many other more ordinary types acting with a degree of enlightened self-interest are a very important part of the human quilt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zoetmb
Maybe it's just will I have enough money in retirement to pay my basic living expenses. Maybe it's that even when the Dow hit a recent high of 11,400 a few weeks back, that was still almost 3000 points below its all-time peak in October of 2007 and that's 25% below where we were almost four years ago and it's painful to see it take another big hit. And maybe, even though one is willing and able to continue working, that there's few jobs for such people, because of both the state of the economy and bias against older people (if only because their experience generally gets them more money), so they have no choice but to retire.
That's not to say that I don't care about what's happening in Japan. Whatever I'm facing economically is trivial compared to the horrors that people in Northern Japan are facing. Hundreds of thousands homeless. Homes and factories gone or damaged that will probably take years to rebuild. Lack of adequate power for years to come, since those damaged reactors can never be put back online. Damage far greater than that the U.S. experienced during 9/11. Thousands, maybe even tens of thousands dead. A very aging population, especially in the areas hit. Nuclear radiation...fears of aftershocks and/or another earthquake.
But all that doesn't mean that another fall in the worldwide economy isn't going to have big negative impact on people here - both on workers and investors. My bet is that you're below 40. If I were still below 40, I wouldn't be too worried about my investments (because I barely had any back then.) But every change in my asset values has big impact on whether I'm going to have enough money to live on in my retirement, especially if I live long.
Meanwhile, I think that even if there are some parts shortages, Apple will do fine in the long run. When the stock went down yesterday, I bought a few more shares. Seemed like a bargain to me.
The most thoughtful, reasoned post on this in the thread. Thank you for spreading the gift of a bit of perspective.
You didn't mention Japan's existing debt load - which they took on voluntarily in a democratic country - the greatest of any developed economy - which is going to severely hamper their ability to mount an effective recovery. Which only adds to the economic ripples from this event - another "invisible" cloud which i going to spread as far as any radioactive release - and cause greater or lesser loss and harm to most of us on the globe whether we "feel" it or not.
We're as seriously overextended on the big Mastercard in the Sky as we are on the balance of oxygen and CO2 in the atmosphere, to name one ecological overextension. And they are not separable problems.
Analogies between Japan's earthquake and the world's financial shock have a great deal of validity. An implosion of the perceived values of the world's paper currencies would cause suffering from which there will be no hiding.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MobileMe
Its called truth bro
It's called incredible cynicism, "bro."
Quote:
Originally Posted by MobileMe
ture.. very uptight... look at the reaction to the individual who shared his experience with scalpers... that post somehow turned into a racist argument, from shallow minded individuals... not all asians are scalpers, not all whites are racist, not all blacks are thugs, not all hispanics are illegal immigrants.
The west and the rest of the world has a prejudice beyond belief.
By my calculations "the west and the rest of the world" = humanity. So that would make your point..... ???? ....if it's that we're by nature tribal and distrustful of anyone we don't recognize as a member of our own, that's a diddly-damn DNA fact borne out by all of history. And a re-reading (or a watch of either film version) of Lord of the Flies would reinforce how thin a line all of cultural advances are when each new baby comes into the world equipped with the same tendencies our ancestors bequeathed us from the plains of Africa.
To me simply another reason why we need the resources to ensure we keep delivering our accumulating layer of knowledge and philosophy and culture to each new generation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MobileMe
Screw those investors who would act like that. A serious situation has happened and they're worried about their money??? Screw them, cause if this was worldwide the last thing to worry about is your money, cause no amount of money can save you from death.
Greedy shareholders
"Greedy shareholders" are one of the primary reasons you're using modern electronics to post your bile to the entire world likely from a well-fed and reasonably comfy location. Without "GS's" - and highly educated, reasonably compensated scientists, engineers, managers, bankers, production-line workers, etc., where would multi-billion dollar chip fabs (to name one component of an incredibly elaborated system all based on research and economic development) come from?
Not from the government, which would have no tax revenue without wealth to be taxed to spend on such things (as if a bureaucracy would ever have had the vision to develop such things in the first place) - nearly all basic scientific advances have come from outside of such structures, and in cases where they have (like DARPA and the internet, NASA and space - from which we get not only geosynchronous communications satellites, weather satellites and much of the key data collection on the ecology) the great majority of the work was still done by private parties and only fostered by a collective will to utilize their work.
And, just for the record, the (private and public) financing of all the components of our vast and varied modern medical system "has saved countless people from death."
Quote:
Originally Posted by MobileMe
I believe in the balance, and according to the article, the Apple Shareholders are more interested with $$$ then life.
If you put emphasis on the all mighty currency then your perspective on life is skewed. Also, money is necessary because, that money is being sent to help aid the Japanese, and other countries around the world who need help.
My beef is with the greedy hungry Apple shareholders and anyone else who values money over life.
Again valuing money OR life is simply not an either/or situation. I'm expecting it will be lost on your binary value system, but I've done my best to sketch out a few of the many reasons above.
1) The free NCAA March Madness app is awesome -- you can watch any of the games, live -- and much more.
We have 3 iPad 1s (2 iPad 2s coming next week).
Each iPad acts like a personal TV -- harbinger of things to come.
We have ATT-uverse for cable TV and Internet.
Each iPad can be on a different (or the same) game as on the HDTV (cable).
The content arrives on the iPad about 1.5 seconds before the HDTV.
Edit: Even better, the iPads aren't interrupted for the top/bottom of the hour commercials as is the cable content.
2) The iPad, specifically the GarageBand app, can connect to an external speaker through the 30 pin connector cable (I have an iPod HiFi).
This means that you can take all your GarageBand instruments (guitars, synths, drums, pianos, organs, etc.) with you along with a very powerful, portable (battery driven) speaker/boom box.
This morning was my first attempt at trying to get an iPad. It will also be my last attempt. I've only spent about 5 hours of my time so far, but that's enough for me. I'll just order it online I guess, I can wait. I have plenty of other Macs to play with in the meantime.
And you mentioned that you don't have any lines anymore in Boston where you are. Well, then you're lucky, and you have no idea at all how the situation is in New York with the organized gangs of scalpers.
I'm not going to bother to get an iPad anytime soon from any Apple store. It's a waste of time to be spending hours waiting just to come up empty handed. Those scalpers are losers and have nothing better to do with their time than to spend 12 hours waiting each day. They camp out every single day.
You do realize you can order it online, right? And then if you do manage to get it locally, cancel or return your online order with no penalty?
The best "solution" to the scalpers is order it online!
Sheesh! After the second iPhone release (3G) it became more than apparent the smart people order online - unless you enjoy the thrill of the hunt and waiting in line for the overall experience. There are people that get that - and that's cool.
But you don't appear to be one of those people - so order the &*@#% iGadget from the online store and be done with it!
People that write on forums are sad, lonely, narcissistic, psychopaths who are angry at a world where they don't fit in.... uh... just a minute... um... let me rethink this...
Comments
I believe in the balance, and according to the article, the Apple Shareholders are more interested with $$$ then life.
Sorry, I don't see anything in the article that would suggest this. Its about Apple's supply chain; There is nothing about shareholder views, much less comments that would imply that shareholders value money over life.
I don't just think that they were scalpers, I know that for a fact.
One of the people I was waiting with was a Chinese guy, and he wasn't a scalper. He was just a Mac fan, just like me. And he gave me realtime translation of some of the scalper's conversations.
And here's a link to a major newspaper detailing the Asian scalpers.
A cutthroat Asian group has set its crosshairs on the flagship Apple store on Fifth Avenue at 59th -- scoring nearly every iPad 2 it can get its hands since the hot gizmo went on sale last week, to re-peddle at exorbitant prices here and in China.
The illicit, highly orchestrated scheme was in full gear yesterday, with a ringleader doling out massive wads of $100 bills to about five cohorts.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/i...#ixzz1GriMVxmF
Illicit? How's that? They weren't doing anything illegal.
Also, you said that the scalpers waiting in line had no life. That seems backwards to me. They were doing a job to earn money. Everyone else was waiting in line for the fun of it.
I'm not saying it is a good thing. But let's at least be accurate in our outrage.
Expecting every single entity on this planet to provide all the needs for a balanced existence is naive.
AAPL shareholders should expect Apple Inc. to be focused about profitability of their computer and consumer electronics sales. That's what they do. Apple can't cure AIDS or eliminate the world hunger. Neither can Dell, neither can Amazon, neither can Microsoft.
I will bluntly point out that Apple is collecting donations for the American Red Cross through the largest digital media store on this planet, waiving their 30% cut. It's not like they aren't making an effort to help. Note that they also market Product Red iPods, for AIDS relief.
I laughed at your comment, cause in all reality Apple Inc. actions are based off Steve Jobs, if steve wants to spend apples money on japan he can, screw the shareholders. they're all puppets to apple.
But like I said, I'm for business, but not when its valued over life
Sorry, I don't see anything in the article that would suggest this. Its about Apple's supply chain; There is nothing about shareholder views, much less comments that would imply that shareholders value money over life.
okay
Pretty broad brush.
it sure is
Is the quality of flash memory from different suppliers equal? I've read that intel flash drives are better than the other brands of flash drives. Is that also true with the flash that Toshiba makes compared to others?
Illicit? How's that? They weren't doing anything illegal.
I'd consult a lawyer related to that type of law and see what he tells you.
My beef is with the greedy hungry Apple shareholders and anyone else who values money over life.
You sound to me like someone who is pissed off because they didn't buy Apple when it was at a price they could afford .... if it ever was.
You sound to me like someone who is pissed off because they didn't buy Apple when it was at a price they could afford .... if it ever was.
nah not really (was never into paper assets, I prefer tangible), ....you sound like someone who just can't see anything that doesn't revolve around apple
... countries like america england and others care only about themselves at the end of the day.
You're being completely ignorant. The US people are contributing a lot to Japan right now:
- sent one of, if not the, largest search and rescue teams to Japan (140+ people),
- has many US Navy ships heading to Japan to protect them militarily in their time of weakness and provide logistical support,
- has experts assisting with the nuclear crisis,
- many US companies have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars each and offered technology support (just one example: Google Person Finder), and
- many people like myself donated to the Red Cross and other organizations to support recovery efforts in Japan.
Your strange idea that all life/work/hobbies (including having an interest in financial systems) should be paused so people can sit around and mope is not sane. People do what they can (e.g., donate money) and then have to watch as reality unfolds while they continue doing the things that must be done in their lives; being sad about the plight of others doesn't get you a free pass to relinquish your responsibilities.nah not really (was never into paper assets, I prefer tangible), ....you sound like someone who just can't see anything that doesn't revolve around apple
People that write on forums are sad, lonely, narcissistic, psychopaths who are angry at a world where they don't fit in.... uh... just a minute... um... let me rethink this...
I finally made an effort this morning to get an iPad and was unsuccessful.
So, you have been posting that you have been to this store and that store since Friday. and you just decided today is the time to buy your iPad? How much time have you spent already?
I arrived at the first Apple store this morning at 6 am and there were already about 300 people ahead of me in line. It was ridiculous, scalper after scalper. I would venture to guess that at least 75% of the crowd were Asian scalpers. Many of them had probably never even touched a computer before in their entire life. There were lots of real old people waiting also. Then came the announcement that there would be no iPads today at all!
I do not doubt for a second that there are scalpers, but where in the world did you look at people and you know without a doubt that "75% of the crowd were Asian scalpers"?
When and how did you ever get these powers???
And, because they are Asians, they must be scalpers? They could not be Asian Americans who have as much right to own an iPad2 like everyone else? Have you even taken the time to look at the ethnic demographics of metro areas recently?
Here's a dose of reality for you. If someone in another part of the world is willing to spend money to get hold of an iPad2, and willing to use any means to do that in a free-market world, what is so wrong about that?
Should arrogant Americans feel so entitled that because they want something they must have it first at the price they want, and the rest of the world be dammed? By the way, here's another news for you, it is not only Asians paying higher price to get hold of an iPad2 now.
Many of them had probably never even touched a computer before in their entire life.
Again, where did you get your new powers to divine people's lives, just by looking at them? You judge people simply by looking at them? You might be surprised that some actually may be even richer than you or your entire family or clan. Not everyone flaunts their wealth or posts about how they could afford an iPad.
I was surprised myself with the number of Asians and African Americans and older people who were at the Boylston Apple Store last Friday, and they were among those who waited patiently. They were the ones who spent time, asking this and that, before a purchase.
I have not talked to everyone of them, but it is not difficult to observe and overhear conversations. And here's a news for you -- one that I actually talked to never used a computer before (he just bought a Dell) and never even had internet (he was debating whether to have comcast or verizon). He lives in Ashmont, very far from the Boylston Apple store, it would take two subway rides. Ashmont is a place in Boston associated with a "socio-economic reputation" to be poor and crime-ridden but really stereotyping. The African American guy just retired. He was dressed simply. To be among the first, he must have left his home about noon, in a bad weather and lined up to be among the first to be let in, along with many other older people, apart from the usual mix.
How exactly he found the Apple Boylston Store, and chose it over the other Apple Stores was an interesting issue to me because you have to be online or must know someone to have been there to find it. This means that within his community, lumped as a bad neighborhood by even many Bostonians must know about Apple, and the latest products of Apple. So, yeah. even poor people buy "costly" Apple products, like the iPad2, because in the case of this older guy that I met, he thought it was the best for his needs. And here is another kicker, he may not know computers but he was not illiterate. He knew African American authors that were not mainstream and want to use the iPad mainly for reading (based from his initial tutorials with the Apple staff. When we talked briefly on what exactly he wanted to do with it, he stated he wanted to do some writing, including writing some music. And so, I introduced him to the possibilities of the Garage Band. He got even more excited.
But looking at him, without knowing him and talking to him, he could have been easily one of the poor people you might have lumped derisively as those waiting in line, who have no reason to be there but to scalp.
He left at around 8:30 pm, after spending more than 3 hours after purchasing his iPad. In that crowded setting, a blue-shirted Apple staff spent more than three hours with this "clueless" guy who never had a computer before. That says something about Apple staff.
This African American would be typical of what you described and derided so dismissively. You might say he is an exception. But not really. I happen to have just started my One-to-One, and have been at the store since Friday.
i go there during my free time later in the afternoon. Quite a number of people attending the one-to-one sessions, as well as the tutorials and seminars, based on their attire, you might lump as among the clueless and poor people. I do not know about their economic status, but they were not hesitant to admit that the are clueless of their technology, even their new "Apple toy". And they get so excited when they learn something new they have not done before.
But, they know what they want to do with it, and bought an Apple product for the first time and want to learn about how they can use it to do specific stuff -- mostly doing email, creating electronic albums, videos. And yes, older people who must have lost their jobs and are writing their resumes again, maybe for the first time. The one-to-one teachers and tutors patiently guiding them.
So I jumped in a cab along with a few other people whom I had met on the line and we headed down to another Apple store which was near by. At 6:45 am there were about 400 people ahead in line already. It was also full of Asian scalper after Asian scalper. It looked like entire families were there. Insane! Two Apple employees came out at about 8:00 am and let people know where the cut off point for the line was. By that time, close to 1,000 people were waiting in line. I was way behind the cut off point, so I just left.
I'm not going to bother to get an iPad anytime soon from any Apple store. It's a waste of time to be spending hours waiting just to come up empty handed. Those scalpers are losers and have nothing better to do with their time than to spend 12 hours waiting each day. They camp out every single day.
We have no lines in Boston anymore, with four Apple Stores to choose from that are accessible using the subway, I think there is another Apple Store in Massachusetts. And there are many outlets like Best Buy and Target (two near my place). If you really spent as much time as you are saying, there are cheap trains and buses as well as airlines flying directly from New York. Take a weekend, our weather has been good recently. I have never tried it myself but the trip by bus, according to some friends who tried it is about an hour or so. The train is less that two hours. Both stop at stations that connect directly to the subways, and bring you conveniently to the Apple Stores, with just a short walk.
I'm thinking about buying up every single chop stick in New York. After that, I will start selling them for $10.00 a stick. That's per single stick, not per pair. That'll teach those scalpers and the chop stick shortage will surely cause them numerous hardships and problems. And it certainly wouldn't be illegal if I did exactly that.
Do you even think or read? Based from how you describe yourself (well at least definitely not one to want to pay what Asians and other non-Americans from all over the world were willing to pay to get the iPad2 now), but billionaires like the Hunt Brothers have attempted to "own" all the silver supplies in the world and lost their shirt doing it.
And, here's the kicker, it is far easier to corner the entire supply of gold, silver and diamonds in the world than to corner the market of chopsticks even in New York City.
Do you want to know why?
CGC
I'm sure there are Japanese realtors already trying to acquire land from displaced and missing persons. Life goes on. Using human tragedy is a fine way to make money. Japanese-owned crematoriums are gleefully running 24/7. They undoubtedly wish for daily tsunamis. Nothing is more profitable than price-gouging during times of short supply. Why? Because humans are greedy. Nothing unusual here. Humanity and suffering goes hand in hand. There's always the hope that if you stockpile enough cash, you might be spared some of the suffering. If I were Japanese and had plenty of cash, I'd probably flee Japan before it comes a nuclear wasteland.
I sincerely hope this is meant as sarcasm. If not then you've obviously never been anywhere near Japan or it's people. I lived there for over a year and absolutely nothing of what you said is true of Japanese people. Nothing. What you've said about the crematoriums is simple a horrible thing to say, and to paint the whole of the Japanese people as greedy in the time of a natural disaster such as what's going on now I grossly ignorant and disgusting. The Japanese are quite possibly the greatest group when it comes to taking care of their neighbors. There are no riots, there is no price gouging and the Japanese are taking to burying the dead which is very unusual for them.
I'm sure there are Japanese realtors already trying to acquire land from displaced and missing persons. Life goes on. Using human tragedy is a fine way to make money. Japanese-owned crematoriums are gleefully running 24/7. They undoubtedly wish for daily tsunamis. Nothing is more profitable than price-gouging during times of short supply. Why? Because humans are greedy. Nothing unusual here. Humanity and suffering goes hand in hand. There's always the hope that if you stockpile enough cash, you might be spared some of the suffering. If I were Japanese and had plenty of cash, I'd probably flee Japan before it comes a nuclear wasteland.
Yep. That's exactly what I'm certain all crematorium owners are hoping for. Probably why they all went into business, right? And all contractors who operate in zones where there are hurricanes.
Sheesh!!
Capitalism has defects, certainly - many and we're trying to figure out how to cope with those. But in societies where it's been eliminated or suppressed a whole other set of problems and side effects exists.
Take South Korea - again, an imperfect society - and "greedy shareholder free" North Korea as examples. If the DMZ were suddenly opened to allow totally free movement in either direction, which direction do you think 99% of the movees would migrate??
Sure, that's true, but you can leave behind more for your descendants, or for charity, or fund more research into things that make the world better off, etc.
Regardless of global circumstances, I'd rather leave behind more than less.
I am trying to that, but with my carbon footprint.
Without sufficient capital to advance energy, ecology management and other technologies in a world of 7 billion increasingly interconnected people all with aspirations for a decent standard of living (shame on them, according to some posting here!), there's no feasible way to do that.
Abandoning our entire way of life in a back to Eden movement would result by far in the largest catastrophe the world has ever known. Not only would the balance of the pre-human world be suddenly restored, we'd eat all the bark off the trees and every critter moving in the process of billions of starving, ill people.
And even if the dust settled, how many here would trade our lifespans and options for living - for 25 year life spans in caves punctuated by periods of famine and disease - the way of things for most of human history and pre-history. Because anything more would only start the cycle of development again. That is, some damn fool would start to get ideas for improving things and then........
The human race made a Faustian bargain with economic systems and resource usage when it adopted fire, the wheel, agriculture and language - and while there was a time we could have returned to a pastoral, tribal existence without such consequences (tho' a time when we lacked the scientific/technology base to understand the ecosphere in terms of science, tho' granted, there were Thoreaus who grasped some of it on a spirtual and philosophical level, and some societies which had a real relationship with nature that most have either always lacked or lost) - it was hundreds of years ago.
Ecological sustainability is inextricably interlinked to "economic sustainability." The failure of the left to grasp the role of wisely managing the world's "debt footprint" and banking wealth for R&D and "rainy day" savings is - in both the short and long term - as at least as dangerous as the right's failure to see the ecological impact of untrammeled resource exploitation.
And considering us from the rich to the poor, without a healthy economy with the human, scientific and monetary resources to develop things like, say, fuel cells, someday there won't be food stamps. Or libraries or parks or whole lotta things we take for granted, but which don't "grow on trees," except in well-managed orchards.
And neither do efficient extractors of solar or any other advanced - less dangerous and disruptive sources of energy - nor machinery that will sip instead of swig it - nor allow a transition to a post-max raw consumption economy that doesn't involve mass suffering, resource wars and much worse.
Apple and others aren't dumb. If getting over there and rolling up their sleeves is going to help, you can be sure, they will send folks over to do just that.
I won't make an assumption and slam you, but I will ask: do you have a specific objection to the concept of "doing well by doing good"? I don't.
Win-win-win solutions, i.e., the inventors, managers, stockholders, consumers, society and the planet are where we need to focus - on what we have in common, rather than on the many things which will always tend to separate us until utopia arrives - which will be... ...never.
And not to slam art, as I am an artist of sorts, but the world will not be solely saved by whiny would be artists "sittin' round the floor, makin' up songs about bein' poor" (-Frank Zappa). Inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, and many other more ordinary types acting with a degree of enlightened self-interest are a very important part of the human quilt.
Maybe it's just will I have enough money in retirement to pay my basic living expenses. Maybe it's that even when the Dow hit a recent high of 11,400 a few weeks back, that was still almost 3000 points below its all-time peak in October of 2007 and that's 25% below where we were almost four years ago and it's painful to see it take another big hit. And maybe, even though one is willing and able to continue working, that there's few jobs for such people, because of both the state of the economy and bias against older people (if only because their experience generally gets them more money), so they have no choice but to retire.
That's not to say that I don't care about what's happening in Japan. Whatever I'm facing economically is trivial compared to the horrors that people in Northern Japan are facing. Hundreds of thousands homeless. Homes and factories gone or damaged that will probably take years to rebuild. Lack of adequate power for years to come, since those damaged reactors can never be put back online. Damage far greater than that the U.S. experienced during 9/11. Thousands, maybe even tens of thousands dead. A very aging population, especially in the areas hit. Nuclear radiation...fears of aftershocks and/or another earthquake.
But all that doesn't mean that another fall in the worldwide economy isn't going to have big negative impact on people here - both on workers and investors. My bet is that you're below 40. If I were still below 40, I wouldn't be too worried about my investments (because I barely had any back then.) But every change in my asset values has big impact on whether I'm going to have enough money to live on in my retirement, especially if I live long.
Meanwhile, I think that even if there are some parts shortages, Apple will do fine in the long run. When the stock went down yesterday, I bought a few more shares. Seemed like a bargain to me.
The most thoughtful, reasoned post on this in the thread. Thank you for spreading the gift of a bit of perspective.
You didn't mention Japan's existing debt load - which they took on voluntarily in a democratic country - the greatest of any developed economy - which is going to severely hamper their ability to mount an effective recovery. Which only adds to the economic ripples from this event - another "invisible" cloud which i going to spread as far as any radioactive release - and cause greater or lesser loss and harm to most of us on the globe whether we "feel" it or not.
We're as seriously overextended on the big Mastercard in the Sky as we are on the balance of oxygen and CO2 in the atmosphere, to name one ecological overextension. And they are not separable problems.
Analogies between Japan's earthquake and the world's financial shock have a great deal of validity. An implosion of the perceived values of the world's paper currencies would cause suffering from which there will be no hiding.
Its called truth bro
It's called incredible cynicism, "bro."
The west and the rest of the world has a prejudice beyond belief.
By my calculations "the west and the rest of the world" = humanity. So that would make your point..... ???? ....if it's that we're by nature tribal and distrustful of anyone we don't recognize as a member of our own, that's a diddly-damn DNA fact borne out by all of history. And a re-reading (or a watch of either film version) of Lord of the Flies would reinforce how thin a line all of cultural advances are when each new baby comes into the world equipped with the same tendencies our ancestors bequeathed us from the plains of Africa.
To me simply another reason why we need the resources to ensure we keep delivering our accumulating layer of knowledge and philosophy and culture to each new generation.
Screw those investors who would act like that. A serious situation has happened and they're worried about their money??? Screw them, cause if this was worldwide the last thing to worry about is your money, cause no amount of money can save you from death.
Greedy shareholders
"Greedy shareholders" are one of the primary reasons you're using modern electronics to post your bile to the entire world likely from a well-fed and reasonably comfy location. Without "GS's" - and highly educated, reasonably compensated scientists, engineers, managers, bankers, production-line workers, etc., where would multi-billion dollar chip fabs (to name one component of an incredibly elaborated system all based on research and economic development) come from?
Not from the government, which would have no tax revenue without wealth to be taxed to spend on such things (as if a bureaucracy would ever have had the vision to develop such things in the first place) - nearly all basic scientific advances have come from outside of such structures, and in cases where they have (like DARPA and the internet, NASA and space - from which we get not only geosynchronous communications satellites, weather satellites and much of the key data collection on the ecology) the great majority of the work was still done by private parties and only fostered by a collective will to utilize their work.
And, just for the record, the (private and public) financing of all the components of our vast and varied modern medical system "has saved countless people from death."
I believe in the balance, and according to the article, the Apple Shareholders are more interested with $$$ then life.
If you put emphasis on the all mighty currency then your perspective on life is skewed. Also, money is necessary because, that money is being sent to help aid the Japanese, and other countries around the world who need help.
My beef is with the greedy hungry Apple shareholders and anyone else who values money over life.
Again valuing money OR life is simply not an either/or situation. I'm expecting it will be lost on your binary value system, but I've done my best to sketch out a few of the many reasons above.
BOT-SOT
Some good news for iPad junkies...
1) The free NCAA March Madness app is awesome -- you can watch any of the games, live -- and much more.
We have 3 iPad 1s (2 iPad 2s coming next week).
Each iPad acts like a personal TV -- harbinger of things to come.
We have ATT-uverse for cable TV and Internet.
Each iPad can be on a different (or the same) game as on the HDTV (cable).
The content arrives on the iPad about 1.5 seconds before the HDTV.
Edit: Even better, the iPads aren't interrupted for the top/bottom of the hour commercials as is the cable content.
2) The iPad, specifically the GarageBand app, can connect to an external speaker through the 30 pin connector cable (I have an iPod HiFi).
This means that you can take all your GarageBand instruments (guitars, synths, drums, pianos, organs, etc.) with you along with a very powerful, portable (battery driven) speaker/boom box.
.
How much time have you spent already?
This morning was my first attempt at trying to get an iPad. It will also be my last attempt. I've only spent about 5 hours of my time so far, but that's enough for me. I'll just order it online I guess, I can wait. I have plenty of other Macs to play with in the meantime.
And you mentioned that you don't have any lines anymore in Boston where you are. Well, then you're lucky, and you have no idea at all how the situation is in New York with the organized gangs of scalpers.
p.s. What REALLY pises me off is all the Xoom ads flashing around AppleInsider. They're everywhere on this site.
Every time you see them you should feel all warm inside that they paid for an ad that will have absolutely no effect
I'm not going to bother to get an iPad anytime soon from any Apple store. It's a waste of time to be spending hours waiting just to come up empty handed. Those scalpers are losers and have nothing better to do with their time than to spend 12 hours waiting each day. They camp out every single day.
You do realize you can order it online, right? And then if you do manage to get it locally, cancel or return your online order with no penalty?
The scalper situation is annoying.
The best "solution" to the scalpers is order it online!
Sheesh! After the second iPhone release (3G) it became more than apparent the smart people order online - unless you enjoy the thrill of the hunt and waiting in line for the overall experience. There are people that get that - and that's cool.
But you don't appear to be one of those people - so order the &*@#% iGadget from the online store and be done with it!
*SIGH* F this Sh*t
I have no doubt when the apocalypse comes humans will survive somehow. The question is whether you will actually want to be one of the survivors.
LOL - I love watching the Apple haters stew over Apple's not just continued but increasing success.
You want to know the best way to handle the scalpers?
Don't obsess about them!
Your not going to change their behavior! If it ticks you off to see them in line, order from the online store and move on with your life.
More panties in a bunch about stuff that isn't controllable
People that write on forums are sad, lonely, narcissistic, psychopaths who are angry at a world where they don't fit in.... uh... just a minute... um... let me rethink this...
First rational post in the thread - thanks