NYC362

red oak said:

Cook needs to get rid of all DEI at Apple.   It is a cancer that kills internal culture and allows 2nd tier employees to exist at the company.  Apple still has "Racial Equity and Justice" and "Inclusion and Diversity" links on its home page.   It is disgusting 

Competitors are  moving faster, more aggressively, and only care if an employee can deliver results.    While Apple is primarily focused that everyone, regardless of talent, is "included". 

This is going to kill this company 

As someone who worked in an Apple Store for 4½ years, (eleven months of that was at home as a web order support advisor), I cannot tell you how wrong you are.  in fact, the roughly 440,000 words in the English language have nothing that can describe the level of wrong in your comment.

In fact, that my store was staffed by a cross section of people that covered pretty much every race, religion, ethnicity, and gay, straight, bi, etc.  was without a doubt one its strongest points.  We would have a ton of tourists and we had people who could cover at least a dozen languages.  You really think that can happen with no DEI?  Most Americans version of a foreign language is just speak English more slowly and louder as if that makes a difference.  

Of all the things that might kill Apple, the single thing that is furthest from a possible cause is the company's commitment to DEI.   That you find it disgusting is truly not a good look for you.   I am certain that 99% of all Apple employees- current and past- would agree. 

I can't agree more with this article.  The world changes incredibly fast and Steve Jobs left us 14 years ago.  For any one to assume they know what he would have done over these past 14 years different from Tim Cook is preposterous.   Jobs was not perfect.  When the iPad was introduced he was absolutely against the idea of a stylus.  But imagine the iPad without an Apple Pencil.  How much art would never have been created.  The Pencil isn't a necessity to work the device and that's what makes it so good, but the availability of one makes truly amazing.

I had the awesome opportunity to work for Apple retail for 4½ years.  It was a post retirement job that I thought I'd have some fun with for a year or two.  But I quickly loved it and ended up staying not quite five years.  The most amazing experience was not working a store as a Specialist and then Expert, but the eleven months during the pandemic that I worked at home on the phone for RCC with customers doing web order support.  In short, if you had an order problem, I was one of the people who had to try to fix it.  From lost and stolen items, to fraudulent credit card purchases, to finding sales receipt from five years prior...that's the sort of stuff that filled my day.  I had access to computer databases that would blow your mind.  (Best story- woman screaming at me about no charging block with her new iPhone 12.  She claimed it was her first iPhone.  Using her email, I did some quick research on an internal site- she lied.  It was her third iPhone.  Sorry lady, no free charging block for you...or anyone.)

What I realized was just how incredibly big the company is.  For most of us, the Apple Store is the physical presence.  But that is just the tip of the iceberg, and Tim Cook has to keep an eye on all of it- albeit with the help of some very smart people. (Who, by the way, if you work in a store, especially in the big cities, you'll probably get to meet one day. Yes, I met Tim, Deidre (twice), and few other top executives.  

Everyone expects Apple to be perfect, but it is not.  It can't be.  No company can be. I had customers who literally would say, "But your Apple, how can this happen?"  Well, we're humans and sometimes we make mistakes. 

Steve Jobs made mistakes.  Tim Cook has made mistakes.  Steve Jobs did incredible things for Apple and so has Tim, and I'm sure he will continue to do so for some years to come....and so will his successor no matter who he or she is. 

Kuminga said:

Besides the headline rate numbers, The fact Vietnam was willing to open up their entire market with no trade barriers is a huge deal for US farmers . This is an amazing deal. You  are

Right, different countries have different situations, but if this is framework . HOLY 💩🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

In 2024, Vietnam imported about $13 billion dollars worth of goods to the United States. In the scope of the roughly $3.17 trillion worth of US exports, that represents .41% of US imports.  In other words, it's almost a rounding error. 

seneca72 said:

NYC362 said:

In short, let him think he's won and just slow walk the thing until he finally does his one truly good deed for humanity- disappears. 

In the event that he did fall off his perch, would Vance pursue a significantly different course?  And it's by no means certain the Dems would win the next election.  Assuming of course there is one 

I think Vance would actually pull back somewhat on all the tariff threats...not 100%, but somehow make them a bit more palatible to Wall Street that hates them.   More importantly, Congress (the GOP half) has no fear of Vance like they do of Trump.  The chances that Congress finds the handful of Republican votes in both Houses to repeal the insane "emergency" and kill all the tariffs goes up astronomically.

Vance is a horrible person, and absolutely not the person I'd want to see as President, but he at least, he isn't the insane, possibly dementia-addled, sociopath like Trump.  
 

I still say Apple should announce plans with Foxconn to build a new iPhone assembly site here in the US.  Trump can jump up and down and how he beat Apple, and so on. 

Possible Timeline 1:
By January 2026, a site will be chosen.
By July 2027 design work would be complete.
By November 2028, structural work is complete.
On November 8, 2028, project is cancelled due to unforeseen issues.  Building is sold or converted for other uses. 

Possible Timeline 2:
By January 2026, a site will be chosen and design work begins.
January 4, 2027, project scrapped as the new Democratic majority in Congress scraps all of the tariffs. 

Possible Timeline 3:
By January 2026, a site will be chosen and design work begins.
On some random day, the Big Mac from Heaven hits the magic spot; or a random lightning bolt hits an orange target on a golf course... next day, project cancelled. 

In short, let him think he's won and just slow walk the thing until he finally does his one truly good deed for humanity- disappears.