kibitzer

If the government succeeds in forcing this on Apple, it will surely reap what it sows at some point. Our governmment has failed miserably in recent years protecting its own vital secrets. Some of America's most potentially dangerous espionage adversaries - the Chinese Army for example - would acquire the same hack that Apple would be forced to develop in short order. Stop beating our gums about ISIS and start worrying more about the future Edward Snowdens and Chelsea (Bradley) Mannings who gnaw at our security ffrom the inside. DOJ, beware the danger of unintended consequences.

21yr_mac_user said:

I'm surprised by how many unpatriotic comments are on this site. Brazil forced Apple to do it and they did. Apple makes mac pros here. Motorola made a phone here a few years ago (before the whole google fiasco). It can be done, especially in this age of robotics. Instead of wasting money on buybacks - spend $100 billion making a few automated robotic factories. Look at Tesla - it's domestic as much as possible and will bring the batteries with the gigafactory. It would add good jobs (not menial ones), improve the domestic supply base etc. Its a great idea, we just lack leadership. Companies will do whatever the government forces them to do if they want to stay in business.

Manufacturing is more than buying and programming some robots, then flipping a switch. And the guy who has more experience with this at Apple than anyone is Tim Cook, who came aboard when the company was in the midst of operational and manufacturing chaos. He reorganized the whole shebang into a global product and logistical marvel that propelled Apple into its preeminent stature today. Here's what he said about it to Charlie Rose last month on 60 Minutes.

"Yeah, let me-- let me-- let me clear, China put an enormous focus on manufacturing. In what we would call, you and I would call vocational kind of skills. The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills. I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we're currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields."

Cook has said it before, in other forums and in other ways. By and large, this country no longer has the people with skill sets to support advanced manufacturing in a global setting, and this nation seems unwilling to make the educational and vocational investment to support that objective. The Mac Pro being assembled in Austin is a microcosmic exception. Trump can wave his magic wand all he wants. He doesn't have the sense to turn it out of the wind and quit peeing on his shoes.

Actually, this isn't very exciting. It's just Trump's usual demagoguery with an Apple twist to it, and the only thing that surprises me is that he took so long to get around to dissing Apple's operational strategy. Trump's fawning supporters are by and large xenophobes, and the reality that Apple derives the majority of its revenues from sales outside the U.S. these days is a concept they wouldn't even comprehend.

noelos said:

Apple is Samsung's number one supplier? First I've heard of it!

More like number one customer.