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in February, President Obama surprised Steve Jobs with a question of what
it would take to make the iPhones in the United States, rather than China.
Jobs replied that the iPhone could never be made in the United States ... and no, it's not because American labor costs (in fact, labor cost is a tiny fraction of the cost of making an iPhone). It's because America simply doesn't have the manufacturing might anymore:
“Apple’s an example of why it’s so hard to create middle-class jobs in the U.S. now,” said Jared Bernstein, who until last year was an economic adviser to the White House.
“If it’s the pinnacle of capitalism, we should be worried.”
Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”
Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher wrote this intriguing article over at The New York Times about the death of manufacturing and the disappearing American middle class - if you read only one thing today, make it this one: Link | TLDR? Here it is in video summary
Finally! A toilet worthy of Apple fanboys. Meet the iPoo Toilet, which sadly only exists as a conceptual design.
Designer Milos Paripovic said:
Unlike some Apple products, this toilet fully supports Flush. This toilet has exactly the same function as any other toilet and costs only twice as much for the same performance; but you will agree it is all about style and taste, and you will look a lot cooler in your friends' eyes when you say you use the iPoo Toilet ...
Thank goodness for that! Link - via digsdigs
The tech world is talking about the new Steve Jobs action figure from Inicons that is eerily realistic. It comes with a ton of accessories, but no iPhone or iPad. The figure should be available in late February for $99. See a lot more pictures at Gizmodo. Link
When the Apple company was just beginning to take the home computing world by storm, they apparently thought it would be a good idea to try their hand at designing clothing as well.
These clothes are the ultimate in computing comfort, and nothing says 1986 like wrapping sweaters around yourself in strange places.
These Apple-themed cake pops will be part of the Steve Jobs Inspired Cake Shop, a fundraiser in London next Wednesday for the organization Pancreatic Cancer UK. It’s part of series of events called Internet Week Europe. Oh yes, they’ll have candied apples, too! Find out more at Cakehead Loves Evil. Link
Montreal, Canada, based artist Olivier Lefebvre created this portrait of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs out of ... yes, real apples: Link - Thanks Yan!
(Replace that apple with a poptart, add a cat, and what do
you get?)
We know, we know. Apple is cool. In fact, it has always been cool as the photo above clearly shows.
Black Harbor has the scan of Apple's gift catalog from way back. Waaaay back for some of you Millennials. It's from 1983: Link
Founder and former CEO of Apple Steve Jobs has died after a seven-year battle with cancer. He was 56.
The hard-driving executive pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse. In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet — all of which changed how we consume content in the digital age.
More than one pundit, praising Jobs’ ability to transform entire industries with his inventions, called him a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci.
“Steve Jobs is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism,” New York Times columnist Joe Nocera said in August. “His intuition has been phenomenal over the years.”
Jobs’ death, while dreaded by Apple’s legions of fans, was not unexpected. He had battled cancer for years, took a medical leave from Apple in January and stepped down as chief executive in August because he could “no longer meet (his) duties and expectations.”
CNN has the highlights of Jobs’ eventful life in the obituary. Link
(Image credit: Apple)
Everyone’s seen their fair share of Apple lovers, but there are those that take it beyond an admiration and into a religious-like obsession. Mental Floss has a great look at the many levels of Apple fandom. Do any of you fit into these categories?
Joseph Tame has only been an Apple product-owner for five years (since he purchased a 5th gen iPod Classic) but he’s happily professed his love of the company’s tech since. Tame claims that “[h]aving an iPhone really has changed [his] life,” and as a tribute to Steve Jobs after the recent news of his resignation, Tame used his iPhone’s Runkeeper app to record his 21km logo-shaped marathon through the streets of Tokyo. To read more about the tribute and see other works of GPS art, check out Tame’s Art of Running. Link
You’ve probably heard by now that Steve Jobs has resigned as the CEO of Apple, which saddened many fans who assume the move is due to his health. As a tribute to his career, Ranker has posted The Top Steve Jobs Keynote Moments, with videos of his most memorable speeches, highlighting the expected “surprise” unveiling of new Apple products. The earliest features a new Macintosh computer that referred to Jobs as “a man who’s been like a father to me.” The image here is from the 2007 iPhone introduction. There’s even a compilation of bloopers! Link
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Love your iPhone, but wish it had a homier feel? Never fear – now you can use your best needlework skills to cozy up your case. For just $18, you get an embroidery-friendly case, plus embroidery thread in the appropriate colors to make whichever design you choose. You can also just use their grid paper to make your own design, if you want to take your DIY-ness to the next level. I think the kitties are hilarious, but you could also go more geek-like with Mario or the Apple or Superman logos.
Link via Design.org
Fruit Jackets Trio – $27.95
Are you looking for a fun way to protect your sweet summertime fruit? You need the Fruit Jackets from the NeatoShop. This fantastic little trio comes with a apple, banana, and pear cover. This item was recently featured on the Today Show as one of the hot summer items you’ll be lovin’.
Fruit Jackets are also sold individually.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fabulous Kitchen Stuff.
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I’m not sure who would want to buy this, but the idea of a Steve Jobs figurine for sale if not neat, you will have to agree is pretty odd. I could see this becoming a whole collectible set of tech industry leaders including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Who do you think deserves an action figure?
It’s true, there’s a 12-inch Steve Jobs replica accessorized with miniatures of the Apple Store’s best merchandise. Whether or not the real Mr. Jobs will let the Steve Jobs Limited Edition 12-inch Collectible Figurine see its way into production is another story altogether, but for now it’s fun for an Applehead to dream that someday, for the low-low price of only $160, he or she too can own a tiny inanimate clone of the only guy on the planet who can rock the same outfit every day of the week because he just wants to.
That’s right – it’s a wee little Apple Store that fits neatly inside a shoebox. “Why?” you’re probably asking, but I think the real question is, “Why not?” The tiny store (complete with Genius Bar, of course) was made by Gary Katz, who also made this diorama with a working iPad that’s supposed to make you feel like you’re at a concert.
Awesome? Weird? Or both?
Link via Geekologie
Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, teamed up with Apple in 1989 to try and sell computers to college kids. The artwork for the “Who Needs a Computer Anyway?” booklet came from Groening’s book, School is Hell. It seems an odd pairing, but it was reprised later by an Etsy seller’s unauthorized Homer Simpson iPhone decal. There are a few more of the pages from “Who Needs a Computer Anyway?” on The Daily What. Link
Comments Off If you didn’t have time to watch the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) the other day, here’s a chance to get a summary of the most important new features in OS X Lion and iOS 5 wrapped together as a song.
via Pusha
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While Apple would be happy having many of us believe that the iPad is the genius invention of Steve Jobs and company alone, it turns out that tablets have been in development for over 100 years. As far back as 1888 the forerunners of today’s devices where being patented. In the 1960’s the RAND Corporation created The RAND Tablet, a stylus that could digitally capture handwriting. I’d like to believe that in a parallel universe people in the 60’s and 70’s were walking around with funky RAND Tablets.
(A)ll technology evolves from sometimes cruder predecessors, and tablets are no different. People have been playing with some of the technologies underlying tablet PCs for over a century: In July 1888, for example, inventor Elisha Gray (pictured) received a US patent for an electrical stylus device that captured handwriting.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, and now, science has proven the age-old saying to be true, at least for post-menopausal women:
In a study of 160 women who ate either dried apples or prunes daily for one year, the women who ate apples saw their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol – the “bad” kind known as LDL – drop by 23% after six months. At the same time, their “good” high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or HDL, rose about 4% over the course of the study.
Women in the dried apple group ate 2/3 cup of the fruit each day. Though the apple slices added 240 calories to their daily diet, these women wound up losing weight – 3.3 pounds, on average. These women also saw their levels of C-reactive protein (a measure of potentially dangerous inflammation) and lipid hydroperoxide (which can signal higher risk for cardiovascular problems) fall.
The Playmobil Apple Store is a preschool geek’s dream toy! It features the Genius Bar, kid’s corner, sales floor, and a conference room -and comes with over 60 accessories! And get this -you can slip your iPhone in place behind Steve Jobs and animate his presentation! The Playmobil Apple Store is a new item introduced today at ThinkGeek. Link
While Apple mastermind Steve Jobs is on a medical leave of absence, designer Charis Tsevis has created a tribute to the man behind iEverything. Check out this stunning portrait of Jobs, composed of a collage of his many creations.
The collage features all the products Jobs was credited as having a hand in—from the revolutionary (iPod and iPhone) to the less-than-inspiring (Apple TV and eMac).
With Jobs currently on indefinite medical leave, Fast Co Design calls Tsevis’ effort the “ultimate get well soon gesture”.
Link via Fast Co Design
Susan Kare, a San Francisco-based computer iconographer who has “designed thousands of software icons that have become familiar to anyone who uses a computer”, has now made her famous classic Macintosh icons available as prints for all the Apple fans out there.
Link – via switched and technabob
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Natania of Geeks Are Sexy is a decades-long Mac user … but recently she came to the dark side. Here’s how a Mac lover turned against Apple:
Price me out. My MacBook can’t hold its weight anymore. A new MacBook starts at about $1,000. Other laptops, however, with far better specs, running Windows or Linux, can be purchased for half that much. So, with the Mac, what I’m really paying for is the logo and the shiny factor, not the performance factor. And since I’m doing a lot of graphic design these days, not to mention gaming (which will be addressed below), specs are a lot more important than they used to be. There’s a point where you examine the specs of the machines side by side and really have to ask yourself how much the Apple software is worth. Because that’s where the price tag is.
[...]
Make it difficult for the gimpier geeks. I’ve got carpal tunnel. I can’t use a normal keyboard. Typing on the MacBook is a special kind of torture for me, so I have to buy ergonomic in order to avoid the pain. Does Apple have a version of their delightful aluminum keyboard with a gentle, ergonomic curve to it? Nope. And the newest Magic Mouse… don’t get me started on the kind of pain involved using that (seriously, did they try to make it painful? Is this some strange torture device?).
In the bootleg markets of Shanghai, you can purchase an ePad, a iRobot, or an iPhono. You can even get an MP5 player! But I was really impressed by this guitar peripheral for the Wü game console. See these and more in a gallery of good at Classy Hands. Link -Thanks, Lee!
Oh, this should be good. Apple has had a good and long run wow-ing the public with their hip iPhones and iPads in their oh-so-sleek Apple stores in malls, and Microsoft isn’t going to take it anymore: the boys of Redmond are opening up their own store (bigger, in fact) in the Mall of America, directly in front of the Apple store.
Techi’s got the story (and the video clip):
I can see it now: Apple’s ‘Geniuses’ folding their arms and glaring across the hallway at Microsoft’s … ‘Experts’, or whatever they end up calling their employees (do they already have a name?), who glare back in kind. What I’d really like to see, though, is all sorts of Spy Vs. Spy shenanigans happening between the stores. If life were only like that.
What do you think the Microsofters that work there should be called? I propose Best Servicepeople On Demand. T-Shirt from the NeatoShop for the best entry (write down what you want along with your comment, otherwise you forfeit the prize, mmkay?). Have fun!
Update 10/29/10 – Fishbowl wins with “Paperclip,” but forfeited the prize.
You would think today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss would be easy -if you’re an Apple fan. Test your Apple knowledge with ten questions about the history of the company and its products. It’s not easy -I’ve used nothing but Apple computers for twenty-five years and I only scored 40%! I bet everyone who beats that score will leave a comment about it. Link
Etsy seller apjam made this clever albeit unauthorized Homer Simpsons sticker for your Apple iPhone.
The next time your iPhone G4 drops a call, don’t blame Antennagate – it’s probably Homer nom nom nomming the connection.
Nerd Approved has the larger pic: Link or go to apjam’s Etsy shop
We’ve posted about book recommendations for sci-fi fans, and light summer reading … but what about books for geeks?
Geeks Are Sexy blog has got this one covered in Patrick Biz’ post about the 10 Must-Read Books for Geeks. The two part series began with a bang:
iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It
If you want to understand how the Apple fairy tale began in the seventies, then iWoz is a must read. This is the personal story of Steve Wozniak, inventor of the Apple computer. This book explains the long process that led Wozniak to create the first affordable computer, how he met Steve Jobs, and how they founded the Apple empire. This easy-to-read book reveals a captivating story aimed at everyone interested by the debut of personal computing.
Got an iPad? You’re a selfish elite! Criticize Apple? Then you’re an independent geek.
That’s the conclusion of a new study of the psychological profile of iPad owners and iPad critics:
Consumer research firm MyType conducted the study, in which opinions of 20,000 people were analyzed between March and May. The firm’s conclusion was that iPad owners tend to be wealthy, sophisticated, highly educated and disproportionately interested in business and finance, while they scored terribly in the areas of altruism and kindness. In other words, “selfish elites.”
They are six times more likely to be “wealthy, well-educated, power-hungry, over-achieving, sophisticated, unkind and non-altruistic 30-50 year olds,” MyType’s Tim Koelkebeck told Wired.com.
96 percent those most likely to criticize the iPad, on the other hand, don’t even own one, although as geeks, they were slightly more likely to do so than the average population — and far more likely to have an opinion about the device one way or the other (updated). This group tends to be “self-directed young people who look down on conformity and are interested in videogames, computers, electronics, science and the internet,” said Koelkebeck.
The undying devotion of fanboys to Apple is nothing new, but researchers have reframed Apple’s relationship to its consumers/fans into something else: religion.
There are scholars who study Apple’s consumers as religious devotees. Consumer behavior specialists Russell Belk of York University and Gulnur Tumbat of San Francisco State, even put together a framework for assessing Apple’s mystical mythology. The company
was built on four key myths, they argued.Here are the four narratives, as summarized by media scholar Texas A&M’s Heidi Campbell, who distilled their work for her May paper "How the iPhone became divine":
- a creation myth highlighting the counter-cultural origin and emergence of the Apple Mac as a transformative moment;
– a hero myth presenting the Mac and its founder Jobs as saving its users from the corporate domination of the PC world;
– a satanic myth that presents Bill Gates as the enemy of Mac loyalists;
– and, finally, a resurrection myth of Jobs returning to save the failing company…
