apple- America-and-a-squeezed-middle-class

This is mostly a food blog , but sometimes a tech article I read on-line sparks my attention.

and now the news from the current political elections is un-escapable for the most part

 How U.S. Lost Out on IPhone Work

NY Times, Business Day ,The Economy

By CHARLES DUHIGG and KEITH BRADSHER

Published: January 21, 2012

my comments:

Asia is the leader of large scale manufacturing. This

article focuses on the electronics industry.

notes:

“Companies once felt an obligation to support American

workers, even when it wasn’t the best financial choice,”

said Betsey Stevenson, the chief economist at the Labor

Department until last September. “That’s disappeared.

Profits and efficiency have trumped generosity.”

(a)this was creating jobs for the sake of creating jobs.

 

    "…a current Apple executive said. “We don’t have an

obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only

obligation is making the best product possible.”
(b)this is  focusing on making a product, not influenced by political distractions

…

    "For technology companies, the cost of labor is

minimal compared with the expense of buying parts and

managing supply chains that bring together components

and services from hundreds of companies. For Mr. Cook,

the focus on Asia “came down to two things,” said one

former high-ranking Apple executive. Factories in Asia

“can scale up and down faster” and “Asian supply chains

have surpassed what’s in the U.S.” The result is that

“we can’t compete at this point,” the executive said. "

    "Another critical advantage for Apple was that China

provided engineers at a scale the United States could

not match. Apple’s executives had estimated that about

8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and

guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers eventually

involved in manufacturing iPhones. The company’s

analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine

months to find that many qualified engineers in the

United States. In China, it took 15 days. "
(c)Other countries are set up demographically and geographically to make efficient use of manufacturing

supply chains and labor for mass production in shorter time spans. They have the resources and control

mastered.

 

Other governments support and motivate a national pride towards production and manufacturing versus individual

financial gain (very debatable) and have the qualified work force ready.   Some governments are better at a

growing a service economy.

It seems that Asia is the only place to build fast moving (changing technology) products in great numbers at a price that makes

them affordable.

What does that leave us, the U.S. ? In the technical field; programming? software development?

So here is a follow up question , if you will: Multiple choice, no correct answer(s) at this time

What is the United States better suited at producing?
What ones will grow or shrink or remain the same?
(a) legal professionals
(b) Doctors
(c) political parties/ politicians
(d) health care systems
(e) financial/credit systems
(f) welfare systems
(g) an up to date infrastructure
(h) discourse
(i) non-profit organizations and exemptions(too many to list)
(j) Research and development
(k) Political Action Committees
(l) an affordable education system
(m) a chaotic tax code (AKA red tape)
(n) regulations
(o) benefit packages
(n) small businesses/manufacturing
(p) artistic expression
(q) agriculture
(r) defense/law enforcement

(s) computer programming/servicing/software development

add your own

I’m  poking fun at the USA, this is who we are. A diverse culture. Asia has it’s problems too, and no telling where they will be after 15-20 years.

No doubt though that hobbies should be encouraged as they were in past. They are the first step in education of the trades.

Have they been displaced by dismissing them as nonsense as they have no social redeeming value? Personally speaking, a home with out a work bench is not a home.