Apple Jumps Shark, Invents Chevy Volt for Your Wrist

It was with absolute delight that I listened to Tim Cook roll out the Apple watch.

Strutting across the stage, all smiles, Cook was talking about all of the fantastic features of the watch. They've been working on this for 3 years. They have 3 basic models. The watch ranges from 349.00 to 17,000.00 for the gold encased one. Apple claims an 18 hour battery life which undoubtedly will be far less if you actually use the thing. You must have an I-phone 5 or newer as a companion piece which is where this new watch gets really stupid and really expensive if not just a bit duplicitous.

So this is where I should tell you- why I once loved Apple and why I now hate Apple- if you don't mind my extremism.

I received my first Apple laptop in 2007 as a parting retirement gift from my girlfriend. Apple laptops cost 750-1500 dollars more than other competing brands. Here is where they succeed.

They are smaller and lighter, they fire up faster, they are easier to use, they do not get viruses, they are fixed fast and usually free at any Apple "Genius Bar", their charger cords are magnetic so that if you trip over the cord it breaks free rather than dumping the hard drive on the floor, and they have better software features for photos and music with superior access to ancillary services.

Where do they fail? Apple doesn't want users who try to hang onto 5 year old laptops. Once they hit 5 years- Apple won't even work on them. They want you to buy a new one- which I did. The funny part is- is that after 5 years and another 1500 bucks- I did not see any significant difference in the new laptop except that it had a silver case and was a little skinnier. Hardly worth the additional 1500 bucks.

I do not fault anyone for buying an Apple laptop. They are simply superior to other laptop brands like this Toshiba I paid 300 bucks for at X-Mas. I especially love that Apple's laptops read all incoming data for viruses- something that Bill Gates could have done with Windows- had he not been such a pirate and screwed people over by allowing viruses in and thus forcing the hoi polloi to pay for a variety of software and repairs.

My hatred for Apple came when I discovered that all of their products are assembled by hundreds of thousands of Pacific Rim employees making a dollar an hour and working 16 hour days- 6 and 7 days a week. I have never been a fan of any corporation which exploits workers by paying sub par wages while subjecting them to horrible working conditions. If Apple wants to dispute this- then I suggest that all of the Cupertino, Ca management staff that are making mountains of money should switch jobs and salaries for one year with Chinese workers at FoxConn. Then we'll see if they find some sort of conscience.

In addition to exploiting slave labor, Apple has 700 billion dollars sitting off shore which is the largest cash horde that any company in the history of the world has ever amassed. Apple will undoubtedly become the first trillion dollar company. They will not pay taxes on that off shored money but they will gladly ask consumers for top dollar for their devices while letting you pay your taxes- which unfortunately- we cannot avoid even if we leave the country like Apple did. Thus there are no Apple manufacturing jobs for Americans beyond Cupertino- nor tax shelters for the middle class who they hope will buy this gadget.

If only people would quit patronizing these pirates. But they won't. People don't think that way anymore.

The problem with the watch is that it doesn't really do anything special. It has a small screen, you still have to have an I-phone with you, you must recharge the watch everyday, and you will look like a dork wearing it. I don't even think it's waterproof or water resistant which means that maybe a nice plunge into a sink will kill it.

With a giant Galaxy screen available to me and a bazillion free apps- what advantage could an I-phone user find with this watch? I think it measures your heart rate- and there is always some nerdy geek at the gym who wears a similar device on their arm- which costs 29 bucks.

How many ways can you re-invent a computer? Will they come up with an Apple necklace next?

I miss Steve Jobs. He always saw the big picture. I can't help but think Jobs would have shit canned this watch. Jobs would have probably shit canned Tim Cook for any number of reasons as well- such as paying investors dividends- which Jobs was adamantly against. Cook surely owes his longevity, and his smiley face, to the corporation Jobs built. Successors can often live on the laurels of their predecessors- at least for a while.

Apple has so much money that it can suffer a few missteps. A few people will run out and buy this watch and we will see what it is really like then. My gut tells me that the Apple watch will go the way of toaster ovens and the Chevy Volt. Rolling it out in April just as consumer spending has all but dried up. It's going to be interesting to see the pre order sales figures.

I wonder if Cook will be talking about this watch and how much it added to Apple's bottom line at their next annual meeting. I have a feeling it won't be taking up too much of his time.

Where Is Richard Nixon When You Need Him?*Updated With Superior Content

After comparing Nixon's one scandal, Watergate, to the flood of Obama administration scandals- another blog begs the question. Who is the bigger criminal, Nixon or Obama? On a reader tip (thank you) I found this prescient comment and stole it. (PJ Media)

wombat1
I vigorously protest your comparison of the Obama goons with the Nixon administration. As full of sin and error as the Nixonites became, in their hearts they still loved America, still subscribed to its core values, still believed in this nation special destiny.

The crew that's in power today looks at our country the way that halal butchers look at a sheep: it's only a question of the right way to do what they've already made up their minds to do.

Last week, I noted that the man most responsible for giving President Obama his Nobel Peace Prize had been demoted by the Nobel Committee. President Obama managed to trick our entire country into thinking he was a moderate politician so it came as no surprise to me that some guy on the Nobel Prize Committee also fell for his bullshit. The most transparent President ever has been waging wars and picking fights with just about everyone. I can't even keep up with all of his war mongering and mis guided anger from Afghanistan, to Syria, Ukraine, pissing off the Russians, Jews, Netanyahu, Ed Snowden, Christians, Republicans, Fox News, Congress, and citizens who can still read the Constitution. Currently, illegal aliens like Obama. He hasn't dropped any bombs on them because his party needs the extra 5 or 10 million votes.

The only peace Obama will bring to millions including me- is when he gets the hell out of town. If he'd like to go early I know I could spring for some new golf clubs. That will be my peace prize.

Yesterday, I stumbled across a blog that I wished I had written. It captures the essence of our culture. At the bottom of this page I am going to link it. I posted this blog on my Facebook page. Out of the 260 or so people that might actually glance at my FB page- only two people took the time to read the blog or comment on it, one actually shared it.

Two people that I know of. That's it. That lack of interest is astounding.

That is why I killed Frankenstein Government. You see, I'm not afraid of the government- what I'm afraid of is the millions upon millions of apathetic and uneducated assholes who don't care, who don't read, and still act as though they know what the fuck is going on. Andrew Breitbart confronted those types and he proved on several occasions what we all know is true. Government sold us all out years ago- and the only bitter clingers are the saps who still think they have a say in the matter.

With half of our citizenry receiving public assistance and a few million more checked out on booze, drugs, video games, and cellphones- who's left to mind the store? The truth is- I don't know how these other blog authors keep writing about the current American dark ages and hoping the shit storm that has to happen- happens. Of course, it never does. It's depressing.

Last week, your government gave health insurers 3 billion dollars. They were not authorized to do this by Congress- yet they did it anyway. Where I come from we call that embezzlement. You can't just give away money that is not yours. Surely there is some fiduciary responsibility- you'd think. Not with this lawless crew. They just do whatever the fuck they want to do. Who's going to prosecute them, Eric Holder? Here's the best part. The only ones found guilty in this whole health care fisaco are the poor saps like me who can't afford their fucked up idea and have to pay the penalty. Due process my ass. In the meantime, the people responsible for all of the negligence, dereliction, lies, chicanery, and now apparently- the theft of taxes diverted to corporate America- they have their health care and cushy jobs. Not one of those bastards will pay a penalty.

I can't even keep up with the criminal behavior and scandals. I can probably name 10 of them with the latest scandal being Hillary Clinton's email account which I am sure she has been busy trying to purge while obstructing any legal effort to uncover the contents of her email.

Our government right now reminds me of the City of New Orleans under Mayor Ray Nagin when I lived there. They celebrate corruption in New Orleans. When Nagin received a ten year prison sentence (of a recommended 20-25 years) for all of his fraud and corruption-I laughed. I wondered out loud who and what influenced the judge to set aside the sentencing recommendations. Because that is how New Orleans works.

The Feds will come in and prosecute some chicken shit, small town Mayor like Nagin or the little peons now in Ferguson that are fleeing- but you don't see them running down one of their own. Not one fraudulent banker or credit rater ever saw a weekend in jail. Who prosecutes Eric Holder for his role in selling guns to Mexican drug cartels and ultimately- the death of Agent Brian Terry? Should Holder stand trial for Terry's death? Should Hillary stand trial for the deaths of Christopher Stevens and the 3 other Benghazi victims? Maybe not, but the worst part of all of this is the absolute shamelessness of our "leaders." Not only do they refuse to take responsibility for their roles in those events but they act as though none of that was their fault.

Back in the day, when people made sociopathic mistakes and subsequently made them worse by lying about them, they still had enough shame and decency to part company and resign when they were caught. Now days, the sociopaths simply stay quiet, re-group, come up with some plausible and non provable line of shit to explain their actions, and then lurk about- looking for their next opportunity.

My God, it all seems so laughable now. The Watergate Hotel, Woodward and Bernstein, Deep Throat, Gordon Liddy, Howard Hunt, and those idiot burglars. Trying to eavesdrop on the democrats. Televised hearings. That was the crime of the century. A second rate burglary involving our President who resigned. I was just a kid but I thought that was a big deal back then.

These days we have giant scandals where people get killed and the people responsible for protecting them- lie about what caused the event. Our government eavesdrops on everyone, creating back doors into computers and cellphones, eavesdropping on reporters and countries all over the globe. It persecutes whistle blowers. Our government looks the other way when hundreds of thousands of crooked bank deals and bankers bankrupt our country and then gives the crooks a trillion or so to rebuild their balance sheets along with 4 trillion or so in debt monetization and zero interest rates. We have a dope smoking President who still hasn't divulged his grades in college, who or how he paid for his education, where he got his social security number, or what happened to his passport. Shit, what I wouldn't give for a urine sample from Obama after one of his many vacations.

Richard Nixon ordered the burglary of an office. Other than about 15 morons, the rest of our country was fine. Nobody else was injured because of Nixon's actions or in actions. Compared to Obama, Nixon looks like Mother Theresa. Where's Richard Nixon when you need him?

Best read of the week. If you have the time, read the "Pig Trap" also. You'll find it even more interesting than this one. http://taxicabdepressions.com/?p=2479