Apple-conomics?

Apple, sweet looking products, ardent fan following, child of tech-guru Steve Jobs... now no more.  Can Apple survive without Jobs?  The million dollars question that so many pundits have analysed and written about. 

Over the last decade, I have read countless articles about the great man and his products as well as his business savvy exploits in trumping the competition over and over again with all sorts of beautiful products.  Recently I started my own enterprise and my mother gifted me Jobs's biography for Christmas in the hope that I too could emulate this great man's achievement.  However, as this recent article suggests, not all is rosy in Apple-land.  The article reveals the very unsustainable practice that Apple has used in order to build its empire.  Yes they have made loads of cash, yes their stock market listing valuates them above the GDP of Switzerland, yes they have an ardent fan base following who swears only by Apple...but, can it endure?  I reckon not! 

As the world becomes more integrated, more connected, more transparent, there is growing disquiet among consumers that their hard earned money fuels pain, dishonesty and unfair business practices.  Apple is all set to gain in the short term and its fall is still not visible, but on the long run you have to question the impact of its non-sustainable practices... unless it cleans up its act, which it may very well do, but given their technological philosophy when it comes to building closed systems, it will invariably be just plaster over the cracks.

So I predict that Apple will eventually go down.  Beautiful products nonetheless!

Apple sweatshop factory in China!

Mind you, there is one more interesting aspect to this article, and that is the length to which Chinese workers are ready to dedicate their time and energy to their work, however meager the returns and harsh the conditions.  Something in total contrast to the west which deplores such kind of working conditions... no wonder the Chinese are set to take over the US as the number uno economy in 2016!  Chinese will have earned it the hard way.  It is estimated that half a million US jobs are lost to China every year.  The US capitalism's  relentless quest for lowering production cost in their all out globalisation doctrine has driven them to this point.