Apple’s turn to the Corporate Dark Side…

For the longest time, Apple have been considered one of the corporate good guys in the eyes of progressive political types.  They were the little guy who put computers in elementary and middle schools for kids to learn about.  They were the anti-Microsoft company in the 90s when Microsoft was threatening to take over the computing world.  The Mac vs. PC commercials several years ago also gave the perception that Apple was the good guy.  Steve Jobs was seen as a progressive genius.  The iPod, iPhone, and iPad were and are artistic works of beauty.  Even Al Gore is on the board of directors, and his slips of releasing iPhone secrets were seen as charming.  The Occupy Wall Street folks will protest banks, wireless companies, and other evil businesses but they do not protest Apple.  As a matter of fact, they use their iPhones and iPads as tools to get their message out.

But is the era of Apple as a corporate good guy over?  Recent evidence suggests that the death of Steve Jobs has opened the door for critics to start attacking Apple.  On a number of levels, Apple is starting to feel the heat.  Some examples:

(1) Apple’s China Syndrome:  The iPhones and iPads are completely assembled for the most part at Apple’s Foxconn facilities in China.  Recent problems at these facilities, including suicides, deadly fires, overworked employees, underage workers, and poor working conditions have come to light.  Apple has been stung by these accusations and has tried to diffuse the situation by asking a Independent Labor Agency to come in and report on Foxconn’s conditions.  Initial positive reviews have given the impression that the Agency is trying to run interference for Apple.  In addition, Apple is locked in a dispute with a Chinese electronic provider called Proview over the naming rights to iPad.  A ruling in favor of Proview last year may allow Proview not just to block selling distribution of iPads in China but also block shipping of iPads out of China to the rest of the world.  Also, there have been riots and protests at Apple stores in China for various reasons including the Foxconn situation.

(2)  Apple is now king of the (technology) world:  Thanks to the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, Apple is now unofficially the king of computer technology.  Microsoft and Intel is struggling or non-existent in the Tablet and Cell Phone World.  Other companies can’t match Apple in Computers, Tablets, or MP3 players.  The only companies worldwide that could come close to matching Apple’s dominance would be Samsung or Sony at this point.  Apple was once the little guy; now they are about as big as ExxonMobil and are worth more money than many European countries.  How will they handle being the top dog?

(3)  Media now no longer afraid to criticize Apple… and Apple is losing the PR battle.  When Steve Jobs was in charge, Apple enjoyed a good relationship with the media.  When Jobs passed away, many people who were silent critics for fear of Jobs’ vindictiveness; after his death, they now feel empowered to openly go after Apple again.  And they are not alone:  The New York Times in their investigation of Foxconn is probably using Apple as the path to a Pulitzer… and new CEO Tim Cook is not happy about it.  He has openly rebuked the NYT about their reporting, and many Apple officials are starting to no longer comment on stories to the Gray Lady.  Also, consider the world of commercials as well.  Remember the Mac vs. PC commercials Apple once produced?  Well, the tables are now turning.  Consider Samsung’s recent commercial making fun of the iPhone while touting the Galaxy S II smartphone.

(4) Tim Cook should be on the Occupiers’ Target Radar.  For serving 5 months as CEO of Apple in 2011, Tim Cook earned $378 million dollars worth of financial benefits to be the top paying CEO… $376 million of that alone was in 1 million shares of restricted stock (now worth nearly $500 million).  Consider Steve Jobs when he died only had 5.5 million shares.  His base salary in 2012 is $1.4 million.  Consider when he was CEO, Steve Jobs once famously had a salary of $1 for a year.  Now, the Apple CEO gets really paid.

(5)  Apple is starting to fall behind the wireless technology curve.  To be fair, Apple has never really been a wireless tech leader with their iPhone or iPad.  The first iPhone was based on GSM, and after initial criticism, Apple’s apps overcame the technology deficiency.  But 4G LTE has become a popular buzzword in the smartphone world and even though the tech has one chief drawback—battery life—the smartphones and tablets are all claiming 4G LTE as the salvation of the smartphone with WiFi as an offloading capability.  If the iPad3 and iPhone5 don’t have LTE technology in their devices, Apple will pay a price in terms of sales.

(6)  Apple may no longer be intimidating Network Providers.  Even as late as last year, Apple was able to strong arm Network Providers into carrying their devices (see the Sprint deal where Sprint agreed to buy 30 million iPhones over 5 years).  But Network Providers are not getting as much profit for selling the iPhone as they want because they have to heavily subsidize it.  AT&T and Verizon may balk at selling iPhones in the future because of how much it hurts the bottom line.

Of course, Apple is still not done developing new things.  iTV could make its debut later this year, the iCar is on the drawing board, and who knows what else Apple has up their sleeve.  With $100 billion of cash on hand, Apple has the opportunity to do anything and they have 4 years of products in the pipeline to keep them going in the short run.  But that could be a problem in of itself.  If Apple tries to get involved in everything, it could invite additional Apple enemies down the road.  And if Apple stops innovating, that’s another problem.

In short, the days of Apple being the corporate “good guys” are over.  Just how far Apple turns to the Corporate dark side has yet to be seen.  Tim Cook’s turn as Apple CEO will do a lot to answer that question.  But don’t be surprised if politicians and OWS forces begin to increase their venom on Apple soon.  Maybe even Al Gore himself will start blasting the company that put him on their Board of Directors.

Betraying the Catholic Church…

What do Washington Post Columnists E.J. Dionne, Michael Gereson, and Kathleen Parker have in common?  Certainly not their politics.  Dionne is a steadfast liberal, Parker is a female conservative, and Gereson… well, I think he’s conservative, though he despises Gingrich and the Tea Party.  However, each has expressed their displeasure of the Obama administration’s Health Care rules on birth control basically mandating religious schools and hospitals provide contraception coverage.  This has particularly irked the Catholic Church, who believes that the mandate violates their religious teachings.

All three Post Columnists agree that prominent Catholics who either supported or wanted to engage Obama’s Health Care push now feel betrayed—notably several high-profile Catholics.  First, Rev. John Jenkins, President of Notre Dame, who gave Obama an honorary degree that promised a “sensible” approach to the conscience clause.  Second, US Cardinal designate Timothy Dolan, who pursued an engagement policy with the administration and who in November was promised by the President conscience protections, only to be told on January 20 that no such concessions to the Catholic Schools and Hospitals would be provided.  Third, Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, was left hanging out to dry after defending Obama from Catholic Bishops opposed to the Health Care law.  Finally, the highest ranking Catholic in the Administration, Vice President Joe Biden, is now unusually silent on this issue.  Of course, since when does the President ever take the advice of Joe, who is, with each passing day, replacing Dan Quayle as the most incompetent VP in US History.  Hey Joe, this issue is a “Big F***ing Deal” as you might say!  Why so silent?  Also, consider 2016.  The likely Democratic nominee at this point is either Catholic (Biden, MD Gov. Martin O’Malley, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo) or comes from a Catholic state (MASS Gov. Devall Patrick).  If this rule is not revoked now, the Catholic Church will impose a heavy price on the Democratic nominee to reverse the Administrations rulings on contraceptives.

The big loser in this battle is the poor, notably the inner city poor who depends on the Catholic Church for food, shelter, health care, and education.  With the Catholic Church potentially being forced to pay to cover contraceptives or be fined, there is less money for Catholic charities, schools, and hospitals to provide for those in need.  Already, Catholic Adoption Agencies have left Illinois because of disagreements over gay couples adopting children.  Forced to choose between obeying the law and obeying God, many Catholics will choose God, eliminating a lifeline for poor people, and forcing the government to intervene—at the taxpayers’ expense.

Many will use the classical separation of Church and State argument to justify removing religious symbols from public spaces.  But Separation of Church and State is a TWO-WAY street.  If the Church is told not to interfere in State matters, the opposite MUST hold true as well—meaning, the State cannot impose their will on Church matters.  Need any proof?  Look at a recent unanimous Supreme Court decision which affirmed the rights of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod against the Obama administration’s rules.  If the Catholic Church pushes the issue into the Court system, I would expect an equally decisive ruling in favor of the Church.  And columnists from across the political spectrum realize the serious of the issue and most are coming out in support of the Catholic Church.

And don’t think for a minute that the contraception is the end of it.  Abortion is the next logical step.  So, if former Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak thinks he saved America from a potentially volatile situation when he got Obama to sign an Executive Order stopping the mandate of abortion to be covered as Health Care—he should realize that an Executive Order from the President could reverse that.  Then he would join prominent Catholics allies of the President who are currently seeing the underside of Obama’s Bus.  Don’t think it could happen?  Just ask many of the President’s (potentially former) Catholic allies.

The likely outcome is that the President will reverse course in the next few weeks and provide for religious exceptions.  The unfortunate thing is that it didn’t have to come to a potential election year issue.

Is it time to end the Big Music Name Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Another halftime show has ended in controversy.  During the recent Super Bowl Halftime Show, Madonna and several Musical Acts of today performed.  Madonna performed several classics and a new song as part of the show, and many people had opinions on how good, or bad Madonna was.  But the focus after the game has been on British singer MIA who decided to remind the audience how many points the New England Patriots were leading by at halftime—either that or she was telling the audience that she was the star.  Regardless, this is now the second big musical halftime production in 9 years that has ended in controversy.  The first one, when Janet Jackson showed a little too much of her body to MTV’s initial approval, ended up forcing MTV to all-reality TV and sending a lot of shock jocks (including Howard Stern) to either early retirement or satellite radio.  In this instance, both the NFL and NBC immediately condemned the middle finger, but the aftershocks are still yet to be felt.  Perhaps the biggest effect of this incident may be the end of the Big Music Name Halftime Show.

Ever since Ms. Jackson got nasty in Houston, the NFL and network TV has tried to tow the line between playing it safe and entertaining the audience with legendary names in music.  Some have worked well (Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney are examples) and some have not panned out well (like Tom Petty and The Black-Eyed Peas).  Madonna has had more positive feedback than negative in this version, and personally, I think she would have been nice without the additional singers.  When the best guest singer was last seen at last year’s Grammy’s dressed up as a big parrot with rejects from Jim Henson singing a song called, “F**k you”, you need to dump the back-up crew.

If you want to make a statement, the Grammy’s or the MTV Music Awards is the place to do it, not in front of over a billion people watching a sporting event.  This is exactly what the NFL did not need, and the knee-jerk reaction will probably be the reason next year’s Super Bowl Halftime show will feature Up With People (and nobody wants to see THAT).

Of course, some people are defending MIA’s right to “Express Herself”, and many of these people are the same ones who will crucify any larger than life leader (they have been probably piling on the deceased Joe Paterno in recent weeks, but that’s for another post). My response? The NFL watched the rehearsal and did not see MIA do that in practice. MIA decided to wait until the real show to pull her attention-getting stunt. That was premeditated.

Here’s an idea:  it’s time to end the Practice of Using Big Name Music Acts as the Super Bowl Halftime Entertainment.  If you want to have a music act, why not a marching band, like they do it at many halftime football games?  Why not invite the reigning DCI World Champions to be the Halftime Entertainment?  Many who are musically inclined (especially with Bands) will stick around, while those who aren’t will take a break to watch something else.  Do we really need to keep audiences in their chairs for four hours straight?

You know the day is coming when some musical act will lie about their intentions and use their halftime show as a protest of their own.  That will probably kill the Halftime Show altogether.  Also, not everyone will be completely satisfied with the Big Name Choices for Halftime and will have already made up their minds before the show, no matter how good or bad it was.  You could see it in last night’s comments on Facebook and Yahoo!.

In the end, the NFL can tell me to take my opinions and go away.  But, I’m just offering a little advice.  It’s time the NFL did away with the Big Production Shows and just focus on the Game.

Wireless communications: Building Obama’s re-election hopes?

The worst kept secret right now is that the US Economy is beginning to strengthen as we head into the 2012 Presidential election primary and general election cycles.  This would definitely help the incumbent, Barack Obama, as he attempts to win a second term.  How much that economy strengthens may determine whether Obama gets that second term or whether Mitt Romney becomes President.  It appears the key number is 8, as in 8% unemployment rate.  The current unemployment rate sits at 8.5%, and according to historical evidence, no sitting President has won an election with an unemployment rate above 8%.  Not to mention the fact that a lot of people have stopped looking, and if they start looking again, the unemployment rate will rise again.  So if Obama is going to win a second term, the economy needs to improve and soon.

Probably one of the hottest areas for employment right now is the Wireless Industry.  2012 is shaping up to be the year where “4G” communications, notably LTE, will stand to make huge inroads across this nation as wireless data networks continue to replace cell phone networks as the dominant form of wireless communication.  Verizon Wireless is well on its' way to complete nationwide LTE service by next year.  MetroPCS and AT&T have deployed networks in several locations and will look to expand their networks to compete with Verizon on a national level.  Leap Wireless and other regional US cellular are beginning LTE build-outs in various locations.  Sprint and Clearwire will be beginning their switch from the older WiMAX standard to the LTE format, as they try to play catch-up.  T-Mobile will use advanced HSPA+ in an attempt to compete speed-wise with the other National carriers.  In short, this year will mark the largest change in the wireless industry since the late 1990s when digital cellular began to replace analog cellular as the US’s main wireless communications.

Right now, talking with industry insiders, many of these wireless networks are putting up new cell phone towers and even software-defined radios antennas in order to meet the increasingly changing world of communications.  Sprint has just started deploying a new multi-mode base station that they hope will be the future of cellular base stations.  But another dynamic is at work.  Given the increase of smartphone usage in this country, more people are using their phones to such a point, that a cellular network meltdown is projected in 2013.  Cellular providers know this, and are doing everything they can to try and prevent their networks from crashing.  Putting together smaller base-stations and linking them with their larger cell tower into networks could spell the difference between expanding the capacity of the networks or leading to disaster as more people move to smartphones.

There’s also a hope by the wireless industry that Congress and the FCC will free up additional RF spectrum, also allowing these networks to increase spectral capacity.  So far, the Obama administration has shown interest to help free up spectrum, but so far, not enough spectrum has been released.  Wireless networks have attempted to buy up all unused spectrum as a result, led by Verizon and AT&T.

So there’s a lot of work to do over the next two years.  And that work requires creating high paying jobs to meet those demands.  The question is will the FCC and other government agencies help or hurt the wireless industry.  Based on the last 6 months, there is a perception the FCC and the Dept. of Justice may block the ability to create wireless jobs, based on the opposition to the AT&T – T-Mobile failed merger attempt.  But some analysts, including Yankee Group, concluded the merger would cost jobs, damaging AT&T’s claims that the merger would add jobs and ultimately killing the merger.  The FCC later approved AT&T’s efforts to buy Qualcomm’s unused 700 MHz spectrum.  So the FCC’s role is still unknown whether it will be a roadblock or rubber stamp for the wireless industry.

Regardless, the ability for the wireless industry to upgrade their networks to handle the increasing traffic demands may either benefit or hinder the job market.  And that may be the difference between a one-term or two-term Obama administration.  So, it will be a very interesting year in the wireless world to say the least.

High School Yearbooks and Showing off too much, too early

By now, everyone has heard of the story regarding 18-year old Sydney Spies, a Senior at Durango High School.  Sydney wanted the High School Yearbook to use a provocative picture of her as her Senior Picture.  The picture was of her wearing a white mini-skirt and a black shawl that only covered her upper chest area.  The Yearbook and School refused to put the picture in the yearbook, and now Sydney and her family are suing the school claiming that their rights were violated.  Sydney claims that the picture is consistent with her desire to be a model when she graduates and was meant to show her beauty.  Most people, however, disagree with that line of thinking and believe the picture make her look more like a stripper.

Long before I met my wife, I attended South Gwinnett High School, where my class was full of beautiful young ladies who were even more beautiful than Ms. Spies.  In fact, 3 of my classmates won Miss South, which I’m sure has not been done before and hasn’t been since.  But I don’t remember any of them dressing provocatively in their Senior Year pictures.  Come to think of it, I don’t remember any of them dressing that provocatively in school.  They looked great in prom pictures, in school pictures, and even when they were dressed modestly or casually.  These were the kind of ladies you could take to mom and dad, go on a fun date, or just watch a movie with.  They had great restraint, because many of them wanted to be known for more than just good looks.  Many have grown up and gone on to be successful outside of High School in various ways.

Single young guys probably see the pictures of young Ms. Spies and probably think of the Rick James song, “Super Freak”.  You know, “She’s a very kinky girl, The kind you don’t take home to Momma…”.  Ms. Spies comes from a new generation of ladies who prefer to show off their bodies instead of being modest.  Many of these new generation of young ladies are willing to wear Victoria Secret’s pants that have the word “Pink” labeled across the buttocks or some other word that would give the impression they want to get intimate immediately.  They dress way beyond their years and more often than not find their way into trouble with teenage boys, or in some situations, older men.  These men are less interested in marrying these kind of young ladies and more interested in one-night stands.  The inability to show modesty or restraint is going to lead to problems for many of these young women.

Ms. Spies appears to be heading down a dark path that will lead only to a life of ruin.  It’s not too late to turn it around, but if she doesn’t do it soon, I’m afraid she will become another sad story of a teenage “beauty” who ends up as an example of what can go wrong when you try to draw attention to yourself with your body too early in life.  It’s a shame they will never learn the examples that many of my female classmates at South lived.

The long goodbye to two business icons…

Since Christmas, the sad news of two American icons has brought back a flood of memories from my childhood and it has reminded me that nothing is forever. 

The news regarding Sears closing 100+ of its stores (both Sears and Kmart) across the country may not have been a surprise to anyone, but it was still a sad reminder that Sears nor Kmart are giants in their respective stores.  In the 1970s and 1980s, both Sears and Kmart were the place to go for anyone’s needs.  Sears was the home of great brands like Kennmore, Craftsman, DieHard, and other lines.  Sears even invented the Discover Credit Card back in the 1980s, and had businesses that included Caldwell Banker real estate, and Dean Witter Financial.  And who could forget the Sears Catalog?  Kmart was America’s discount store.  But, beginning in the late 1980s, Target and Wal-Mart cut deeply into Kmart’s advantage, and by the late 1990s, Kmart was headed for bankruptcy.  After emerging from bankruptcy, Kmart bought Sears out, but the combined companies continue to be hounded by Wal-Mart and Target on the discount side, Macy’s on the Expensive Mall side, Best Buy on the electronics side, and internet giants like Amazon.com.  Sears and Kmart have struggled to re-invent themselves in recent years.

The second icon to have serious trouble is Kodak.  Eastman Kodak was once a giant in American history.  The Rochester, NY company was the undisputed King of Photography for a long time.  Their cameras are legendary—Instamatics, Brownies, Retina, up to the Advantix.  But, unfortunately, Kodak success in film cameras would eventually lead to its demise in the digital age—even though Kodak invented the first digital camera.  The inability to see where the future was going cost Kodak, and a series of decisions that made people question what Kodak really wanted to do in the digital age has led the company to an almost certain bankruptcy.  (Side note:  what is it with Rochester, NY founded companies and the failure to see the next big thing?  Look at Xerox and the fact that they literally invented computer operating systems, but ceded that business line to Apple and Microsoft.)

As a kid growing up, we always had Kmarts close to us.  When we moved to Snellville in 1979, visiting a Kmart was a big deal.  We could find clothing, toys, daily products, and other goods at Kmart (at least until one of my sisters started working at Richway in the 1980s).  What we couldn’t find there, we could always find at Sears when we went to either Northlake Mall, or later, Gwinnett Place Mall.  My family had the Sears charge card.  Heck, we didn’t even have to go to Sears.  We could always go to the local catalog store in Tucker to buy stuff as we needed.

It has been some time since I really shopped at Sears.  Sure, we got a Washer and Dryer from them in 2009, but aside from that, I have rarely stepped inside their store to shop over the last decade.  It’s almost as rare for me to visit Kmart, though I must admit I do go in there a little more to shop.  Still, whenever I shop, it’s usually at JCPenney or Target, because the things I need I can usually find at those places.

My family was a photography family, or so I have learned through talking with various family members.  When I was a young boy, we would take pictures with Kodak cameras, send the film to the local Fotomat to be developed, then enjoy the pictures.  In the 1980s, we had a Kodak Disc Camera, which we used as our primary family camera.  My first camera was a Kodak camera and I used it to take pictures across the country from Elementary School to College and beyond.  For Christmas of 2003, I bought my first digital camera, a Kodak Easy Share, and I even got the accompanying printer.  That camera would not last long, but I was able to replace it for free and the next Kodak digital camera would document the greatest moments of my adult life—the courtship of my eventual wife, our honeymoon, my trip to Australia, and finally, the birth of my son, Joshua.  Shortly after Joshua’s birth, however, my love affair with Kodak ended, and the two cameras my family currently own are Nikons—a point and shoot for general stuff, and a digital SLR we use for special occasions.

Kodak and Sears/Kmart will not die.  My gut is they will still survive, but not at the levels they once dominated.  Some companies have a funny way of surviving, even after apparent liquidation (think Bennigan’s restaurants and Service Merchandise).  Still, we will not see them at the levels they once were.  Probably some 15 years in the future, I will come across a Mall, and see the Sears logo or drive past a Kmart, and it will bring back happy memories of my childhood.  Maybe I’ll even see a Kodak product and remember how I use to love their cameras.  But it won’t be the same.  Joshua will not revere either company the way daddy once did.

I am saddened by their downturn.  I wish they could continue to live on.  But time marches on.  And one day, every company will have to deal with what Sears/Kmart and Kodak are dealing with now—even Apple, Wal-Mart, Target, and other high-flyers of today.

The dumbest political campaign of 2012…

The Senate seat of Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson is becoming open after Hutchinson announced her retirement a while back.  The seat should be considered a safe Republican hold, but if one Republican candidate gets his way, the Democrats would have a great chance to win the seat.

Craig James, an ESPN analyst, has decided to run for the Texas seat as a Republican.  He is a former running back of the famed “Pony Express” at SMU.  He used that experience to land College Football analyst gigs at ABC/ESPN, and at CBS.  On paper, being an analyst would be relatively safe and not be a polarizing position.  However, James has two problems.  First, James spends most of his time during College Football season outside of the state of Texas, and Texans do have a knack of not trusting people who give the perception that they are out of state.  Second, and more importantly, his actions over the last 30 years may have contributed to the demise of 2 big-time College Football Programs in the Lone Star State, a sin that many consider unforgivable in a Football-crazed state.

First, James’ time at SMU was during SMU’s peak.  It was a National Power to the point that they were a National Title threat in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  But there was a lot of seedy things going on under the surface, such as players getting paid, and shortly after James’ left, SMU was given the NCAA “Death Penalty”—a sanction that destroyed the program and has taken many years to recover from (if they ever recover).  Though James was never implicated in any of the underhanded things going on at SMU at the time, he and other members of the Dallas school during that time have been branded as contributors to SMU’s demise.

What he did a few years ago interfering with Texas Tech, however, is well-known.  Mike Leach had taken the Red Raider program from obscurity into a National power, winning 11 games in 2008.  In 2009, Leach was helping Texas Tech to another winning season, when Craig James and his son, Adam (a sophomore at Texas Tech), leveled charges against Leach that Leach mishandled a concussion that Adam had suffered.  Craig used the ESPN brand, along with Spaeth Communications, who had developed the Swift Boat Campaign to derail John Kerry’s 2004 Presidential Bid to smear Mike Leach.  That smear campaign ultimately led to Leach’s firing before the 2009 Alamo Bowl.  Leach is now suing Texas Tech, Craig James, ESPN, and Spaeth Communications, and evidence suggests that Leach has a reasonable chance to win the case.  Craig James’ handling of the situation has made him a target by many in the Texas Tech community, and stirred up the SMU faithful in the process.

So why in the name of God is James running for Senate?  Besides the reasons James says, ego is involved.  James thinks he has vast support in the state; otherwise, we wouldn’t be running in the first place.  However, many Republicans don’t want the headache of dealing with James as a candidate, and are pushing him to drop out.  Many people think this would be a good opportunity for ESPN to fire James considering he has taken a leave of absence to run.  And others think James should just disappear completely.

So, how long will James continue to run given all the headaches he’s going to have to reckon with?  As many as his ego will allow him, I guess.  Sooner or later, though, reality will catch up with him, maybe while he still has a gig left with ESPN to go back to.