Weekly Round Up 8/3/18

 

But no warnings for Presidents colluding with Foreign Powers to steal our democracy? That seems fair.
Senate warns tech companies on foreign interference: ‘Time is running out’

 

You know Jeff Bezos is so pissed right now….
$1 trillion market cap Apple says a big swing in a behind-the-scenes tech pricing will boost future earnings

 

Unless they’re planning on hacking his Twitter account, it’s a moot point.
The ACLU is building a tech dream team. Your move, Trump

 

The most liberal city in the country is going to force workers eat fast food?! WTF?!
San Francisco Officials to Tech Workers: Buy Your Lunch

 

They need to hurry up because I’m going to need a pair very soon.
The future is ear: Why “hearables” are finally tech’s next big thing

Anyone who’s bought their produce in Walmart can tell you this is total bullish*t…
$2B suit claims Walmart stole tech that helps keep produce fresh

 

Yeah, where was all that research money when the Kardashians came on the scene, you f*ckers?!
Tech’s impact on kids: Lawmakers push for research

I’m down for anything that will help get those Bridezilla shows cancelled.
The Benefits (and Limits) of Using Tech to Plan a Wedding

Weekly Round Up 6/15/18

 

Um, anything more sophisticated than the Self-Check out lines in Walmart will be hard for the American Public to master, guys.
No more grocery checkout lines: Microsoft may rival Amazon with tech that cuts out the cashier

 

Well, if nothing else is working….
Using tech to stop phone-wielding drivers

 

We don’t hear enough good things about Tech these days….
6 ways tracking tech is changing the world for the better

Whatever happened to just going to camp and being a kid?
NDSU summer tech camp designed to encourage young girls to pursue a career in technology

My favorite story of the week…
Apple closing tech loophole police use to crack iPhones

Please God, No. Make it Stop.
Drone swarms are the new fireworks lighting up China’s skies

 

Trump will never be able to wrap his tiny, barely used brain around this….
The Guy Who Created Oculus Has Now Made Surveillance Tech That Acts As A Virtual Border Wall

Literally what they do best….
Apple Shuns the Tech Industry’s Apology Tour

Tales from the Orchard: Apple’s Cook to Meet With Trump Amid U.S.-China Trade Tensions

 

 

 

By Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.com

-Cook attended Tuesday’s state dinner for France’s Macron
-Apple CEO has urged China and U.S. to settle trade differences

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday as the company looks to head off a brewing trade war between the U.S. and China.

The sit-down between Cook and Trump will take place in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon and be closed to the press, according to the president’s official schedule released by the White House.

The Trump administration’s decision to pursue tariffs on as much as $150 billion in Chinese goods has stoked trade tensions with Beijing that could affect Apple’s business in Asia. The company’s sprawling production chain is also centered in China.

Last month, Cook told attendees at a conference in Beijing that he hoped that China and the U.S. could resolve their differences on trade.

“The countries that embrace openness do exceptional and the countries that don’t, don’t,” he said. “It’s not a matter of carving things up between sides. I’m going to encourage that calm heads prevail.”

A trade war could place Apple in the Chinese government’s cross-hairs. A Communist Party newspaper last month listed the iPhone maker among the American companies that would be “most damaged” if a trade war erupted.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment after regular business hours.

Cook was among the guests on Tuesday evening at the first state dinner of Trump’s presidency, a formal fete for French President Emmanuel Macron. The Apple chief was accompanied by Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment and government affairs and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama.

What do think of Tim Cook’s extracurricular activities? Sound off in the comments below!

Weekly Round Up 2/2/18

 

 

As long as they check the air levels of those footballs before the big game on Sunday…
Goal Line Lasers, Football Sensors and More: Why the NFL Is Slow to New Tech.

If they deliver a doctor to my house via a drone, I will be all over this!
Amazon’s new healthcare company could give smaller healthtech players a boost.

Uncle Tim is getting a public pat on the back from the Idiot-in-Chief?! What is happening?!!
Apple gets rare nod in Trump’s tech-light State of the Union.

 

Okay, this makes sense…

Apple Avoided $40 Billion in Taxes. Now It Wants a Gold Star?

 

People need to stop getting their news from Facebook. Seriously.
Tech is now a weapon for propaganda and the problem is way bigger than Russia.

If they deliver a makeup artist via a drone, I’m all over… oh, wait…
Personalization through tech is the future of the beauty industry.

 

I guess she missed the Women’s March, #MeToo and #TimesUp movements?
YouTube CEO’s response to lack of women in tech was cringey af.

 

Well, if they’re not gonna do anything about the Gender Gap, then, yeah!
Tech companies have an obligation to join the fight against poverty, says Tipping Point CEO Daniel Lurie.

 

 

Tales From The Orchard: Apple Isn’t Building 3 Factories in the U.S., No Matter What Trump Says

 

 

ByJake Swearingen of New Yorker Magazine

Despite Donald Trump’s claims to The Wall Street Journal, Apple won’t be building three factories in the United States anytime soon. Why? Well, for starters, Apple doesn’t build factories anymore. In the entire world, Apple now owns exactly one manufacturing plant: its plant where it assembles iMacs in County Cork, Ireland.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Trump claimed that Tim Cook had promised that Apple would be building three manufacturing plants here in the U.S.

“I spoke to [Mr. Cook], he’s promised me three big plants — big, big, big,” said Trump. “I said, you know, Tim, unless you start building your plants in this country, I won’t consider my administration an economic success. He called me, and he said they are going forward.”

While it’s touching to think that Tim Cook would worry whether Trump considers his presidency an economic success, Apple, again, doesn’t build manufacturing plants. (In fact, before he was CEO of Apple, Cook was in charge of winding down Apple’s factories and warehouses in the U.S., closing Apple’s last American factory, based out of Elk Grove, California, in 2004.)

Apple manufactures its high-end Mac Pros, a tiny slice of its overall business, here in the U.S., but the work is done through a partnership with Taiwanese firm Flextronics — and that factory has struggled to keep up even with the tiny demand for Mac Pro towers, causing Apple to consider shifting production over to Asia. Apple has pledged to invest $1 billion in American manufacturing, but that money will filter to American companies like Corning, which produces the glass used in many Apple displays. It also uses many U.S.-based suppliers — including 3M, Caterpillar, and Lapmaster — to build various parts of its hardware, in the same way it uses many other suppliers not based in the U.S., most famously Foxconn.

So why would Trump brag about three new plants from Apple in the U.S.? It’s possible Trump is simply fabricating the story out of whole cloth. More generously, it’s possible that Cook talked to Trump about Apple’s reported efforts to get its Asian suppliers to manufacture some iPhones in the U.S. Indeed, Foxconn seems poised to open factories in the States, and Foxconn produces nearly a half million iPhones a day when in full swing. Apple’s rumored expanded lineup of iPhones could see that number go even higher in coming years.

The most likely scenario probably falls somewhere in between that. Realistically, it wouldn’t cost Apple a tremendous amount to bring a few jobs back to the U.S., mainly because foreign labor costs are starting to rise. The MIT Technology Review analyzed Apple’s supply chain in 2015 and determined that the retail price of an iPhone made entirely in the U.S. would be about $100 higher than it is now — a price jump, but not a catastrophic one.

We may see more jobs and new plants in the U.S. as Apple’s suppliers, from Foxconn to Samsung, continue to expand their manufacturing footstep here. But it won’t be Apple that will be building them, regardless of what Donald Trump claims Tim Cook told him.

What do you think Apple should tell the Trump administration about it’s manufacturing plans? Tell us in the comments below!

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