Because it's "cool", educators
love Apple--and loved Steve Jobs. I wonder if they know
this, from Jobs' biography:
Jobs also criticized America's education system, saying it was "crippled by union work rules," noted Isaacson. "Until the teachers' unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform." Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit, that schools stay open until 6 p.m. and that they be open 11 months a year.
I hope he's right about one thing:
"You're headed for a one-term presidency," he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly.
1. I knew it wouldn't take you too long to repost this item.
ReplyDelete2. You never had much--if any--affection for anything Apple, and are quick to dismissively judge educators who appreciate Apple as doing so because it's "cool." Heavy burden you carry, being able to think for yourself while the rest of us struggle to make use of our opposable thumbs.
3. Having previously rejected all things Jobs, you now jump on the Jobs bandwagon, plying the assumed currency of Jobs in your never-ending War on Unions.
To which I say, "Welcome to the wondrous world of Steve Jobs!" The enigmatic computer industrialist was always known to walk the border between genius and madness. He erred nearly as often as he struck gold.
And he was a celebrity tech CEO (for good reasons), not a policy-maker. By supporting Jobs in this matter, are you hoping more celebrities will step up and provide us with guidance on public policy?
Think about how YOU'D fare at a school where the principal did the hiring/firing and where you were at work until 6pm 11 months of the year. If you find such a school to work for, I say "go for it!"
Oh, you fanboys get so hurt.
ReplyDeleteI'm not against Apple. If you like their stuff, I'm not willing to forbid you from having it. I just don't want to pay for it myself. But for you fanboys, anything short of iSlobber for anything Apple is tantamount to iAttack. Strange goggles you wear.
As for my "never-ending War on Unions", such hyperbole. I don't have *any*thing against unions in concept. In fact, I support them! What I'm against is bad unions, and being compelled to support those bad unions.
Not sure who you're calling a fanboy. Since I don't see anyone else here, I have to presume you're tagging me with the label. And I don't think my post qualifies as "iSlobber."
ReplyDeleteYou should celebrate Apple as a shining example of success in the free market. Their products are clearly superior. That's not me seeing through strange fanboy goggles, the Market tells us so. Are you saying the Market is stupid? Or might people prefer Apple products because they work so well. All you see is millions of fanboys yearning to be "cool." And I'm the one wearing goggles?
Jobs wanted to engineer Obama's 2008 campaign (and 2012 campaign, for that matter), but the Obama camp didn't treat Jobs as the royalty he imagines himself to be.
Like I said, Jobs has always been capable of all kinds of failure and wrong-headed stubbornness. He refused early surgery on his pancreatic cancer which might well have saved his life.
You *are* a fanboy. You imply that I have something against Apple--I don't. I just don't want to buy their products at the prices they charge. And that's ok, except to people who get all bent out of shape at the mere thought that someone doesn't want an Apple product. Why are you so upset that I don't want to buy Apple products? I don't get upset that you want to....
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you recognize the wisdom of the market. I'm part of that market. I just don't idolize particular companies.
Hey Dean...hiring and firing by the principal is exactly what happens in most Parochial and private schools. And the hours worked are about what was proposed...except for the 11 months stuff ( I work 12). No union rules...which is what Jobs was referring to. Retirement... I take responsibility for that not the taxpayer.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Apple because it's trendy, expensive and exemplifies that idea that Big Daddy Apple knows what's best.
ReplyDeleteApple: trendy since 1976.
ReplyDelete"Expensive?" Such judgment on a site that ostensibly favors free enterprise. Aren't products worth what consumers are willing to pay? Should there be governmental regulation limiting the price Apple can charge?
You are free to vote with your pocketbook and Apple is free to charge what the market will bear. The wisdom of the crowd indicates Apple products merit the asking price. The path beaten by the world to Apple's door is evidence that Apple has built the better mousetrap.
You want a more open platform? There are plenty of "open" vendors to choose from. And you won't need to wait in line to buy from them. Win win!
Darren: kindly cite evidence of me getting "bent out of shape" due to your electing to forego Apple. The fact of the matter is that I have never done anything of the sort.
Upon finding no factual evidence of your claim, please spare me the "you're interpreting my words too linearly" defense in which you cite someone (not me) getting bent out of shape because someone (not you) didn't want to buy Apple.
Your claim is that Dean is a fanboy, the type who gets bent out of shape for Darren not buying Apple. I humbly request proof.
I'm afraid you're inferring "upset" when I go about the simple business of challenging your errant opinions. It is in esteem that I presume you are both willing and able to defend your opinions against my arguments. Are you really interpreting that as "upset"? Rest assured this is not the case.
BTW, Anonymous tells of a Jobs-like teaching position that you could easily have but have chosen not to take. I would say you have voted with your pocketbook on that matter. Am I wrong yet again?
You're wrong again. I never expressed a preference for the "Jobs-like teaching position". Your anger that I dare mention Jobs or Apple in anything but the most favorable light appears to short circuit your usual Vulcan-type logic and stoicism.
ReplyDeleteAnd again--I don't want to pay Apple's prices. That doesn't make them a bad company, just a company that I won't patronize. Sheesh.
You and I stand together in our rejection of Jobs' call to break the unions, allow principals to hire and fire teachers, for schools to run daily until 6pm 11 months of the year. We both had Anonymous' union-free teaching option available to us, and we both deliberately rejected it. Solidarnosc! Let us mark the calendar and celebrate the anniversary.
ReplyDeleteI continue to wait with eagerness your citation of any evidence of anger on my part. We skeptics are fond of evidence rather than heartfelt (yet unfounded) assertions. As author of my statements, I can say (with authority!) that no anger was expressed. You call it "Vulcan stoicism," I call it "dispassionate corrective commentary," or (informally) "not getting bent out of shape." In any case, it seems fully intact in MY posts this discussion.
If you blog your opinion and interpret any challenge to your opinion as an expression of anger... well, that would be unfortunate, indeed.
For the record, I fully support individuals who forego Apple products. Apple will muddle through without your business, and I stand a chance of squeezing into the Apple store or getting an appointment at the Genius bar when necessary. If anything, I thank you for your personal rejection of Apple. I would find it difficult to label someone with my position as a fanboy, but I'm not the one quick to apply labels here.
I agree--let's mark the calendar for the fact that we agree with Steve Jobs in our hope for only a single term with Obama as president.
ReplyDeleteI understand your excitement over Steve Jobs' takedown of teachers' unions. Because you're new to The World of Steve Jobs, you didn't waste any time posting it to your blog.
ReplyDeleteVeterans know that Jobs' Sword cuts in many directions. And if you live by that sword, you will surely die by it, too.
Jobs on FoxNews: "The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is constructive-destructive, and you've cast your lot with the destructive people. Fox has become an incredibly destructive force in our society. You can be better, and this is going to be your legacy if you're not careful."
I offer this in the event that the media channels you tune into don't cover this Jobs tidbit. I'm pretty sure they won't trumpet it the way they did the teacher union gripe. I read about *both* slices of the Jobs Sword on HuffPo, for the record.
Those of us familiar with Steve Jobs learned to admire/despise him from afar.
PS: We both know Jobs would have done everything in his power to see to it that Barack Obama got reelected in 2012.
As I don't pay for cable, when I watch the news I watch ABC World News.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I know Steve's opinions ranged far and wide. To be honest, I don't really care what his opinions were--he's not someone who influenced me. I just tossed out a needle to see who'd step on it :-)
Steve Jobs thought teachers should be paid $100,000/yr but that would never happen while the school unions existed.
ReplyDeleteYou can see him explain it in this video from 1995:
http://tinyurl.com/3qpgfvb