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U.S. Government Developed the iPod

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the oh-yeah dept.

ezavada writes "Engadget reports that in a speech at Tuskegee University, President Bush claims that government research developed the iPod." From the article: "While we have to gratefully acknowledge the efforts of government agencies such as DARPA in some of the fields mentioned by the President, we also feel obligated to point out the accomplishments of private companies in the US and abroad, including IBM, Hitachi and Toshiba -- not to mention the Fraunhofer Institute, which developed the original MP3 codec ..."

4 of 614 comments (clear)

  1. Absurd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He didn't say that at all. According to the article, he said that the "the government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression" and goes on to say that while the government intendeed that for one (unspecified) purpose, that "it turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod".

    That's a long long way from claiming to have "invented the iPod".

    This whole story is a waste of space. It doesn't even mention Ponies.

  2. Sounds like a (bad) joke to me by BaltikaTroika · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From TFA: George W. Bush told his audience, "the government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod."

    The bold type is mine. I doubt that the single reason that things like signal compression were funded was because it was necessary to develop the iPod. It seems like these things could be more useful in military/computer/communications/etc. spheres than in personal entertainment.

    Does this sound like a (bad) joke taken out of context to anybody else? Don't we have editors for this sort of thing?

    Baltika
    --
    http://www.pancakelane.com/

  3. Re:US government Invented the iPod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, while I'm sure it hasn't done much to endear them to the average man in the mosque, the USA was hated by people in the middle east well before any of their Iraqi adventures. The bigger fallout from the Iraq war has been the damage to America's standing amongst their allies and other friendly nations. Even if the USA is stronger, nobody likes a greedy lying bully.

  4. Re:US government Invented the iPod by kypper · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now mod me down, because I am not part of the group think and my ideas and opinions burn you eyes.
    Funny, but I see your opinion every time I tune into Fox News.

    It always kills me to see the same black and white debate on the same issue. Absolutely nobody in America can stand politically in the middle, or concede that either side might have some valid point.