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Tim Cook: If You Don't Like Our Energy Policies, Don't Buy Apple Stock
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Nick Statt reports at Cnet that at Apple's annual shareholder meeting Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook shot down the suggestion from a conservative, Washington, DC-based think tank that Apple give up on environmental initiatives that don't contribute to the company's bottom line. The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), hasn't taken kindly to Apple's increasing reliance on green energy and said so in a statement issued to Apple ahead of the meeting. 'We object to increased government control over company products and operations, and likewise mandatory environmental standards,' said NCPPR General Counsel Justin Danhof demanding that the pledge be voted on at the meeting. 'This is something [Apple] should be actively fighting, not preparing surrender.' Cook responded that there are many things Apple does because they are right and just, and that a return on investment (ROI) was not the primary consideration on such issues. 'When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind. I don't consider the bloody ROI,' said Cook. 'We do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive, We want to leave the world better than we found it.' Danhof's proposal was voted down and to any who found the company's environmental dedication either ideologically or economically distasteful, Cook advised 'if you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock.'"
not only does apple control everything about the phones we buy, but they think they can tell the owners to fuck off?
One more reason that I wont ever buy another apple product
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
I'm going to get downmodded for saying this no doubt....
But having read both sides of the story here, it looks like the flow of the commentators are sort of missing what this power play was about.
The NCPPR wasn't trying to get Tim Cook riled up....they were trying to make millions of stockholders aware that Al Gore, whom both the left and right recognize as a nutjob, is the board member driving some weird decisions at Apple, and that Tim is backing him. There's nothing wrong with green data centers. But that's the tip of the iceberg. Al doesn't know the first thing about computers. And he's on the board of directors at Apple. And he's working (and succeeding) at driving Apple board discussions away from how to make computing devices and into "how to fight climate change." He's shifting the company away from what they're good at into something new, and political.
"Hey! You guys hired Lisa, the former head of the EPA to be a decision maker at Apple. What sense does that make? What qualifications does she have to make decisions for a tech company?"
"Hey! Fine with green data. Why are we looking at powerpoint presentations about fighting climate change instead of nextgen technology? Why is Al Gore giving the presentation?"
I have no love for the NCPPR, but I understand why they did it. I work at GE. If Jeff Immelt took Al Gore into the Board of Directors, and senior staff meetings were dominated by Al Gore talking about Climate Change instead of market penetration and product roll-out, I'd expect people to want to stand up and take notice.
Apple could care less about 'making the world a better place'. If a few deaths and suffering of people helped pad the bottom line, they would go for it without hesitation. So would Apple buyers. People who buy Apple products just want their I-things, no matter what suffering is behind it, sort of like the way some women obsess over diamonds. African blood on it? No problem, as long as it sparkles. I have shown and explained Apple exploitation to Apple buyers directly, the answer was, 'so what if they exploit Chinese, there are just so many of them!'. Forget about the front line workers at Apple shops who get paid a pitance, or the ultra-poor who gather coltan in Africa for all our devices--give those shiny devices. Now Apple is already sitting on a lot of money, giving all their workers, their fair share will not even scratch theor money pile. Now spme will say, 'Apple contracts their manufacturing to other companies, they have no idea what is going on'. Do you really think a company like Apple will hand over their proprorietary means of production blindly? Just give away their secrets and say, 'we trust you'. Now, some idiots say that Apple exploitation was discredited because some playwright in the US spoke about and then retracted stories of Apple exploitation. They say, Apple does not exploit because that play has been discredited'. I am not talking about the play, I would like to go here, for starters: http://www.aljazeera.com/progr... and this as well http://www.aljazeera.com/progr... and this http://www.cbc.ca/news/technol... And let us not forget that Intel bases a lot of their factories on occupied Palestine, land mandated as belonging to Palestinians by the UN. Intel, who provide CPU's to Apple. Now you will say, 'oh come on, it is totally fine that exploitation occur because all companies do it anyway'. I am saying, these companies make oodles of money, if the buyers get concerned they can ask the manufacturer, 'we helped you become rich, please give a tiny amount to those you hurt and change enough not to hurt others again--it wil not really affect your vast sums of wealth'.
"SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
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