There is actually a burgeoning middle-class in most Sub-Saharan African countries. Income levels are rising and people are consuming more, moving into cities and away from their rural existence. Somalia is a virtual failed state, DRC is probably a close second. Although, even DRC you have major mining interests. Most East African economies are growing at well over 6%, Southern African economies are doing even better. Even with the horrible poverty and issues such as HIV, there is a lot of money to be made. One has to be in it for the long haul though.
China has major infrastructure projects in virtually every subSaharan African country right now. They are rebuilding railways, ports, mines, refinement facilities, ect.... Of course, with all the corruption and lack of oversight, many of these projects are behind schedule. N. American and European companies are still there, but they have a lot of catching up to do. As someone who has lived in several African countries for the past eight years, it is disheartening that sustainability and environmental awareness takes a backseat to quick development, but the reality is apparent. China has arrived.
The RIM tablet version 1.0 was unable to access email without tethering. I mean...what were they thinking? Time to parter with Microsoft or face the Abyss.
Put a "Suicide Booth" on every street corner and make it cost $1. Melancholic robots need not apply. Of course, the antidepressant manufacturers will probably take a hit.
Over the past two years that has been drought in Russia, Flooding in the US, Drought in China, flooding in SE Asia, Drought and Flooding in Canada, Drought in East Africa.....notice a pattern? There may be speculation in food commodities, but at the heart of the problem, developing countries are finding it more expensive and difficult to find the food to feed their people. This shit is real. Sure, there is no famine...yet. But the world is two failed harvest short of that. The world is balancing on a knife's edge.
Unfortunately reality works differently than your nice clean mathematical models. Food prices in Africa have already doubled. Most people spend upwards of 70% of their entire monthly income on FOOD. Think about that for a second. If food prices were to double again, you would see multiple coup attempts, civil unrest, perhaps even another genocide or two. In any event such catastrophes would throw whole regions into chaos. Even without such political consequences, more mundane one's are already afoot. New Virulent and drug resistant strains of T.B. and Flu are circulating throughout the populations of Saharan africa. Disease is always the biggest killer in human history.
iDevices and their users are increasing exponentially and there is nothing to say that Apple won't allow their iDevices to play nice with others out there. Steve is a clever guy like that...
Untethered idevices! Apple just opened themselves up to a whole new segment of the market...those people who don't have an iMac or Macbook. This means that anyone who can afford the lowest level idevice is able to get access to the whole ecosystem to handle all of their media, user created content, documents, ect.... The iCloud makes all of this possible. The data is persistent and secure forever, for all present and future devices. It only gets better from here on out; we are finally in the 21st century baby!
I always thought it would have been cool for Nokia to partner up with Apple in the pre-iphone days. Apple had the software and UI know-how, Nokia had superior hardware... well, iPhone has gone through many iterations and has progressively become superior to anything Nokia could ever muster. Nokia will rue the day Apple comes out with a $100 iPhone, they'll be relegated to making cheap solar powered 'dumb phones' to sell to developing countries. My current Nokia is a 'dumb-phone' that was made in India, has a 1 inch colour screen, built in radio, and LED flashlight. The phone is functional, nearly indestructible, and cost me about $30. This is Nokia's future.
Majority consensus of the world is that Israel is a virtual Apartheid state, so by consensus you are quite wrong. Continue living with your delusions at your peril.
The pirates are an international operation. They receive financing and logistics from Europe, financing and support from all over East Africa, technological support from such things as Sat-phones as well as insiders. The pirates reinvest their ransom earnings into their ship and equipment, the local economy, and the region as a whole. Until Somalia has a semblance of a government, piracy will continue to prosper.
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There is actually a burgeoning middle-class in most Sub-Saharan African countries. Income levels are rising and people are consuming more, moving into cities and away from their rural existence. Somalia is a virtual failed state, DRC is probably a close second. Although, even DRC you have major mining interests. Most East African economies are growing at well over 6%, Southern African economies are doing even better. Even with the horrible poverty and issues such as HIV, there is a lot of money to be made. One has to be in it for the long haul though.
China has major infrastructure projects in virtually every subSaharan African country right now. They are rebuilding railways, ports, mines, refinement facilities, ect.... Of course, with all the corruption and lack of oversight, many of these projects are behind schedule. N. American and European companies are still there, but they have a lot of catching up to do. As someone who has lived in several African countries for the past eight years, it is disheartening that sustainability and environmental awareness takes a backseat to quick development, but the reality is apparent. China has arrived.
So all the smartest people in the world (Apple Users) will now be the best informed. ;)
When they swoop down and fire a hellfire missile into your house, it's just their way of saying, I love you.
The RIM tablet version 1.0 was unable to access email without tethering. I mean...what were they thinking? Time to parter with Microsoft or face the Abyss.
Or not? I would love to see Steve Jobs rip Facebook a new one! ;)
Put a "Suicide Booth" on every street corner and make it cost $1. Melancholic robots need not apply. Of course, the antidepressant manufacturers will probably take a hit.
I just got an image of a scruffy pudgy guy with hippy hair in a plaid shirt grabbing his ankles. Need to bleach out my eyes now, thanks.
History is written by the victors. ;)
This is about $100-$150 cheaper than equivalent iphone here in Egypt.
I bet Lawyers from both sides are buying each other drinks today. ;)
Over the past two years that has been drought in Russia, Flooding in the US, Drought in China, flooding in SE Asia, Drought and Flooding in Canada, Drought in East Africa.....notice a pattern? There may be speculation in food commodities, but at the heart of the problem, developing countries are finding it more expensive and difficult to find the food to feed their people. This shit is real. Sure, there is no famine...yet. But the world is two failed harvest short of that. The world is balancing on a knife's edge.
Unfortunately reality works differently than your nice clean mathematical models. Food prices in Africa have already doubled. Most people spend upwards of 70% of their entire monthly income on FOOD. Think about that for a second. If food prices were to double again, you would see multiple coup attempts, civil unrest, perhaps even another genocide or two. In any event such catastrophes would throw whole regions into chaos. Even without such political consequences, more mundane one's are already afoot. New Virulent and drug resistant strains of T.B. and Flu are circulating throughout the populations of Saharan africa. Disease is always the biggest killer in human history.
Well unless you're a communist you must be a complete moron.
Apple uses Magic.
iDevices and their users are increasing exponentially and there is nothing to say that Apple won't allow their iDevices to play nice with others out there. Steve is a clever guy like that...
I have a Macbook and have used my superdrive like twice in the past year. I would rather devote that space to more battery.
Untethered idevices! Apple just opened themselves up to a whole new segment of the market...those people who don't have an iMac or Macbook. This means that anyone who can afford the lowest level idevice is able to get access to the whole ecosystem to handle all of their media, user created content, documents, ect.... The iCloud makes all of this possible. The data is persistent and secure forever, for all present and future devices. It only gets better from here on out; we are finally in the 21st century baby!
I always thought it would have been cool for Nokia to partner up with Apple in the pre-iphone days. Apple had the software and UI know-how, Nokia had superior hardware... well, iPhone has gone through many iterations and has progressively become superior to anything Nokia could ever muster. Nokia will rue the day Apple comes out with a $100 iPhone, they'll be relegated to making cheap solar powered 'dumb phones' to sell to developing countries. My current Nokia is a 'dumb-phone' that was made in India, has a 1 inch colour screen, built in radio, and LED flashlight. The phone is functional, nearly indestructible, and cost me about $30. This is Nokia's future.
Majority consensus of the world is that Israel is a virtual Apartheid state, so by consensus you are quite wrong. Continue living with your delusions at your peril.
Chimney sweeps and horse shoe men have it even worse!
If we harness the power of dark matter we will be kings of the universe. Can you really put a price on that?
It's probably a much better return on investment than dropping a few dozen bombs over the Libyan desert.
The pirates are an international operation. They receive financing and logistics from Europe, financing and support from all over East Africa, technological support from such things as Sat-phones as well as insiders. The pirates reinvest their ransom earnings into their ship and equipment, the local economy, and the region as a whole. Until Somalia has a semblance of a government, piracy will continue to prosper.
Much cheaper to just pay the ransom. Let the insurance companies take the hit. Pirates got kids to feed to ya know.