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If a $100M investment along these lines is virtue signaling, I'm all for more virtue signaling. Companies like Apple are big places. There will be funds used f

If a $100M investment along these lines is virtue signaling, I'm all for more virtue signaling. Companies like Apple are big places. There will be funds used for various and sometimes contradicting aims. That doesn't change the fact that sometimes they do good.

jariel 6y ago
Except that they will get in return considerably more than $100M in lifetime brand and PR value, is one way to start looking at it. Also, 'throwing money at problems' has never really solved much. The best way to solve problems is to solve them in your own backyard, within the context of the system you are directly working in. The grossest inequality in the world is not in America, it's in developing nations, places where Apple manufactures and sells. Steve Jobs - with literally a one sentence email - could have changed the quality of living standards for every FoxConn employee and have knock-on effects around the world. The vast surpluses gained by Apple from having 'workers live in factories, be woken at various times during the day' are seen right in Apple's P&L. Was there really a reason for that? If Jobs were to have said: "Dear Foxconn, all apple products will be constructed in a manner that respects workers rights in these basic terms i) consistent work hours during the day ii) fair and objective oversight iii) fair wages equal to 'some function'. ... that would have changed things. Instead, we are 'marketed to with morality' so as to make Apple appear to be moral, in which case, we can ignore other material actions they take, and 'feel good and moral' about buying their products. I remember in 2000 driving down 101 in the Valley and seeing the 'Think Different' billboards featuring none other than Gandhi. Yes - literally using the moral claims of Gandhi to hustle their new Mac. It was actually a big moment for me in terms of understanding communication, it was really ridiculous, I've never really trusted them since. Great hardware though.
- api 6y ago
  "Corporate woke" is parodied pretty viciously in HBO's Silicon Valley series. There's also some pretty gross inequality in the Bay Area, where only rich people can afford any kind of housing within less than an hour commute from where all the jobs are. All of California has this problem to varying degrees.
  - jariel 6y ago
    Of course there is, I'm not denying that - and Google, Facebook and Apple frankly could be doing a lot more, but they aren't really. Their actions are exceedingly superficial.

jariel 6y ago

Except that they will get in return considerably more than $100M in lifetime brand and PR value, is one way to start looking at it. Also, 'throwing money at problems' has never really solved much. The best way to solve problems is to solve them in your own backyard, within the context of the system you are directly working in. The grossest inequality in the world is not in America, it's in developing nations, places where Apple manufactures and sells. Steve Jobs - with literally a one sentence email - could have changed the quality of living standards for every FoxConn employee and have knock-on effects around the world. The vast surpluses gained by Apple from having 'workers live in factories, be woken at various times during the day' are seen right in Apple's P&L. Was there really a reason for that? If Jobs were to have said: "Dear Foxconn, all apple products will be constructed in a manner that respects workers rights in these basic terms i) consistent work hours during the day ii) fair and objective oversight iii) fair wages equal to 'some function'. ... that would have changed things. Instead, we are 'marketed to with morality' so as to make Apple appear to be moral, in which case, we can ignore other material actions they take, and 'feel good and moral' about buying their products. I remember in 2000 driving down 101 in the Valley and seeing the 'Think Different' billboards featuring none other than Gandhi. Yes - literally using the moral claims of Gandhi to hustle their new Mac. It was actually a big moment for me in terms of understanding communication, it was really ridiculous, I've never really trusted them since. Great hardware though.

api 6y ago
"Corporate woke" is parodied pretty viciously in HBO's Silicon Valley series. There's also some pretty gross inequality in the Bay Area, where only rich people can afford any kind of housing within less than an hour commute from where all the jobs are. All of California has this problem to varying degrees.
- jariel 6y ago
  Of course there is, I'm not denying that - and Google, Facebook and Apple frankly could be doing a lot more, but they aren't really. Their actions are exceedingly superficial.