This month we lost an industry pioneer and a master innovator who created wealth for the masses. Steve Jobs, former CEO and chairman of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), had the knack for taking technology, with all its ones and zeroes, innate hardware, and limited beauty, and turning it into something brilliant. His legacy should be a wakeup call to get back to making technology more innovative and applicable than ever, perhaps even giving us the ability to right this sinking economic ship.
There have been multiple stories about how investors are walking away from technology development, but Apple keeps demonstrating that when we focus on making products attractive to the market, the bottom line will take care of itself. For example, the general consensus about the iPhone 4S was that it was a tepid product release at best, and many predicted this would be the first indication that Apple was on the way down. A few days later, Apple announced the iPhone 4S had broken all records for pre-orders of a new product. Apparently, consumers did not read the reviews of the pundits. Otherwise, they might have known they were buying a "boring" product. (See: Apple: Beyond Steve Jobs.)
In fact, Apple's advancement in speech recognition for Siri shows how it is accelerating technology through human interaction and acceptance. Herein lies the opportunity to push technology and innovation as far as possible, creating value for the user first and wealth as a byproduct for those who help fund that R&D and its associated investments.
Today's reality features protests on Wall Street, ugly 401K retirement accounts, rising college education costs, and company executives mired down in anxiety about the future. Survival mode kicks in when our only focus is how to remain employed. When that happens, we have to remember the reason we got into the field of engineering and technology development -- to make the world a better place. To this end, and for the sake of our economic survival, let's get out there and honor Steve Jobs, and all our industry pioneers, and do inspiring work with impact. That's our long-term goal. But what we can do in the short term?
How about we memorialize this great innovator by asking the White House to amend the American Jobs Act? According to AP's Erica Werner, President Obama's curent plan "would reduce payroll taxes on workers and employers, extend benefits to long-term unemployed people, spend money on public works projects, and help states and local governments keep teachers, police officers, and firefighters on the job."
The bill is the right thing to do, but let's request two additional aspects to be included:
Help the long-term unemployed get retrained with deferred/forgiven education costs.
Assign $50 billion to technology funding and innovation support in the form of federal grants of $25,000 to $100,000 each to help our country solve today's technology problems such as energy, communications, and manufacturing competitively.
Perhaps politicians can come together and agree on this one thing. Enhancing the bill would give us even more opportunity to help ourselves and honor one of the masters of industry, who created wealth for the masses and inspired us all to think big and dare to be great.
Hey, Washington, we want a great jobs bill. This one is a lay-up. Just do it!
Contact Congress here and President Obama by clicking here.
Salute to the great work of Steve Jobs who lead the technology in the right direction where people felt it marvelous. I really agree with your words Bernard, if we include stated two things in the bill it will be really helpful for the better progress of economy and techonology.
"How I wish we have more Steve(s) in the tech world today, it would have been awesome"
We'd probably would have had World War III by now if there had been that many Steve Jobses around. I don't believe he was the font of human kindness, from what I've read.
"Help the long-term unemployed get retrained with deferred/forgiven education costs."
I wonder if this will suffice to get a job. I agree that unemployed could get retrained, but nothing garantee them a job after they spend in a new training program thousands of money that they will have to pay back (even if the payment is deferred).
I think there's a need to promote entrepreneurship in the technical sector in the US. Innovation itself is not much of a use unless it grows into a company that creates jobs and new opportunities. The government should be looking to provide incubation opportunities to new start-ups who are working to bring up new technology in the market.
"To this end, and for the sake of our economic survival, let's get out there and honor Steve Jobs, and all our industry pioneers, and do inspiring work with impact."
There are always five to ten difficult years in life. When one is aiming for advance degree or some other similar goal, one must take it as integral part of cchallenge. Most people gets help and finds a way a to success.
Interesting perspective on the passing of Jobs and the impact on the semiconductor industry..http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-38381/l/can-we-survive-the-loss-of-steve-jobs
@_hm, you are right about both, but how do we get the discouraged and indebted young people to the place where they can use their creativity and the will to take risks to innovate again becomes the issue. Many of the young engineers and tech savvy people want to have the advance degrees but unable to afford the cost. Even the educational loans are getting out of reach.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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