This is the first in a weekly series of short posts on media, innovation and current events.
I was fascinated this week by two New York Times stories about Apple’s manufacturing practices in China. As Apple has expanded its product lines from Mac computers to iPods, iPhones, and iPads, it has moved its manufacturing from the U.S. to China. According to the Times, President Barack Obama asked then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs what could be done to bring those jobs back to the U.S. That wasn’t possible, Jobs replied. The U.S. simply doesn’t have the industrial infrastructure, and there aren’t enough U.S. workers with mid-level training (some college, but not necessarily a four-year degree). Although the articles were framed as related to the political debate over job creation in the U.S., it offers lessons for media innovators about scalability. As it expands, a growing business needs to be able to find suppliers that can meet its needs. In today’s world, those suppliers very well may be offshore.
Continue reading "Media, Innovation and Current Events | Apple, Nintendo, Netflix" »