Recently Congressman Jessie Jackson Jr. blamed the iPad for American unemployment. Jackson stated the iPad is "probably responsible for eliminating thousand of American jobs." I don't doubt that is a true statement. My response is so. The personal computer is responsible for eliminating thousands of jobs. The same is true of devices such as self-check out kiosks in grocery stores and ATM machines in banks. Cashiers and bank tellers lost their jobs!
This is what technology does. But it is only one side of the equation. Such was also the case during the industrial age and the agricultural age before that. Jackson expanded on his statement by saying "Why do you need to go to Borders anymore? Why do you need to go to Barnes and Noble? Just buy an iPad and download your book, download your newspaper, download your magazine."
As we like to say in Texas. You betcha! This is called progress. What are we to do? Halt progress so folks can keep their jobs. Where would the country be today with such a philosophy? When Amazon came online in the early 90's I was thrilled. Before I had to drive 30 miles accross town to get to the only bookstore in the Dallas metroplex that carried the books that I wanted. And there was a Borders and a Barnes and Noble store closer but they did not stock the quantity or quality of black history books that I seeked.
Because of Amazon, I stopped driving 30 miles across town to and began using Amazon and enjoying a better price, the ability to search inventory from my home, and have the books delivered to my front door. Amazon is bad?
Should I have continued to be inconvenienced so folks can keep their jobs? By the way, to my knowledge no one was stopping Borders and Barnes and Noble from carrying a wider selection of books by African American authors nor stopping them from creating an electronic book reader.
Amazon created the Kindle and Borders and Barnes and Noble were selling books before Amazon ever came online. Innovation is a good thing. For some reason the iPad has not put Amazon out of business. Sure jobs have been eliminated as we have produced digital technologies.
This has always been the case.
Although technically he has a point that jobs have indeed been lost as a result of the iPad, he fails to mention the jobs that the iPad has created. There is a now an entire app industry for the iPhone and iPad devices not to mention the cottage industries of accessories such as cases and car adapters, that have been spawned. There are also the jobs that have been created as competitors develop similar devices. Companies like Google and Dell come to mind.
I found these comments especially disturbing coming from an African American leader at at time when Black unemployment has been reported to be as high as 16%. African Americans, and all Americans for that matter, need to come to grips with the idea that future jobs will be technology jobs.
The sooner we grasp this concept and begin to study and learn in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the sooner we can start taking advantages of the economy of the 21st century instead of holding on to an outdate mode of doing things. All industries will come under the same stress as the music and now the publishing industries have experienced as technologies pervade their processes.
Do you think the work of auto mechanics is the same today as it was before the advent of computers? The answer is no. Adapt or die. Don't cry about losing your job at Border's books. Reinvent yourself. Take the time to learn the new skills and land a job as an iPad developer or better yet, start your own firm designing iPad applications.
We need leadership that helps us to understand how to navigate the future not cling to the past.
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6 comments:
I believe that Jesse wanted to say that the jobs that make the devices are not here in the USA. America is quickly becoming a country that does not make any physical items. No one has yet to create a home or food out of ones and zeros.
Hi Cliff,
It is an honor to have you reading my blog. Thank you for your comments. Perhaps that is what Congressman Jackson meant.
I am not sure, so I only commented about what he actually said. While I agree that the jobs that make the devices are not here in the USA this has been the case for quite some time.
It is not something that is unique to the iPad. This is the global economy and we must compete. The World is Flat as Milton Friedman examined in his great book of a few years ago.
And in my mind where these devices are built does not matter as much in an knowledge-based information economy.
I am not sure what you your last statement is meant to convey. Are you suggesting that no one has yet to actually build a home out their work or skill with programming (zeroes+ones).
If that is what you meant then the answer is of course not and I missed the point entirely. However, if you mean to say that folks who deal with zeroes and ones do not produces homes or food from their efforts then I would have to disagree.
Who would you rather be Bill Gates or Michael Dell. I would go with Gates. Gates did not build devices. I am not against building devices but we should be thinking about building the next device. Not worrying about what Apple is doing.
Gates built software. I have been a software developer for 25 years. I have only dealt with writing the applications. I have not had a problem providing food or housing for my family at any point during my tenure in the IT industry.
We have to move beyond manufacturing. As time goes on any work that can be outsourced or robotized will be. That is the reality. What will not be outsourced is our ability to create. What will not be outsourced is our ability to design and be creative.
Our people young and old need to acquire a knowledge of computing as a minimum and then enhance that with their right brain creativity.
We need to unleash our young creative folks so that they can create the next Google or Facebook.
This is what will propel us into the 21st century.
This is something that has concerned me for awhile. We are attempting to solve 21st century problems with 20th century solutions. The old manufacturing jobs that were responsible for creating the middle class are for the most part gone. I may be wrong, but if they U.S. was better at math and science we could have an electronic manufacturing company like Foxconn here.
Hi LeonX,
I agree with you. We need to change our mindset. We need to show our folks and especially our young who look to us for leadership how to think, learn, grow, and prosper in a digital economy, because that is exactly what we are in.
Great points! We need STEM education in our schools, neighborhoods, community centers....
keep up the good work!
H.A. Jabar
Hi H.A.,
Thanks for the encouragement. I am doing my very best to change our mindset to do just what you are advocating.
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