Last week, two major speeches caught our attention.
Barack Obama wagged his finger at the Supreme Court and orated in front of Congress. He said the state of the union is sound.
Apple’s Steve Jobs gave the other big speech, presenting the new iPad, a portable device that accesses the Web, allows users niftily to buy and read e‑books, and much more.
Which speech will usher in real change?
Both have their critics. Many people no longer trust Obama, whether he’s pushing more government or a freeze. And many folks second-guess Apple’s newest project, despite Jobs’s spectacular success record.
For my part, I don’t buy Obama’s agenda. But I probably won’t buy an iPad, either. I tend to regard even the best new tech breakthroughs as just more vacuum cleaners. They really do suck … one’s time, anyway.
But to succeed, Apple doesn’t need my excitement. Just enough from others.
Early in each of Apple’s revolutions, it was hard to prophesy success, with certainty.
The neat thing about a possible neo-Gutenberg Age of tablets, e‑books and virtual libraries is that I will still be able to read a normal book. One the other hand, if Obama gets his way, his policies will, willy nilly, crowd out better ones.
Still, it’s heartening to realize that to most of us the eloquence of a revolutionary thing means more, now, than the eloquence of any politician.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “Greater Eloquence”
I read today that Amazon sells 6 e‑books for every 10 paper books when they are available in both formats. I’m not someone who buys the latest hardcovers, but at $10 for an e‑book and $25+ for a hardcover, it doesn’t take long for your iPad or other device to pay for itself.
The difference between BO’s speech and SJ’s is the former can use or threaten to use force, the latter is required to permit us to decide.
We created government to make sure that SJ (and all others) cannot use thuggish tactics. Unfortunately our government is now the very THUG we all have to fear.
‑mark-
The best bit is if Steve Jobs is wrong and fails it doesn’t cost me anything. He takes the risk and he makes the gain or loss. And if his device is great, I benefit.
If Obama fails, I pay big time. He makes the choice and I take the risk. His policies may cost me everything. If the fed’s outrageous increase of the money supply causes hyperinflation, the whole nation loses big time.