Fake News In Abundance -- The Apple Page -- March 4, 2018

Updates

Later, 10:39 a.m. Central Time: wow, great news. Apple will release a less expensive, and improved/upgraded MacBook Air, 2Q18, literally right around the corner. The MacBook Air is our favorite laptop: my wife has two -- one in California and one here in Texas so she doesn't have to take one on the airlines when she travels back and forth (she stays in touch with her iPhone and Apple Watch) while en route. It will be interesting to see what Apple has for an upgraded MacBook Air, perhaps the best computer when judged "bang for the buck." Plenty of slots for accessories (although those slots might go away in the new MacBook Air). 

Later, 9:57 a.m. Central Time: see first comment.

The steel tariffs are big winners in the states of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The steelworkers union has been asking for them for two generations, and only Trump delivered for them. Youngstown, Ohio, formerly a big Democrat locale, has been won over for Trump. The city of Pittsburgh, which voted for Clinton, had almost its entire environs voting for Trump in part because the Democrats so opposed Utica and Marcellus shale, which have been tremendous job creators in Western Pennsylvania. Trump is a big time hero in formerly Democratic strongholds, but the MSM won’t report that.

Original Post
We talked about the impact Trump's aluminum tariffs would have on Apple (it would add $4 to the cost of a $2,000 laptop).

Now, from Macrumors, more in(s)anity:

The controversial plan would almost certainly apply to Apple products like iPhones, iPads, and Macs, which contain a significant amount of the metals. The latest 15-inch MacBook Pro contains 740 grams of aluminum, for example, while the iPhone X contains 58 grams of stainless steel for its frame. [Note: significant? There are 28 grams in an ounce; and Apple, it has been reported, is considering moving to non-aluminum polycarbonate products.]

The details of Trump's plan aren't fully clear yet, however, according to Bloomberg News. If the tariffs only apply to raw materials, for instance, then Apple would be largely unaffected since the majority of its devices are assembled in Asia and shipped to the United States as finished products.

If the duties do apply to finished products, analyst Gene Munster speculated Apple's costs to make Macs and iPhones could rise as much as 0.2 percent, assuming the tax is a percentage of the steel and aluminum used in the devices.

Apple's domestic manufacturing is limited to the Mac Pro, assembled in Austin, Texas. The high-end computer contains 3,660 grams of aluminum and steel imported from outside of the United States, making it subject to the proposed tariffs. However, the Mac Pro is only produced in limited quantities.

The biggest question is whether the impact on Apple's profit margins would lead the company to raise the prices of Macs and iPhones, but given the company's costs are only estimated see a marginal increase, it would seem unlikely.  

I can't wait to read the comments.

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Wow, What A Great Country

I drove our middle granddaughter to Olympic soccer development in Denton (Texas) earlier today and then found the nearest Applebee's to watch NASCAR.

I am always impressed with Applebee's menu and their friendliness. My tip is generally 50% or more than the meal cost. I justify it by:

• it won't break me and it won't make the waiter rich;
• the waiter, a college student, will greatly appreciate it;
• the total bill for one is less than half what I would be paying for two more if my family were with me; and,
• of course, the opportunity to watch NASCAR without being interrupted and people actually delivering food and drink to me while blogging and watching television.

What a great country.

During commercial breaks, I read Thomas Merton: The Seven Storey Mountain, An Autobiography  of Faith, c. 1998, one of the most famous books ever written about a man's search for faith and peace.

This is the second or third time I've read it. It full of pen and ink entries from earlier readings. I'm not into Catholicism or a monastic way of life or religious works, per se, but someone introduced me to this book years ago -- oh, yes, now I remember -- Merton's Prayer -- and it touched a nerve.

Much of the biography regards his time in Europe and England (Cambridge), places I visited many, many times before I joined the USAF and while I was serving in the air force.

Today, I am reading the several pages when he "converted" to Communism (with a capital "c"). He did not know why but he saw through it immediately. I am fascinated (and confused) why folks are taken in by Communism and it's interesting to read a respected and thoughtful writer on the subject.

From page 148:

It [Communism] was an easy and handy religion -- too easy in fact. It told me that all the evils in the world were the product of capitalism. Therefore, all that had to be done to get rid of the evils of the world was to get rid of capitalism. This would not be very hard, for capitalism contained the seeds of its own decay ...

... I don't think that even I was gullible enough to swallow all the business about the ultimate bliss that would follow the withering away of the state -- a legend far more naive and far more oversimplified than the happy hunting ground of the most primitive Indian.

I would write more but I need to go pick up our granddaughter.

Later: I got home in time to see the NASCAR finish, the last 70 laps. A nice uneventful race.

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Wow, I Wish I Had Thought Of This

I may write about this again later. This is very, very clever on so many levels.

CNBC is reporting:  No-frills micro hospitals with as few as 8 rooms emerge as a new way to cut health-care costs.