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Apple, forever on the cusp of innovative technology and “the next big thing,” found themselves in the middle of a congressman’s speech on the House floor last Friday. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Il.) made mention of the Cupertino-based giant, but not in the positive, glowing way as most public figures do.
Rather, Jackson lamented Apple’s latest breakthrough device, the iPad, essentially calling it a job killer.
In the spirit of our government, let’s leave accuracy alone for a second and focus on the real story here: Irony.
The juxtaposition of two recent Jackson quotations is, quite frankly, startling. Here’s a quote from Jackson back in March, while holding both an iPad and a Kindle:
“These devices are revolutionizing our country — and they will fundamentally alter how we will educate our children.”
This was part of a larger Jackson speech regarding improving the American education system. He proposed amending the Constitution to guarantee every child the right to an equal education. Congress’ enforcement of this amendment, Jackson proposed, could lead to government-provided iPads and Kindles.
So how does Congressman Jackson feel about iPads now? From last Friday:
“Well, what becomes of publishing companies then, and publishing company jobs? What becomes of bookstores and librarians and all of the jobs associated with paper? Well, in the not too distant future, such jobs will simply not exist.”
You have to love when a congressman endorses an amendment that he believes will lead to the eradication of entire industries.
But, as with most cases in today’s Congress, you have to take this with a grain of salt. If we examine this figuratively, and not literally, the congressman has a point. However, he is missing another important point altogether.
The issue raised by Jackson is actually bigger than just the iPad. His point that devices like the iPad result in a reduction of jobs in certain sectors is true. This part can really be traced back to the advent of the Internet itself. It’s been beaten to death, but almost everyone is aware of the increasing number of people who get their news online as opposed to more “traditional” mediums, such as newspapers and magazines.
But what the congressman fails to mention is that, in addition to killing certain jobs, it also creates others. Sure, the 14-year-old kid down the street can’t a paper route job anymore. But that’s OK, because he’s busy designing the next app you’re going to download.
Now, I’m aware that that’s an extremely black-and-white look at an issue comprised mainly of gray. It doesn’t take into account that iDevices are expensive and inaccessible to lower income families, and things of that sort.
But the point isn’t any less relevant.
It’s not that the evolution of technology has killed jobs. Much like the technology, the jobs have just evolved. There are some legitimate concerns with the diminishing print market, but many of them are purely nostalgic. Times are changing, and so are the jobs. Newspaper reporters are becoming website reports, or even bloggers, and so on.
It’s impossible to dig up a statistic that shows how many jobs the iPad has killed vs. created. But it’s pointless to try and go back in history to that nostalgic period of time where everyone waited for the morning paper and got their news at 6 o’clock every night. People like Congressman Jackson would be better served to, like many of us have, embrace these new devices and figure out how they can best be utilized.
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