The theme is “jobs, jobs, jobs.”

… They’re discussing growth strategies and so far we’re hearing the same notions we hear elsewhere in Davos, the complete trick bag: spend money on infrastructure, be nice to business, regulate less, reform taxes, reform immigration. OK and OK.

“The problems of job creation are more complicated than that. …

Buzz Machine – Efficiency over growth (and jobs)

For example, Apple and Google are two of the wealthiest companies in 2011, but they don’t have many employees. Some jobs have been eliminated by technology. Others are gone overseas because people just as competent as you are willing to do it cheaper.

Obama’s State of the Union again chastised the American rich for not doing enough. That might be good politics, but it’s not going to do anything to create many American jobs nor reduce the “wealth gap“. I appreciate that he’s trying. … It’s better than nothing.

Is there any solution?

I don’t think so after listening to a new BBC audiocast documentary: The Wealth Gap: The View from London.

The future looks grim for most wealthy nations. The “occupy” protesters, most jobless, will continue being frustrated. And the rich will get richer. If you try to tax them, they’ll relocate abroad.

source – BBC – The Wealth Gap – Inequality in Numbers

If you have a job, I’d recommend you keep it. And start putting away emergency resources. (I’ll not be following my own advice, as you might guess.)

… One of the few bright spots is philanthropy – Davos 2012: Bill Gates commits $750m to fight AIDS

… Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.

Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.

Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said …

How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

That article has been getting wide circulation. Not even an embargo of Chinese goods by President Newt is going to bring back manufacturing. Read the article to see why.

applying to work at Foxconn

Foxconn City has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. … many workers earn less than $17 a day. …

related – why you shouldn’t use the new Apple iBooks Author software

Somebody better warn him that Siri only works well in the USA, so far. Using American English.

(via GigaOm)

I was getting specifics on how to use an iPhone 4S while traveling internationally.

Apple retail stores have been a huge hit. Microsoft tried to duplicate those. Now Google has opened an Android store in Melbourne.

In Hong Kong I was hanging out with coaches from mainland China. Most had Apple products. Anyone who’s got money in China has no interest in iFhoney or iPaddy.

• Bloomberg – China Becomes Apple’s Second-Largest Market

… that said, I’m liking this $500 Windows knock-off called the “AirBook“.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Impressive copycattery.

You probably heard that world’s largest Apple store just opened in the historic Grand Central Station, New York.

My $1000 original 11-Inch MacBook Air was just voted best laptop in the MacWorld Editors’ Choice Awards. I love it.

If shopping for anything Apple, look first at the refurbished area in the online Apple store. Here’s an iPad 2 with $80 off, for example.

… Amazon.com’s new Kindle Fire offers a disappointingly poor user experience. Using the web with the Silk browser is clunky and error-prone. Reading downloaded magazines is not much better. …

The most striking observation from testing the Fire is that everything is much too small on the screen, leading to frequent tap errors and accidental activation. You haven’t seen the fat-finger problem in its full glory until you’ve watched users struggle to touch things on the Fire. One poor guy spent several minutes trying to log in to Facebook, but was repeatedly foiled by accidentally touching the wrong field or button — this on a page with only 2 text fields and 1 button. …

Jakob Nielsen – Kindle Fire Usability Findings

It will get better. In the meantime, get the OLD Kindle if you want an eReader.

via Daring Fireball

I’ve always admired Pete Townshend’s intellect. He’s right on here.

… Townshend proposed that Apple should become more hands-on with the musicians who use its online shop instead of just sitting back and collecting an “enormous” 30 percent commission. …

Townshend advised Apple to hire 20 A&R people from the “dying record business” who could essentially listen to and critique new artists, grooming them for future success. …

Apple should also provide 500 free computers with music software each year to artists who stand out in the crowd, said Townshend. “Follow the work of these 500 artists very carefully and help where you can, and keep out of the way if necessary,” he advised. …

Myce

Apple’s spent all their energy out-profiting every competitor in every market they enter. As they (eventually) stop growing, it’s time to reinvest in each of those markets.

Apple — Don’t be Evil.

Friday is the BIGGEST sale of the year, however.

Apple famously keeps its Black Friday deals a closely guarded secret until the day of the event. But thanks to a leaked sales pamphlet from a “trusted tipster,” we already know where the Cupertino company will be slashing prices, with savings to be made on the iMac, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, iPod nano and iPod touch, iPad, and plenty of accessories.

… Shoppers will save $101 on new Macs, including the iMac, the MacBook Air, and the MacBook Pro; $41-$61 on the iPad 2; $11 on both the 16GB and 32GB iPod nano, and $21-$41 on the iPod touch.

Apple has also thrown a ton of its own accessories into the sale, including $11 of the iPad 2”s Smart Cover; $11 off both the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad; $5 off a $50 App Store/iTunes/iBookstore gift card; and money off the Time Capsule and AirPort base stations.

A shed-load of third-party accessories are also reduced, including iPhone and iPod touch cases, iPad docks and mounts, the new Jawbone Up, headphones, and cases and sleeves.

If you’re buying Apple gadgets or accessories for loved ones this Christmas, there’s no better time to buy than this Friday!

Apple’s Black Friday 2011 Discounts Are Leaked

Now Apple is building in similar cloud back-ups. Will it work?

… I have not had the best experiences when experimenting with Lion Internet Recovery. One attempt to use it on my MacBook Air during the week when iOS 5, iCloud and the iPhone 4S launched resulted in a recovery, just for Mac OS X Lion, that was going to take well over nine hours to complete! Ouch. …

… recovering and restoring a computer to full working order could take up to two days …

Cult of Mac – The Reason Why The World Isn’t Ready For Lion Internet Recoveries [Opinion]

Quite different, too, from Apple and Android.

Here’s the first available commercially, I believe, though not in North America. You can order one in Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That’s the Nokia Lumia

It’s getting good reviews, even from the Apple fanboys.

I’m still likely to get an iPhone 4S in December. It will take some time to work out the bugs in the Windows phones.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

If I actually use the device for navigation, email, social networking … I’ll want excellent syncing between phone and my MacBook Air. Not perfect, it looks like Apple is on the way to getting that working.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It’s the first iPhone that is easy to use internationally. But it’s critical I know how to turn off roaming and data.

related – International iPhone: Avoiding iPhone Data Roaming Charges