Ipads and creative destruction

Following on from Geoff’s post on Smartphones and Creative Destruction, and my post on the fantastic video clip on the ideas of politicians vs economists, here is further proof that politicians will often focus on the “destruction” rather than the “creative”.

In this youtube video clip, Democratic Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr (who admits to owning an Ipad) can be seen blaming the Ipad for massive job losses in any business that involves the use of paper, in particular the publishing industry. I’m sure that your students could come up with various ways in which the Ipad has created jobs, either “seen” such as application development or “unseen” (perhaps through more productive businesses). And it is somewhat ironic that the big stores such as Borders and Barnes and Noble which were responsible for the demise of many small, independent book sellers are now getting a taste of their own medicine.

And as a twist to the “Ipads are made in China” argument, this article explains why many Chinese are lining up overnight to purchase the Ipad2 from U.S Apple stores!