15 ms·

SJ believes that his job is to make shareholders rich and by doing so, gives them the means to be charitable. I would tend to agree with him.

benologist 16y ago
What a silly excuse to give nothing back - both Apple and Jobs individually are sitting on ridiculous amounts of money regardless of what their shareholders do with their own money.
ck2 16y ago
As a corporation Apple profits massively from society. One might say they owe something back. With the extreme loyalty of it's userbase, they could set some very nice examples. Why Steve Jobs isn't personally charitable with $5B in the bank is a rather depressing mystery.
- prodigal_erik 16y ago
  US society has already decided what Apple owes back each year, via the IRS. I don't see why it's fair to expect them to dispose of more of their shareholders' money than some other companies in the same position. It's not as if their shareholders would reach a consensus about an unrelated social problem to solve, much less make an empty gesture towards solving (charities can't fix the free rider issue, which is why they almost never get enough resources to actually succeed and shut down).
  - ck2 16y ago
    As a massive corporation, I am sure Apple doesn't pay very much taxes, mostly because all their manufacturing is outside the US. Note that some large corporations pay next to nothing. http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-washington-corporate-taxes_2.html http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-w...
- wtallis 16y ago
  "One might say they owe something back" One could say that they are giving something back, by using those profits to develop ways to make computing more accessible and useful, something they're better at and more willing to invest in than anyone else.
  - Johngibb 16y ago
    I totally agree with this post. Charity does not only come in the form of monetary donations...
  - ck2 16y ago
    Let me repeat that back to you as I understood it. What you are saying is Apple (and their work) is $deity's gift to the world so they don't owe anything else regardless how many billions of dollars they make from it. People in parts of the world that need help to survive or thrive more than a meager existence, aren't helped by Apple's pretty software UI and hardware design.
    - kokoito 16y ago
      So?
    - wtallis 16y ago
      You can use the argument that people in third-world countries are starving to bash just about anything that anybody on this site does for a living. If you truly believed that argument, you wouldn't be wasting your own disposable income on broadband and a cell phone.
  - nickbp 16y ago
    Only to those who can afford it.
- nailer 16y ago
  Apple benefits from individuals. Why are strangers entitled to their profits?
- jamesaguilar 16y ago
  > One might say they owe something back. What, the wonderful computers they make for us are not enough?
  - kokoito 16y ago
    No. Apparently, you are not allowed to make a profit without feeling guilty.
  - nickbp 16y ago
    Yes, all those fashionable computers they sell for what would be years of income in many countries are really helping the non-rich world.
- joelrunyon 16y ago
  Personally charitable & publicly charitable are two different things. Unless you know something the rest of us don't, I would be careful passing judgement on someone you only see in keynote speaking environments.
forza 16y ago
Seems like a trickle-down economics type of excuse to me. If they really wanted to do that they really could do it like Buffet used to http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/1997ar/shcontri.html http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/1997ar/shcontri.html

benologist 16y ago

What a silly excuse to give nothing back - both Apple and Jobs individually are sitting on ridiculous amounts of money regardless of what their shareholders do with their own money.

ck2 16y ago

As a corporation Apple profits massively from society. One might say they owe something back. With the extreme loyalty of it's userbase, they could set some very nice examples. Why Steve Jobs isn't personally charitable with $5B in the bank is a rather depressing mystery.

prodigal_erik 16y ago
US society has already decided what Apple owes back each year, via the IRS. I don't see why it's fair to expect them to dispose of more of their shareholders' money than some other companies in the same position. It's not as if their shareholders would reach a consensus about an unrelated social problem to solve, much less make an empty gesture towards solving (charities can't fix the free rider issue, which is why they almost never get enough resources to actually succeed and shut down).
- ck2 16y ago
  As a massive corporation, I am sure Apple doesn't pay very much taxes, mostly because all their manufacturing is outside the US. Note that some large corporations pay next to nothing. http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-washington-corporate-taxes_2.html http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-w...
wtallis 16y ago
"One might say they owe something back" One could say that they are giving something back, by using those profits to develop ways to make computing more accessible and useful, something they're better at and more willing to invest in than anyone else.
- Johngibb 16y ago
  I totally agree with this post. Charity does not only come in the form of monetary donations...
- ck2 16y ago
  Let me repeat that back to you as I understood it. What you are saying is Apple (and their work) is $deity's gift to the world so they don't owe anything else regardless how many billions of dollars they make from it. People in parts of the world that need help to survive or thrive more than a meager existence, aren't helped by Apple's pretty software UI and hardware design.
  - kokoito 16y ago
    So?
  - wtallis 16y ago
    You can use the argument that people in third-world countries are starving to bash just about anything that anybody on this site does for a living. If you truly believed that argument, you wouldn't be wasting your own disposable income on broadband and a cell phone.
- nickbp 16y ago
  Only to those who can afford it.
nailer 16y ago
Apple benefits from individuals. Why are strangers entitled to their profits?
jamesaguilar 16y ago
> One might say they owe something back. What, the wonderful computers they make for us are not enough?
- kokoito 16y ago
  No. Apparently, you are not allowed to make a profit without feeling guilty.
- nickbp 16y ago
  Yes, all those fashionable computers they sell for what would be years of income in many countries are really helping the non-rich world.
joelrunyon 16y ago
Personally charitable & publicly charitable are two different things. Unless you know something the rest of us don't, I would be careful passing judgement on someone you only see in keynote speaking environments.

forza 16y ago

Seems like a trickle-down economics type of excuse to me. If they really wanted to do that they really could do it like Buffet used to http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/1997ar/shcontri.html http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/1997ar/shcontri.html