iPods

=**iPods**= Everyone has them but what's so special about them? In this section I won't be discussing the technological suprerioty of iPods but rather their cultural impact and how it relates to Globalization. I think the iPod and Apple are really important examples of Globalization because they represent alot of the ideas of globaliztion and is an exellent example of how fast globaliztion can take a company. As some of us can recall, Apple was suffering by the turn of the century, they needed a new game plan. With Steve Jobs back as CEO, the company retructured it's strategy for teh 21st century. One of these new strategies were the iPod. In fact this is one of the new products that many believed to have saved Apple.

With the popularity of iPods, it allowed people to listen to their music on the go. Not just necissarily music, one could also listen to podcasts for things like news to catch up on what's going on in their world. The iPod touch also allowed users to go online and use the internet. This allows people to check information on the internet, check their email, go on social networking sites and do various things that they would've needed to do with a computer before.

Now look at your iPod, as you can see it's designed by Apple, an american company. But where is it made? I can bet you anything that most of it, if not all is made somewhere else half way around the world. That should'nt come as a shock though, everything nowaday's made in places like, China, India etc. You see, once you crack open that iPod of yours, all you see is a circut board. All those bits and pieces are made in places like Taiwan, China and possibly India. To begin with not all of the pieces of your iPod are made by apple they are outsourced to [|different companies] who specialize in these areas.

As you can see this all plays into the whole idea of globalization. A big American company has a new product. In order to widen profits and lower the price of the product in order to be more competetive, they offshore it to other countries to manufacture the goods. This is because workers in other countries are cheaper to pay than American workers. As well, foriegn countries may have looser rules for pollution from factories, so countries can get away more for polluting the air. This is [|offshoring].

Okay so your iPod is made in another country, I can still talk to someone who can actually speak english if my iPod breaks down right? Well,,, yes and no.... The thing is that, the guy you call for help when your iPod breaks down can speak english. However, he/she is on the other side of the world probably in India or the phillipenes. This is known as offshoring.

In today's world everything is sent elsewhere to save money and resources, this is not only happening to your iPod but also to all of your everyday products as well.