Apple Inc (AAPL)

[Altaire4_2dot0]

WLD, Dell and Walmart

Streamlining production is not the same thing as creating long lasting wealth opportunities. Nearly thirty years ago APPLE gave many small fledgling companies like ADOBE, Microsoft and others some of their first opportunities.

FORD - Henry Ford upped the wages of his employers so that they could afford to purchase an automobile. WalMart is unwilling to pay even a portion of the vast majority of its employees health care. Leaving many of their low wage workers trapped and one paycheck away from poverty.

DELL - I had to fight with a Dell regional support manager some years back inorder to cover faulty LCD panels. Dell soon outsourced most of its technical support. They then started charging businesses like the one I support a premium for what they refer to as gold support but in essence charging us for the same support we had gotten for free inorder to get our business in the first place.

These Inventory and distribution methodolgies you refer to that Walmart and Dell use where pioneered and used by our U.S. Military 30 years ago.

Walmart was the first - and for a long time the only - retailer to see the potential in applying IT to super-fine-grain inventory and distribution control. Dell completely changed the way PCs are built, sold and delivered. This may not be glamour-stuff to techno-weenies, but economy-wise it's real rubber-to-pavement stuff and supremely vital.