₦airaland Forum

C for Cannibalization

This is a tricky one. Apple has a very, very big bank balance, which it has amassed by selling a lot of iPhones, iPads, iPods and of course, Mac computers. The many zeros on Apple’s statement is proof we’re willing to splash out on an expensive Apple product. Why, then, would it want to cannibalize some of those sales – as plenty of them are made by aspirational owners, who saved up for the pleasure of buying one – by introducing a cheaper model with an almost certainly lower profit margin?

We’re at the point were phones are so good we don’t really need anything more powerful.

It’s not as if we’re hurting for cheap smartphones, and in the situations where an Apple product simply must be had, there’s the older models on which it still makes a fat profit. By the time they’re the cheap option, it probably costs Apple far less to build them. Not only that, but does any Apple device owner want to be seen with the cheap iPhone? It’s like a diesel engine in a supercar, or Ikea furniture in your Fifth Avenue penthouse. You wanted some flash, but decided at the last minute that being thrifty was best. It may be financially responsible, but it sure isn’t sexy.

What if, to avoid this difficult situation, Apple doesn’t sell the iPhone 5C in the U.S. or Europe at all? Why bother with a China-only event if it doesn’t have anything new to say? We wouldn’t be shocked if the iPhone 5C was a China exclusive at first, before making its way to other important emerging markets and finally, the major iPhone 5S markets later. Honestly, would it matter? On launch day, how many people will line up for a cheap iPhone?

Ultimately, the C could stand for all these, and once it is made official, we’re positive a few comedy geniuses will say the C is for Crap, too. It’s unlikely to be the case, as Apple won’t put its name on something that could pass for a knock-off, but it won’t be something we, the smartphone cognoscenti, will get overly excited about. As a crowd pleaser in countries like China, though, it could take the crown.

C for Color

Apple knows all the kids love bright colors. As your children are also on Apple’s list of things it wants to control, the iPhone 5C will come in a veritable rainbow of different colors.
https://img.digitaltrends.com/image/tim-cook-iphone-5c-625x1000.jpg

It’s probably going to keep gold (sorry, champagne) an exclusive to the iPhone 5S, and instead use a bag of Skittles as its inspiration for the 5C. Tacky colors were once the mark of a cheap phone, but thanks to Nokia, bright yellow is now an acceptable hue even on a flagship device.

C for China

So how far does it want to spread the love? All the way to China. Apple has already made its intentions in the region clear by setting an event there the day after its Cupertino launch, suggesting the iPhone 5S and more importantly, the 5C could be sold through the two dominant Chinese networks. A cheap iPhone sold in China will mean countless new owners, and consequently, even more control.

C for Charity

This is how Apple could spin a cheap iPhone. We can hear Tim Cook saying it now, “We wanted more people to be able to enjoy the best smartphone in the world, so we’ve made it possible with the iPhone 5C.” Apple wants you to know it’s thinking about the people. More specifically, it’s thinking about the people who can’t afford to buy an iPhone 5S. By making a cheap iPhone, it’s giving them the chance to realize their dreams of owning an Apple product. Yes, good guy Apple wants to spread the love as far as it can, and it’s doing you a favor by lowering the price to a level befitting your meager wallets.

C for Control, and Choice

If there’s one thing Apple loves, it’s being in control. From keeping the App Store free of smut, to not just letting anybody sell its products, Apple enjoys having the final say. The iPhone 5C is expected to cost less than the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5 before it, in an attempt to wrestle control of the mid-range smartphone market from Samsung and Android.

On launch day, how many people will want to line up for a cheap iPhone?

People eager to buy an iPhone were always stuck with buying an old one if they didn’t want to pay out for the latest model. Except, why buy an old phone when a brand-new, reasonably priced Android phone is announced every five minutes? This brings us on to another C word, choice, something which Apple fans limited by their budget never really had, at least regarding new hardware.

This year, high quality mid-range phones are all around us, from the Galaxy S4 Mini and the HTC One Mini, to the ultimate in hyped up middle-of-the-road smartphones, the Motorola Moto X. We’re at the point were these phones are so good we don’t really need anything more powerful, and Apple isn’t going to be happy to let Google and its minions have complete control of this growing segment.

C for Cheap

It’s almost too obvious that the C should stand for cheap. But it’s probably going to be appropriate. A price of $300 to $400 without a contract is being rumored, which should translate to free if you sign up with a wireless carrier for two years to get one. This spot has been traditionally occupied by aging Apple hardware, but it’s hardly a tempting proposition to keep an already old phone for another couple of years. Like this, Apple can tempt you with a facsimile of the latest-and-almost-greatest at a bargain price.

This week, for the first time ever, Apple is expected to announce not one but two new iPhone models. The rumored “iPhone 5S” will likely be joined by another model, the “iPhone 5C.” You’ll remember the S in iPhone 4S stood for Siri, and the S in 5S may stand for Security, if it comes with a fingerprint scanner fitted. But what does the C stand for?

Like hieroglyphics carved into a cave wall, the C can be interpreted many different ways, each giving us a clue about Apple’s reasoning behind the launch. Not all the C words are good, and some could signal serious changes are afoot in Apple’s cozy world. So, if the letter C really is iced onto Apple’s iPhone-shaped cookie, what’s it trying to tell us?

"We don't just want to shout 'no' to Miss World. We'd rather show our children they have choices. Do you want to be like the women in Miss World? Or like those in Muslimah World?" Shanti said.

Even here in the US among the educated liberal class of people beauty pageants are frowned upon. The more conservative and "traditional" individuals think a women should be judged by he physical beauty which is a very backward way of looking at women. What is the point for the Islamists to copy Miss World with their covered up version? Makes them no better than the Western chauvinist.

The Muslimah World contest to be held on September 18 in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, is 'Islam's answer to Miss World', the pageant's founder Eka Shanti.

The Muslimah World contest to be held on Wednesday in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, is "Islam's answer to Miss World", the pageant's founder Eka Shanti said on Saturday.

"Muslimah World is a beauty pageant, but the requirements are very different from Miss World - you have to be pious, be a positive role model and show how you balance a life of spirituality in today's modernised world," Shanti told AFP.

The pageant is the latest backlash against Miss World, which has already dropped the bikini from its beach fashion round and has attracted more than a month of protests by Muslim hardliners demanding the show be scrapped.

Radicals have set effigies of the organisers alight and deemed the contest "smut" and "pornographic".

The 20 Muslimah World finalists were chosen from more than 500, who took part in online rounds, reciting Koranic verses and telling stories of how they came to wear the Islamic headscarf, a requirement for the pageant.

The finalists, from Iran, Malaysia, Brunei, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Indonesia, will parade Islamic fashions in what Shanti says is an opportunity to show young Muslim women they do not need to show their "immodest" parts - including their hair and bare shoulders - to be beautiful.

But Shanti said she did not support hardliners' calls to cancel the Miss World contest, acknowledging that Indonesia was a diverse country with many faiths.

"We don't just want to shout 'no' to Miss World. We'd rather show our children they have choices. Do you want to be like the women in Miss World? Or like those in Muslimah World?" Shanti said.

After repeated protests, government officials announced last week that the Miss World final would be moved from the outskirts of the capital Jakarta to the resort island of Bali, where the contest began last week with no opposition from the Hindu majority there.

The organisers, however, were not party to the decision and have said it would be "impossible" to make the last-minute change.

Despite the decision, protestors from the Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia demonstrated in the central Java city of Yogyakarta Saturday, its spokeswoman saying "Miss World is not welcome in Indonesia at all".

The decision to move the final round was the latest victory for Islamic fringe groups, who are wielding increasing power and have succeeded in getting several events they deem un-Islamic changed or cancelled in recent years.


http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/now-a-pageant-that-is-islam-s-answer-to-miss-world-418600

olorire2013: My 3yrs old daughter eats indomie noodles almost everyday o!infact its one of her favourite food.should ii remove it from her menu?

tunapa2009: Hmmmmm. Wonders shall never end.. Did you listen to him yesterday on ASUU strike? It was a tsunami!!!! It was very clear that he isn't fighting for students' interest at all.

Mustay: NANS has been apolitical for some time - in the past, NANS and ASUU had a cordial relationship until they became politicized.

Whichever way, the students lose. If lecturers go back with no improvement, the students remain half-baked. If government refuses to show concern, students may even become quarter-baked.

I watched his (Yinka) press release and was stunned when he said he had seen the agreement and termed it as ridiculous demands! I mean, does he recognize what the meaning of an agreement is It means both parties realize the problems and have resolved to amend them via an agreement. His position further proved my stance on the union's objectivity. smh

He also claimed ASUU called for students to go to the streets! Haba While ASUU may solicit their support, he needs to be reminded that ASUU became stronger via their position in the military era where the FMG used to 'thrash' students (e.g IBB in ABU Zaria protest) if they dared the then government. ASUU literally 'took over' to prevent students from going on the streets to avoid unnecessary harassment.

Definitely, we all have to question the effectiveness of strikes but it remains the best 'weapon' since they're not militants. We also need to remember that unions don't just go on strikes without (previous) dialogues - their (students') energy needs to be redirected towards the FG whose investigating panel also indicts her in contributing to the rot in out universities.

If you want to go on with the status quo ("let my people go", don't blame the players anymore, blame the referee! Employers will complain about our products and you'll keep complaining. Don't just siddon look and say the system is bad, make accept am like that.

PS: I'll just be a 'doubting Thomas' and see Yinka's statements as his personal views, not NANS.

The purpose of this press conference is to draw urgent attention to the state of the negotiations between Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) and Federal Government of Nigeria.ASUU and the Federal Government had returned to the negotiating table on 7th June, 2007 after ASUU was persuaded by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar Adua, to suspend the strike which the Union most painfully embarked upon at the end of March 2007.
It should be recalled that the Unions patience had been exhausted by the preceding governments tactics of prolonged exchange of communication calculated to keep ASUU waiting without beginning the process of negotiation. This is why, even though ASUU had asked the Federal Government to begin negotiations as far back as August 25, 2004, only in October 2006 did the then government agree to renegotiate FGN-ASUU 2001 agreement. And the inauguration of the negotiating team began two months later in 2006. The negotiations broke down in March 2006 when it became clear that the federal Governments Team and ASUUs Team could not agree on principles of collective bargaining, without which any agreement reached would lay on a shaky foundation and inevitably lead to crisis, which ASUU was determined to avoid. The federal Government team did not appear to have a clear mandate.

The Goals of the Negotiations
The report of ASUUS negotiating team is that the two teams had begun serious negotiations since July 2007. It was the objective of the teams that the negotiations would lead to an agreement that would set the Nigerian University system on a path of restoration and rehabilitation so that Nigerian Universities would be ranked among the best in the world. If Nigeria is to attain a position of competing in a knowledge-driven world, there is no alternative to:
1. Putting an end to the advanced stage of decay in the university system.
2. Halting the debilitating process of one-way exit of Nigerian academics to the United States of America, Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa etc.

To attain these ends, there must be an agreement on a funding basis of the restoration of the university system. This would require an adequate and stable funding, rehabilitation of laboratories, studios, engineering workshops, teaching facilities, water and electricity supply, library development, academic staff development, university press, the funding of research and advanced teaching methods, international exchange of scholars.

There must also be a system of remuneration sufficiently attractive to reduce significantly, if not halt a one-way brain drain. It is necessary to begin to attract Nigerian academics back from abroad to work for the development and the revival of the university system.

Such issues as the necessary democratisation of the university system, the autonomy of the universities, the review of the roles of the National Universities Commission, (NUC), Joint Admission and Matriculation Board and Education Tax Fund are to be addressed at the negotiating table.

The issue of pension, which is causing the premature exit of experienced academics from the universities, has to be resolved. The democratisation of the universities, the autonomy of universities, the role of the national universities Commission, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board and the Education Tax Fund are necessary aspects of the negotiations.

The Budgetary Process
It has been ASUUs goal that any agreement reached at the negotiating table, to be implemented, in so far as it has financial implications, must be provided for in the 2008 budget. Without a firm funding commitment anchored on the budget, the agreement, no matter how sound in content, would not yield the desired result.

With this in view ASUU has pressed at all times for a speedy conclusion of the negotiations, especially in view of the initial agreement that the negotiations should end in September 2007. The sense of importance and the urgency attached to the Presidents pronouncement on the need to resolve the problems of the university system appear to have been lost. Federal and States budgetary exercises have not received any input arising from the vital negotiations on the funding of the universities.

The rot in the system continues. The hopes raised by the Presidential intervention in June in the academic community are yet to be realized. So long as the negotiations remain open-ended, the effects are, for the academic community, demoralization, discouragement, alienation, and the attractiveness of Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

For our students, learning under impossible conditions will continue. For other members of the University community, hopes of an improved working environment will be lost. For the university system and Nigeria, the handicap in the race to survive in a world where research and researchers determine progress will become more severe. The Academic staff Union of Universities, therefore urges the President of Nigeria, Alhaji Musa Yar Adua, to intervene to ensure that the ASUU-FGN negotiations are concluded before end of 2007. This is not only possible but also necessary.

CAMEROONPRIDE: God forbid, a Cameroonian receiving a scholarship from a poverty stricken country like Nigeria , to study in strikes ridden country like Nigeria? what is abu zaria? a cattle ranch?

Kingspin: But sorry these are realities.. I tell you an average muslim in his tender age view Christian as the real enemy courtesy of one spiritual leader, they grow up with it.. I teach young people while in Kwara state so i know what am talking about.

maphed: Pls wats the police BCMR -3,500.Never heard of dat and dnt want to br caught wanting. Pls throw more light

When Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria’s Minister of State (Health) resigned his appointment last month to assume the position of Professor in an American university, President Goodluck Jonathan, was reported to have seen it as evidence that “his star-studded cabinet was attracting global attention”.

For some reasons, not many believed that Pate’s departure from the cabinet was an all-is-good affair. To some, it was like Andrew checking out. First, that the resignation was with immediate effect looked suspect. Second, it appeared he did not have enough time to give proper notice and undertake a fairly detailed handing over process. Meanwhile, the same university reportedly offered him the job as far back as 2009. Pate is believed to have resigned because of irreconcilable differences between him and the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on the delegation of duties and power in the ministry. To corroborate this, Pate did not in his exit statement, give Chukwu any mention but glowingly acknowledged the contribution of his driver, security aides and other personal staff to his work.

There is even the allegation that Chukwu and Pate were hardly seen together. According to unrefuted media reports, both ministers did not sit together as one delegation to share thoughts during the last World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland. Yet, President Jonathan’s admonition is that, each minister “must know everything about his ministry”.

As members of the federal executive council who are entitled to participate in the weekly meetings of the council, one is tempted to see some level of equality among our ministers.

After all, they were all cleared by the senate as fit and proper persons to hold the post of minister. Interestingly however, as soon as portfolios are shared, those designated as ministers of state suddenly become spare tyres like deputy governors in the states. Even the legislature that had found them worthy begins to despise them.

A good example being the case of Dr. Yerima Lawal Ngama, Minister of State (Finance) who was once disallowed to present to the legislature, certain information needed to deal with a finance matter. The legislature had insisted that the information could only be presented by Minister, Okonjo Iweala.

Why can’t any of the 2 ministers in a ministry provide any information about the ministry? Why was Ngama nominated and cleared as a Minister? Again, why does he attend the federal executive council meetings and more relevant to this article, why should he know anything about his Ministry?

What the posture of our law makers suggested concerning the ministry of finance issue was that the minister of state was not a real minister and that he was not actually needed in the ministry. Even if we dismiss the action of the legislators as egoistic, we may not be able to adduce enough evidence to convince workers in our ministries that a minister and the minister of state in a particular ministry have any ambience of compatibility.

President Jonathan was humorously accurate during the signing of the Performance Agreement with his ministers in 2012 when he said: “If Minister A does not know what Minister B is doing and Minister B does not know what Minister A is doing, but the Permanent Secretary knows everything that all of you are doing, the Permanent Secretary becomes a boss of the two ministers and the Permanent Secretary can use your heads to hit yourselves and just laugh at you”.

As at today, the reality is that a minister of state does not know what happens in his ministry as ministers hardly involve their ministers of state in the activities of the ministry. Even if ministers are disposed towards teamwork, their aides invent several stories to hit their heads against each other.

While some work to ensure that the minister of state shakes off any inferiority complex, others brief the main minister daily on the need for him to at all times establish that he is in charge. In the ministry of my sector – information – a staff once told me that the rebranding project was known to only the minister and her personal staff. Does that explain why the project was not sustained by the current minister of information who was previously the minister of state in the ministry?

When insecurity heightened in the nation in 2012, Dr Haliru Belo was dropped as the minister of defence but Olusola Obada, the minister of state was saved. What did the 2 ministers do or not do together? Could it be that only one of them was supposed to be vicariously liable for the problem at hand?

If so, that is the only minister we need. There is however the argument that because we have 42 ministers – a figure that is more than the number of ministries, more than one minister will have to be in some ministries. Why do we need 42 ministers? If it is so that every state can have a minister, we should not lose sight that as at today we still have only 36 states and Abuja. Those who argue that some ministries are too large for one minister should remember that our large nation has only one President.

In addition, if a ministry is very large, appointing for it, one minister and a minister of state cannot ensure decentralization for efficiency. What such a situation calls for, is a specification of each minister’s exclusive jurisdiction.

Two points are made. First, 2 ministers in the same ministry in Nigeria are hardly compatible notwithstanding some postures at public functions to hide their infighting. Second, we only have idle ministers of state. But is our minister of state (Education) not quite visible these days? He is, but not in his ministry which not having been able to settle its disputes with lecturers has left our universities in limbo for longer than makes sense.

Tolexander: But i just heard this Yinka Gbadebo has just been impeached.

talk2s: All of U that are praising the lawyer and commending this bid should go back and like that post.
Shekinah!

shine eye: GEJ(SAW, PBUH, SWT) 2015

jidsoon: A lawyer with a Lagos-based legal firm, Tope Alabi and Co, located on 77B, Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos, western Nigeria, has dragged the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, to court over the new driver’s licence and number plate introduced by the Federal Government.

According to the motion on notice and motion ex-parte made available to P.M.NEWS by the lawyer, Tope Alabi, the court is to determine whether the National Assembly, as the first defendant, has power to legislate on the production and issuance of driver’s licence and number plate under section 4 of the 1999Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.



The plaintiff are also seeking a declaration that the defendants whether by themselves, agents or privies whatsoever or howsover described lack the powers in cracking down on those still using the existing registered number plates on their registered vehicles; and an order of perpectual injuction restraining the defendants whether by themselves, agents or privies whatsoever or howsover described from cracking down on those still using valid driver’s licences pending the time within which same will expire and due for renewal.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/09/11/lawyer-sues-frsc-over-new-drivers-licence/

Lewdness, promiscuity, randiness, fornication, sodomy; all sexual tendencies are strictly the citizen’s private business and MUST always remain so. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Under no circumstance should any one, Gay or Straight wear T-shirts that say- ‘I like to have sex with such and such.’ This is your private business. As far as the state is concerned—being a public health matter—sex is only encouraged under marriage unions.

http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/09/09/peregrino-brimah-setting-the-facts-on-gays-straight/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=peregrino-brimah-setting-the-facts-on-gays-straight