Apple's 2007 Lobbying: Patent System Reform, Education Tax Breaks

Anything which supports research must be good :)

Dam aristocracy. I love Apple's engineering while not perfect or even properly done. I can not stand aristocracy. I am going to have to say I am not happy about the political situation in America.

Not much in the scheme of things but if anything can help slow down the constant and never ending court battles. I'm sure Apple spends this much for lawyers in a day.

Dam aristocracy. I love Apple's engineering while not perfect or even properly done. I can not stand aristocracy. I am going to have to say I am not happy about the political situation in America.

You and millions of others! :(

I don't really get all this stuff about technology in education. To me it just seems like buzz words. Computers for the purpose of educating are evolutionary and not revolutionary. Computers bring text, media, and communication together. We've already had all those elements in books, videos, and human interaction.

To me the idea of teaching a child to use a computer is like going to school to teach a child to watch television. You're just teaching a child to be a consumer. I hope that when they say they want more technology in education they mean actually bringing children closer to the technology, in terms of programming, etc, and not just becoming proficient technology consumers.

For example, those one-to-one laptop programs to me seem like a waste of money. I don't think it's vital for a child to learn any particular program or operating system, but to learn to become sharp at problem-solving in a variety of situations. A few years ago when I was in high school, I volunteered to be on the school's long-term range planning committee. The IT specialist reccomended phasing out all the Macs since most students once they entered the work force would be using Windows-based computers. I asked him point-blank: do you have evidence to show that students benefit from learning how to use only one operating system? I didn't push it further, but learning to be a Windows-user means you would be prepared for a job doing rather menial work, not for creating new paradigms in computing.

I think we have to be careful that corporations don't push computer usage for the sole purpose of selling more of their products.

Anything which supports research must be good :)

not necessarily, but i think i know what you mean. and in this case, i'm sure it's good :)

increase funding for technology in education

more schools buying macs for their computer labs.

That's a waste of $720k, because no honest politician is influenced by lobbying.

:)

retrocool

That's a waste of $720k, because no honest politician is influenced by lobbying.

Then you don't understand what activities can be covered by the word "lobbying." A lot of it can be providing basic education, or providing different perspectives, on issues. For example, the EFF's lobbying efforts are very important for educating legislators on the importance of Fair Use where they would otherwise only be hearing the voice of Big Media.

Unfortunately legislators are human and do not have perfect knowledge on everything upon which they vote.

Then you don't understand what activities can be covered by the word "lobbying." A lot of it can be providing basic education, or providing different perspectives, on issues. For example, the EFF's lobbying efforts are very important for educating legislators on the importance of Fair Use where they would otherwise only be hearing the voice of Big Media.

Unfortunately legislators are human and do not have perfect knowledge on everything upon which they vote.

Very true, and I think this is especially relevant about the current patent situation where the obvious answer seems to be that patents should be easy to receive when, in fact, we can see this isn't the case.