Australian Higher Education policy

I found this on the net somewhere. I don't know its provenance. Interesting.
--
Liberal Party Internal Strategy Document
Top Secret
For Leadership Eyes Only

The Student Problem

Student politics represents a threat to the ruling elite because student protest can sway public opinion in extreme cases, for example, an unsuccessful and badly planned war. We were really lucky to get away with Iraq. On the whole student politics is pretty ineffectual and more likely to sway public opinion the opposite way to that intended but if we can eliminate the risk of effective student protest, the government has that much more freedom to move.

Part of the risk is access to higher education by the riff-raff. If we can control access to higher education by making it too expensive for all but the offspring of our elite financial base, we can control student attitudes. We can also reduce the risk to our wealthy backers that some upstart riff-raff upsets their economic base through something risky like an innovative new business.

HECS Plus has solved part of the problem by making higher education more expensive. Voluntary student unionism will go a step further, by making student politics a less attractive option.

However, we need to go further, while we have time (i.e., control of the Senate).

We need to look at further measures to keep the riff-raff out. For example:
• future HECS increases will apply to current students, not just new incoming students
• a gradual move to a commercial rate of interest on HECS, leading to a phase-out of all forms of government-supported loans for student tuition
• a system of scholarships to replace HECS, biased to favour students from expensive private schools
• further marginalizing student politics on university campuses

To make all this work, debate on university campuses needs to be dumbed down so no one realises what we are up to until it’s too late.

An important part of the strategy is to build a climate of bigotry. Bigotry suits the cause well because it removes the need to win arguments on the basis of logic. Once we can rely on foot soldiers who can spew clichéd catch phrases like “I don’t want to spend my money on disabled lesbian black rights”, we have won half the argument, because this kind of argument will never turn to logic, the enemy of political control by the elite.

A problem though is that this level of bigotry is limited in its support in the wider population. The Dubya camp has told us how to work around this problem. Use coded messages. Sneer at people who drink chardonnay and latte. Ridiculing beverage preferences sounds harmless enough to the non-bigot, if a bit silly. The essence of bigotry is to despise those who differ from you, and the bigots will know, and think we are one of them. Naturally we need to play down differences, like they swill beer and drive utes, and we eat caviar and swan around in limos. As long as we put that message out, we can rely on the foot soldiers to do the rest. These are insecure people who think they can build themselves up by tearing other people down. They will sneer at whomever they despise, while echoing our views on higher education, and rational debate will collapse. Naturally we should pay close attention to ensuring that the foot soldiers do not realise how much we despise them. They are after all different from us (catch me in a ute) and we really are bigots too.

Draft 1.0 BN 1-04-2005

Apple Beats IBM -- That's Failing?

Now here's a funny argument.

Apple manages to sell a configuration of 1,100 dual-processor machines to Virginia Tech, followed by an upgrade a few months later, and we're told it's not impressive because IBM could have done it.

Wait a minute.

Apple beats IBM at its own game, in one of its most succesful niches, and it's not impressive?

This reminds me of the days when Desmond Tutu, as nobel lareate and Archbishop of Cape Town, was reviled by much of white South Africa, despite his impeccable peace credentials. A story is told of how he secretly met then-president Botha for talks on ending apartheid. Botha's hat blew off onto the middle of a lake. Tutu said, "Allow me," and walked across the water to retrieve the hat.

Next day, the press report was "Tutu can't swim."

Apple's last quarter 2003

Here is a summary of Apple's results (its fiscal first quarter for 2004):

Net profit of $63 million was dramatically up from a net loss of $8 million same quarter a year ago. Revenue hit a 4-year high of $2.006 billion, up 36 percent from year-ago quarter. The gross margin of 26.7 percent, though, was down from 27.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. A small profit from cashing in investments isn't enough to explain the difference.

Sales numbers look good: 829,000 Macs, up 12 percent from year-ago quarter, 733,000 iPods, up 235 percent from year-ago quarter.

My analysis: the G5 has added considerably to the bottom line. The iPod, while big, is small money per unit. It has to be seen long-term a way of selling more Macs, but the home lineup has to be made more exciting by adding G5 options and dropping the entry-level price.

As always, Apple scores when (a) they have a good high-end model (G5) and (b) they have a uniquely better-integrated solution (iPod + iTunes + music store).

That doesn't mean all is rosey.

Check out the breakdown of units sold.

Over the last quarter, PowerMac units have taken a dip -- possibly reflecting the fact that the initial G5 demand has been satisfied. But it's worrying that the iMac sector (including eMac) has dropped 24% over the last year. That's entry-level customers who may in future buy a high-end system. The big success story is the notebook line, which has almost doubled in units sold over 12 months.

I look forward to the next G5 move. I hope it finds its way down the whole range as soon as possible. Heat and power may seem to be big issues, but a slower version would be quite competitive with the G4. The iMac needs to be revived, the notebook momentum needs to be maintained, and the high-end momentum reinvigorated.

Jobs did say iTunes is the Microsoft of the Music World

It's cool that Apple is getting HP to sell iPods.

That reverses something I've complained about in the past, the way Apple let their complete and utter dominance of the entry-level PostScript printer market slip away. I don't know if anyone at Apple reads any of my opinions, but it's good to see they're getting it right this time.

But I really like this bit of the press release:

“Apple's goal is to get iPods and iTunes into the hands of every music lover around the world, and partnering with HP, an innovative consumer company, is going to help us do just that,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “As the industry balkanizes by offering digital music wrapped in a multitude of incompatible proprietary technologies, consumers will be reassured in getting the same unparalleled digital music solutions from both HP and Apple, two leaders in the digital music era.”

Does this sound like a Microsoft head talking about Apple?