(L20) The Worth of Time Vs. Money

Is it worth my time to get a part-time job at the minimum wage?

Right now, I am a full time high school student. Just this month I began my first volunteering endeavor, and I spend as much of my off-time as possible at the local no-kill animal shelter. I have been on a rigorous job hunt, and would be willing to shift my schedule around a full time job if it was available to me. A part-time job would be more convenient at this time in my life, however. As a senior, getting out on my own is nearly the top thing on my priority list, and to do so, I would need income, and savings to support myself. Currently, it would absolutely be worth my time to get a part time job at minimum wage; but, in the long-run, a full time job would be much more beneficial.

(L15) The Race Against Robots

Why is running my own business a way to guarantee my employment in 2030?

Running my own business is a way to guarantee not only my own employment in the future, but also the employment of others in an increasingly artificial intelligence dominated economy. Being a business owner would mean that it would be my decision whether to “employ” robots, or humans (or both). It would also mean that I would be nearly irreplaceable as the personality behind the brains of the business; nobody could step in to replace the top-boss with a robot unless the boss allowed it. In a world where people are growing to prefer machinery, it would be my job as a business owner to offer things that robots cannot; a personal touch. Emotion, personality, understanding, and human connection are all things that people subconsciously crave, and they will trump any percentage-increase of productivity and “perfectness” that machines offer.
I believe that the overtake of technology, while not necessarily a bad thing, is certainly a case of “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. When the basics of face to face interaction become lost among convenience, society will shatter. Emotional connections through love, laughter and genuine joy cannot be shared among machines and humans together, and the very idea that it can leads people into a treacherous and depressing false reality, where relationships and society can no longer exist.

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Steve Jobs (L20)

Before reading, please note that the entire following essay is from a single website (cited below)

Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco, California in February of 1955; adopted as an infant, his new parents took him to the city of Mountain View where he grew up. This area was booming with new businesses at this time, surrounding young Jobs with engineers and electronic growth which strongly grasped his interests. At age 13, he met 18 year old Stephen Wozniak who came to be a good friend of Jobs’ (but we’ll get to him later).
By the time his parents had scraped up enough money for him to go to the college he wanted, Jobs turned around one semester later and dropped out. He took a slight break from the rushing world around him to ‘find enlightenment’ through his world travels and drug trips; once he settled, he found himself part of a ‘hippie commune’ in Oregon.
Once his spiritual spurt was over, Jobs traveled back to California and got a job working for the (then) small Atari video game company. His old friend Wozniak, in the meantime, had been learning all about computers, and had actually been able to build his very own personal computer board. This caught Jobs’ attention, and thus on April 1st 1976 the Apple Computer baby was born with all intentions of making personal computers accessible to software hobbyists, “who wanted to write software without the hassle of assembling a computer kit.” While assembling these computers in Jobs’ garage, newer and better technological ideas were flowing; the two were able to scoop up insanely large investments from people who had both money, and faith. With their growing success over the years came interest from large companies, and their profits (as well as their products) only got more advanced.
The reason that Steve Jobs (and Stephen Wozniak) were so successful is two things actually. The first being that they had a legitimate interest and passion for what they were doing. It had been a calling from a young age, and they were able to combine their background knowledge with perseverance and a dream. This all certainly entails a great amount of self discipline as well. The second reason that they were successful is because they had constantly changing goals. They were quickly adapting to their own ever changing business circumstances. As they became more popular, they were already in the process of trying to make a newer, better version of what they already had. This is exactly what people in the market of technology wanted then, and it is more than anything what they’re desiring today. People want the most attractive, functional, advanced version of anything they can get their hands on – and they want it fast. They were able to stick to their mini goals in advancing the company as time went on because of their main goal: money. This was their greatest motivator of all; it certainly did the trick. (Moisescot)

Bibliography
Moisescot, Romain. “Short Bio.” All about Steve Jobs.com. Romain Moisescot, 7 Mar. 2012. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/shortbio.php&gt;.