Analysis of Edgar Allan Poes The Raven Essay -- Egar Allan Poe Raven

Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Raven,† though parodied, republished, and altered countless times, has withstood the test of time as one of the most recognizable and famous works of poetry in the English language. Carefully measured stanzas with a fascinating rhyme scheme embedded throughout, together with the unique and completely individualistic style of its author, are but a few of the elements that combine to elevate this poem in the public eye. It reaches an as-yet-unparalleled plane of poetic excellence. It is imperative, then, for the reader to understand that the conflict presented in â€Å"The Raven† is not the commonly-assumed â€Å"Man vs. Animal,† as though to embody the plight of the man as he pits himself against the inexorable and daunting raven who crouches before him, but rather â€Å"Man vs. Himself.† Unfortunately, a sad mistake is predominantly concluded upon by the public at large as they study this piece. Many readers view the titular character as being the sinister, twisted daemon sent from hell to torment its host. This, while at a preliminary reading may appear to be the case, is not the theory widely accepted both by scholars and serious contemporary students. The repeated negative answer is not a warning, prophecy, or ill-spoken omen. The bird is no oracle. Poe himself tells us that the creature’s â€Å" ‘only stock and store, / Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster† / Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore- / Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore’ † is, in fact, â€Å" ‘ â€Å"Never- nevermore†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (62-66). It is interesting to note that Poe originally postulated placing a parrot in this role, but opted for a raven as â€Å"equally ... ...eming of a demon’s that is dreaming, And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted- nevermore! This work deftly captures the inward and hidden desire that all men and women face in the maelstrom of grief that accompanies the death of their true love. As has been noted, it is not the raven that carries with it the agony. The raven is merely the catalyst, acting upon the pent-up agony that already exists within the bosom of the narrator. Here we find true, seldom-revealed human nature in striking clarity. â€Å"The Raven† is as timeless as it is human, and as long as lovers love and the living die, it will remain a horrifyingly accurate representation of life as many would not care to admit. Therein lies its strength, and therein lies its beauty.

HIV and AIDS: How Has It Developed? :: HIV AIDS Diseases Health Essays

How Has It Developed? Only within the last two decades have HIV and AIDS become largely visible in the United States and across the globe. It may appear that there is virtually a void in legislation dealing with HIV and AIDS because of the relatively recent increase in public awareness. Perhaps, though, this lack of legislation should not be surprising considering the fact that almost no other specific illnesses are the target of direct legislation. The rights of patients are often the topic of new laws; however, exact diseases or disorders are not usually expounded upon in these broader forms of legislation. The situation involving the possible transmission of HIV to Kimberly Bergalis from her dentist provoked many calls for specific legislation requiring medical professionals to be tested for HIV. Additionally, some suggest that if a health care provider tests HIV positive that he or she should be required to disclose this information to all involved patients. Since there is no preexisting legislation on mandated HIV testing for health care professionals, one must apply broader, more ambiguous interpretations of the Constitution in order to mount cases both for and against the implementation of required HIV testing [Notre Dame J. of Law]. The Amendments of the Constitution that are most applicable to the debate over required HIV testing are the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which contain elements of the right to equal protection, and the fourth amendment, which contains elements of the right to privacy. The Fifth Amendment involves the role of the federal government, as opposed to th e Fourteenth Amendment which addresses the role of state governments [Notre Dame J. of Law]. An excerpt from the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution is given below: "†¦No state shall†¦deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." (The Constitution of the United States of America can be viewed in its entirety at http://www.publicadministration.net/resources/the-united-states-constitution/ ) The Fourteenth Amendment states rather clearly that citizens have the right to equal protection, but the Fifth Amendment does not express this right in such an explicit manner. However, Supreme Court rulings have cited the Fifth Amendment as a source of the right to equal protection through due process in various cases [Notre Dame J. of Law]. An American citizen's fundamental right to privacy is supplied by the Fourth Amendment. This amendment, as stated below, is traditionally known as the Search and Seizure Amendment. "The right of HIV and AIDS: How Has It Developed? :: HIV AIDS Diseases Health Essays How Has It Developed? Only within the last two decades have HIV and AIDS become largely visible in the United States and across the globe. It may appear that there is virtually a void in legislation dealing with HIV and AIDS because of the relatively recent increase in public awareness. Perhaps, though, this lack of legislation should not be surprising considering the fact that almost no other specific illnesses are the target of direct legislation. The rights of patients are often the topic of new laws; however, exact diseases or disorders are not usually expounded upon in these broader forms of legislation. The situation involving the possible transmission of HIV to Kimberly Bergalis from her dentist provoked many calls for specific legislation requiring medical professionals to be tested for HIV. Additionally, some suggest that if a health care provider tests HIV positive that he or she should be required to disclose this information to all involved patients. Since there is no preexisting legislation on mandated HIV testing for health care professionals, one must apply broader, more ambiguous interpretations of the Constitution in order to mount cases both for and against the implementation of required HIV testing [Notre Dame J. of Law]. The Amendments of the Constitution that are most applicable to the debate over required HIV testing are the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which contain elements of the right to equal protection, and the fourth amendment, which contains elements of the right to privacy. The Fifth Amendment involves the role of the federal government, as opposed to th e Fourteenth Amendment which addresses the role of state governments [Notre Dame J. of Law]. An excerpt from the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution is given below: "†¦No state shall†¦deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." (The Constitution of the United States of America can be viewed in its entirety at http://www.publicadministration.net/resources/the-united-states-constitution/ ) The Fourteenth Amendment states rather clearly that citizens have the right to equal protection, but the Fifth Amendment does not express this right in such an explicit manner. However, Supreme Court rulings have cited the Fifth Amendment as a source of the right to equal protection through due process in various cases [Notre Dame J. of Law]. An American citizen's fundamental right to privacy is supplied by the Fourth Amendment. This amendment, as stated below, is traditionally known as the Search and Seizure Amendment. "The right of

Introduction to Integrated Christian Apologetics Essay

Over the past centuries, many religious beliefs have been criticized by many philosophers and critics. Christian faith has never been saved from these criticisms. In fact it has received one of the major blows of disparagement. This criticism of the Christian faith has caused damage to the Christian believers. Due to the criticism of Christianity, Christian believers were also criticized and were questioned by their fellow human beings. And because of these, Christian believers were caught unaware and did not know what to do. Furthermore, this also caused believers to have weak faith in Christianity. There were even others who lost their faith because of these attacks. Due to a lot of criticisms, it was seen by many school of thought in Christian Theology that a solution must be provided to the arising problem. According to the scholars, apologetics is the solution to the dilemma. Christian Apologetics is a branch in Christian Theology that defends the Christian faith. It tries to answer the question â€Å"is Christianity believable? †. It originated from the Greek word â€Å"apologia† which means ‘making a defense†. Attacks of the Christian faith coming from the outside of the church are mean dealt with apologetics (Philip and Cherian). Presently an integrated approach in apologetics has been developed which sees apologetics in a holistic perspective. A person who is studying or has background on Apologetics is called a Christian Apologist and can help inquirers about their question in Christianity. A Christian Apologist can teach and help the person having doubts on Christian beliefs to see and find the answers to the problems and questions that he is facing. The Apologist can also teach the inquirer the humanistic philosophy which can help them overcome their doubts and will help them find the root causes of the problem. These also give the inquirer capability to deal effectively with the questions being raised to them. The basis of Christian Apologetics could be traced back to the bible. According to Philip and Cherian, Apologetics is a biblical activity which has been advised and demonstrated in the Bible at various places. One of the example is the verse from 1 Peter 3:15 which goes â€Å"always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls your account for that hope is in you†. Many verses in the bible give a good definition of the character of Apologetics. According to Philip and Cherian, almost all of the books of Jobs are an Apologetic to justify to God’s dealings with mean. Furthermore, they also mentioned that verses in Psalms 14 and 19are apologetic in character. Romans 1:20 is also another verse in the bible that describes the character of Apologetics. With this few examples it can be said that all activities in Apologetics is referred from the Bible. An important role of Apologetics towards the Bible is that it answers inquiry of people who have been attacked by nonbelievers. Base on the module written by Philip and Cherian entitled â€Å"Introduction to Integrated Christian Apologetics†, the Bible places a great deal on faith and belief, though I condemns deliberate skepticism and unbelief, it does not speak against reason and investigation. The Bible encourages the use of reason and investigation when they are done sincerely and is an aid to honest inquiry. This is where Apologists play an important role, providing answers to honest inquirers. Furthermore, Apologetics is also related to Polemics which deals with attacks originating from within the church (Philip and Cherian) which is a bit unusual. Attackers from within the church includes everyone who teach perverted doctrines which could take in two forms. The first form is in the form of distorted bible and the second is through those of false cults who claim that they are a true Christian group. Apologetics and Polemics have the same purpose, which is to refute error and to establish truth in Christianity (Philip and Cherian) though they are two different activities. However, with the various forms of attacks that the Christian Church has undergone and undergoing, both polemics and apologetics has to know hw counter all the forms of attack which means that if you’re an Apologetic you should have knowledge on Polemics and vice versa. In this way, the person is well prepared for the things that will come his way. Attacks of the word of God are no just recent. Apologetics has its roots in the Bible. The Old and New Testament gives enough evidence of this (Philip and Cherian). The attacks can be rooted back to the Old Testament. It can be noticed that during the old times many people have already questioned the existence of God which had form doubts on the Christian Church and has never ceased up to the present date. Thus, from then on Apologetics has been part of history. During those days, it is the Jewish Fathers and leaders that have to face so much opposition from non-believers. The non-believers published a lot of written works to question and discard the Christian faith. At this point also, the Jewish fathers and Leader also wrote some books to counter the attacks and one famous apologetic works is Contro Apion which was written by the first century army officer and historian name Flavious Josephus (Philip and Cherian). During the rise of the New Testament, the attacks to Christian faith were a little different compared to the Old Testament. The attacks to the Christian faith were a lot faster because of the new technological advancements on this time. Aside from the advancements, Philip and Cherian stated that during this time the availability of the New Testament itself cause the rise of many critics, heretics and heretical movements. However, this was countered by the authors of the New Testament. Majority of the readings in the New Testament is an opposition to scornful people and heretics that distrust biblical truths. To make the truth heard, the writers of the New Testament wrote extensively to expose errors abut the attacks that has been made (Philip and Cherian). The existence of the New Testament has caused more damage to the Christian faith since the teaching found in the New Testament were in contrary to the beliefs of the heretics, criticizers and rebel Christians (Philip and Cherian). In addition, the New Testament insists of Bible alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, and faith alone which further provoked the doubtful believers. These non believers were also afraid that Christianity would spread very fast that they tried to stop it by destroying or saying things against the Bible, Jesus Christ and Christianity. However, this has not shaken Christian Apologist at that time, instead of giving in, they fought the non-believers of Christian faith by producing volumes of Christian Apologetics and Polemics. However, during the recent years, the fight of Christian Apologist became dormant when the Roman Catholic Church ruled the Christian world stiffly. The roman Catholic Chruch at this time (fourth century to the 14th century) indulged in a great struggle for ecclesiastical as well as temporal power that they tend to silenced, torture, and killed millions of dissenting people (Philip and Cherian). So instead of fighting back, Christian Apologists tend not to speak because of the life threatening situation. When the dictatorial rule of the Catholic Church was over, Christianity was rejected by many people since the didn’t understand the difference between Roman Catholic Church, the true church of Christ, and the Christ of the Bible. This was coupled with the rise of a lot of anti-Christian thinkers, philosophies and movements. A lot of anti-Christianity group arise during the 19th century and there common goal is to oppose to the Bible and to Christianity as well. They also believed that Christianity could be challenged but they haven’t got sufficient information to do so (Philip and Cherian). During this time, Charles Darwin, a scientist who proposed the Theory of Evolution for the first time in a theory of science united all the dissenting movements. This Theory of Evolution had greatly affected Theology by the end of the 19th century. Many theologians from Europe and America accepted the Theory of Evolution and convinced other theologians especially German Theologians. However, these German Theologians began to act as mercenaries and destroyed the belief in the Bible. And one of their major goals is to destroy Christianity. They published lots of books that were spread worldwide. But despite the eagerness of German Theologian to destroy Christianity, many still don’t agree with them. Many were interested in keeping both beliefs together. However, this did not give Christianity a positive light. Instead, it created more conflict especially on the creation. Defenders then of the doctrine became so few. Belief on Christianity and the Bible, was risen during the fifties were in a group started writing aggressively on themes defending the historical and scientific reliability of the Bible which gave birth to the modern interest in Apologetics and Creation (Philip and Cherian). In India, the theological situation is the same with the West. Thus, it was expected that is would turn out the same with what had happened in the West. However, there were few people who stood up against these teachings. One of the first was Prof. H. Enoch, during the 60’s he published a book entitled â€Å"Evolution or Creation† which has influenced a lot of young Indians (Philip and Cherian). During the 60’s and 70’s in India it was only Cross and Crown, a Pentecostal Magazine that publishes articles defending the history of the Bible and creation. This magazine was edited by Dr. Thomas Mathews from Udapair, Rajasthan (Philip and Cherian). In the 70’s A. K. Skariah, a secretary of the fellowship of scientist known as FOCMOS or Fellowship of Christian Men of Science, which was later called Creation Scientist Fellowship (CSFI), became a tireless campaigner for creation and Apologetics even if their organization is not functioning anymore (Philip and Cherian). Another important person in India who studied apologetics is Dr. Johnson Philip who founded a project namely Creation Research in 1970’s. The objective of his research is to publish articles about apologetics and creation. Currently, the book has more than 1500 articles and is publish in six different languages. This movement is now known as Calvin School of Apologetics and Theology (Philip and Cherian). This man also, Johnson George, born in Kerala is another person who palyed a significant role in Christian Apologetics. He has contributed writing on apologetical themes in several languages. Other people such as Dr. Ezhamkulam Samkutty, J. C. Dev, E. S. Thomas and Paul K. Ramakrishan also played a role in apologetics. Recently an apologetics organization entered India known as RZIM which was founded by Dr. Ravi Zacharias from the U. S. A. (Philip and Cherian). Through the years, apologetics has been very important in the everyday living of many people. Together with the constant change that humanty is facing, approaches used by Christian Apologetics has also been changing with time. However, certain puposes of Apologetics has never changed with time which includes: a) to refute all the accusations that are brought against the Bible and the Christian faith; b) to demonstrate that only the Bible and the Christian way of life work in the actual life and that only the Bible and Christian faith provide permanent peace and happiness; c) to remove the sincer doubts in the hearts of believers and unbelievers, so that the hindrances to the growth and establishing their faith are eliminated and; d) to provide sufficient evidence for achieving the above goals. Thus, t is necessary for the apologist to understand the difference between sufficient and total proof (Philip and Cherian). In Christian apologetics, everything is decided on the basis of proof. However, there are still people who think of it differently. There are many people who views Christian Apologetics through skepticism, Christian Rationalism, Local Christianity and through faith (Philip and Cherian). Apologetics is a fast changing and fast growing field in Christian Theology. Thus, people who want to study this field should not misunderstand its role, purpose and contributions. It should be noted that Apologetics is a â€Å"manward operations† (Philip and Cherian) which means that its main purpose is to help those who are confused and in anguished due to doubts. It does not defend the bible a though it were a helpless book. In apologetics, the bible is defended to those who have doubts about it so that they will have a clear belief about the bible. Apologetics is not there to preserve the Bible but it there to preserve the faith of the doubting believer. For this to take effect, the apologist should b able to briefly understand the aim and goals of apologetics because only a person with proper understanding of apologetics can do his job properly. It should also be taken into consideration, that though the main purpose of apologetics is to defend the Christian faith, it also has limits. One of its limit which is crucial is that it should never be use to prove that the Bible is the word of God. It can only point to the unusual character of the Bible in matters of unity, accuracy, consistency, historicity and life-changing power. At this point an apologist should take note that it’s purpose is to aid a person to see that the attacks bought up against the bible are not valid (Philip and Cherian). Another purpose of apologetics is to remove the barrier that hinders faith (Philip and Cherian). The removal of these barriers helps accepts Christian faith whole heartedly. It also helps them make deeper commitments to the church. With this, the Christian faith and church becomes stronger with believers that have a complete trust to it. In addition to the purpose of apologetics is to inform honest inquirers on how reliable the rational content of the Bible is and that the Bible is not for rationalist. However, the demands of rationalists have been a benefit to Christian apologist because it formed an excellent standard to evaluate the statements of apologists (Philip and Cherian). To help a person who wants to abandon his unbelief that has been there due to his lingering but sincere and honest doubts is another purpose of apologetics (Philip and Cherian). It is not a treatment for deliberate unbelief but it is meant to serve as a cure for sincere doubts. Apologetics is not there to prove the divinity of the Bible instead it is there to point to the uniqueness of the scriptures which places the scriptures in proper sequence (Philip and Cherian). It should also be noted that apologetics is not scientism. They are of two different schools. Scientism is the belief that ultimately everything has to be explained with the help of science which is a false belief (Philip and Cherian). It should be taken into consideration that not all things happening in this world can be explained by science. There are certain things that happen what cannot be explained by science and it in manner faith is strongly given emphasis. Moreover, studying Christian apologetics has many practical values. Studying apologetics conserves the faith of an individual which means that he is ready to face the questions that will bombard him in his everyday living. Individual who is ready for such will not be able to loose his faith because he already knows what to do to the attackers. Ability to combat a foe is also improved when one is studying or has a background in Christian apologetics. He becomes better in answering the questions of unbelievers. Aside from this he can provide believable answers to the inquirers and wile main composed in circumstances. In addition, apologetics can also aid the youth in there sincere queries about Christian faith. In this manner apologists serves as a guide to the young minds. It should also be taken into account that there are also people who are not interested in Christian apologetics. This people became uninterested in apologetics due to their misconceptions and misunderstandings of the study. These people are categorized by Philip and Cherian into six categories which are: a) those people who never had any doubts in Christian faith; b) people who never had to face questions and attacks from scornful people; c) people who have indeed faced personal doubts and external attacks but who have been running away from facing the challenge; d) people who have lost sensitivity towards the pains and problems of other and pseudo-apologists who love prestige, but who have never mastered the subject. These six categories of people do not have any sufficient evidence to object or question Christian apologetics. Most of their objections are base on their personal views on how they view the subject. They are not sincere inquirers but rather they only want to impose what they believe and think is right. They believe that the bible contains errors and are insensitive to other people. Aside from non-believers, there are also people who oppose to Christian apologetics. These people who oppose to apologetics do not agree that reason and faith should be placed in the same dominion. They believe that the human understanding is not capable in the spiritual realm. This belief is highly in contrast with the Christian approach to truth wherein one has to accept that faith and reason do mix with each other in many realms of spiritual truth (Philip and Cherian). In addition to distrust, fear of being attack or questioned about faith is another reason why people oppose to apologetics (Philip and Cherian). They are afraid to face attacks because they feel that they aer capable of doing such things. So instead of facing the problem, these people tend to run away from the problem. Ignorance is also another reason why people are opposing to Christian apologetics (Philip and Cherian). They are completely ignorant about the things that are happening that when they are faced in certain problem or situation they tend to react to things because of their ignorance. Due to the much opposition of apologetics, an apologist should be very careful in handling situations. A debate is a big no in apologetics except when the crowd is mature enough and is made up of small number of seekers (Philip and Cherian). If engage in a debate, the apologists should still be very careful and should bot deliver the debate in a form such as speaker-to-audience. Apologists should bear in mind that they should always take control of the situation they are in. Apologetics is such a very complicated topic and because of it’s complexity, many apologists tend to make compromises to patch some things that cannot be resolved. However, this kind of act is not advised by Christian apologists as it can cause more damage to the truth. Compromise is like a slow poison that attacks the Christian faith which can be more destructive than the fiercest direct attack in the Christian faith. When opposing systems are synthesized into one, it is the truth that always suffers (Philip and Cherian). In the integrated approach to Christian apologetics, the following statements are the benchmark: Bible alone, Grace alone, Faith alone, Christ alone, to God alone be Glory. Christian apologetics shall always stand in favour of truth, total truth and truth alone (Philip and Cherian). The truth will always be the truth and should always be separated from error. Reference Philip, Johnson and Cherian, Saneesh. Introduction to Integrated Christian Apologetics. A Calvin Research Group Academic Resource, Module 001A1. Retrieved on 22 January 2007.

Flatland

First Of all, the preceding ha If of the book dived into such detail as the protagonist, Square, explained the culture and many other aspects of flatland. For instance, he explained the the nature of other people, houses, class system et c. Afterward, once the novel proceeded into the latter half of the book, square began to experience other dimensions. At first, he had a vision of a single dimensional world, Leland. Here he attempted to explain the very nature of the second dimension to the king of Leland.This proved very ineffective as t he king was unable to comprehend other dimensions and proclaimed, † Instead of moving, you mere lye exercise some magic art of vanishing and returning to sight; and instead of any lucid description of your new World, you simply tell me the numbers and sizes of some forty of my retinue, facts know n to any child in my capital. Can anything be more irrational or audacious? Acknowledge your folly or depart from my dominions. † (peg. 51 ) T hough Square tried in many ways to help the kind of line eland to comprehend a second dimension, it was useless.Later on, Square got approached by a sphere re who attempted to explain the third dimension to Square. As though Square completely disregard deed the dream he had the night prior, he found great difficulty understanding the third dimension. He is only convinced when the sphere took Square outside Of flatland and into the third dimension. Here Sq rare had been able to look upon the same perspective as the sphere. Only in this instant did Square ace apt the sphere's words as truth After the sphere's work was done, he sent Square back to flatland where e it became his job to preach about the third dimension.Due to the laws against the belief of a third dimension, and Square's ewe obsession over this dimension, Square became imprisoned. This brings us up to present tense where Square is left in the prison, where he still attempts to convert his broth retro a believer of the th ird dimension. In my opinion, the author's purpose to exercise the imagination by worlds of other dimensions was accomplished fairly well. First of all, the whole book demands understand ins of another world and how the culture works. This put my mind to the test as being such a small boo k, the explanation of flatland was surely condensed.Secondly, the author uses complex language t roughest the book. Found this very interesting as the novel became a challenge to understand at some points. This helped my improve my vocabulary and also to better comprehend and even somehow at express writing in a more complex style. Overall, I enjoyed the majority of the book. Though in the beginning when flatland and everything within it was explained, I felt as though everything WA s merely a list to follow of what I needed to know about flatland. Believe that this section of the book could have been portrayed in a much more interesting manner.However, the latter half of the book was very intrigui ng as it contained the plot of the book. Lastly, one aspect of the novel which did not quite fancy was the portrayal of uselessness of women. For instance, the women in flatland are m ere lines and considerably unintelligent as proved in the explanation, â€Å"For as they have no pretensions t o an angle, being inferior in this respect to the very lowest of the Isosceles, they are consequently wholly y devoid of brainpower, and have neither reflection, judgment nor forethought, and hardly any memo y. (peg. 12) Perhaps being a feminist may make me have a little bit Of a bias, but I would much rather pr offer for women to be portrayed as equal as men. Though I did not enjoy this particular detail of the novel, there are multiple other things I found interesting. Many aspects of were intriguing to me. Firstly, the whole concept of worlds in other dimensions were at first hard to understand, but became easier as continue d with the book. This encouraged me to think how life would be fo r me if our world was constructed d of only two dimensions.Secondly, the idea put forth by Square about a fourth dimension was very into resting to me. To me, it seemed so simple to distinguish and understand the difference between the first, second, and third dimensions. However, was stumped as I tried to attempt to think of a world made up of four dimensions. Lastly, I also found the higher level vocabulary to be a great shall Eng. Though at some parts, it was difficult to get through a paragraph without using the dictionary a couple times, I enjoyed it nevertheless. Overall I enjoyed the book fairly well.Though the parts of the novel which I did slicked, the tedious beginning and women being the inferior gender, were very prominence t, the rest of the book was still immensely intriguing to me. The book played with my mind as I attempt d to picture a world of a fourth dimension, as well as others such as second and one dimension. I would d definitely recommend this book to others if they are looking for a challenging, but also interesting b ask to read. As long as they don't mind reading through the long introduction to flatland, I'm sure the eye would enjoy the book as much as did.

Organizational Culture at Apple Inc

Organizational Culture at Apple Inc. In the year 1976, it was a dream for most people to buy a computer for their homes. Back then the computer community added up to a few brainy hobbyists. So when Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs sold a van and two programmable calculators for thirteen hundred dollars and started Apple Computers, Inc. , in Jobs garage, the reach for success seemed far. But these two young business men, Wozniak 26 years old and Jobs 21 years old, had a vision. Computers aren't for nerds anymore, they announced. Computers are going to be the bicycle of the mind. Low cost computers for everyone. From the first day on the founders of Apple kept their vision intact and they spoke it at every turn. They only hired people into the company that had the same visions as they did. Even though Jobs was the founder of Apple Computers, he resigned from Apple Computers in 1985 to form NextStep Computers after losing control of Apple. Steve Jobs was re-hired in 1997 to save Apple from its beleagurement when the past three CEO's could not bring Apple to its glory days again. Steve Jobs is one of the founders of the Apple. From the beginning his main goal was to make technologies that will change the life style and that will serve the customer. Jobs left the apple during the 80ies, only to return in 1997 and completely shake things up. He is known not only as a good visionare but as well as someone whose decisions are always unpredictable (switching to Intel). He is as well known for publicly provoking his competitors (Mac vs PC videos and talking how Michael Dell and his empire are far behind Apple when it comes to innovation and that they can only copy them. Knowing to implement excellent design to all of its products – Apple is putting a lot effort when it comes to design of all its products. After Steve jobs returned to the company, both desktop and laptop computers received new stylish helmets. Even the OS X and later Tiger had better appearance than Windows. Apple Computer, Inc. has experienced both the best of times and the worst of times. The further survival and success of this company will depend on what strategic course they decide to pursue. In order to do this, the company must first re-establish what it actually is and what it aims to become. It is important to start a course of action and develop a culture that understands and supports Apple’s mission. The computer industry is important for Apple. It should therefore concentrate in its expansion. However, survival in the computer industry depends on the development of new products and technology. Products are subject to quick obsolescence and being a leader in new products is essential. In the past, a budget was cut as a cost saving measure. This is still advised due to the importance of developing new technology. Another recommendation for Apple is to consider the licensing of clones. Apple is the only company in the PC market that makes both computers and the operating systems to run them, whereas the market is dominated by computers that combine Intel processors with Microsoft operating systems. Because of their financial situation, they need to better position themselves to quickly produce and distribute any newly developed products. For example, if they developed a revolutionary new product, cloning companies could assist in the production and distribution of this technology. Revenues would be generated from the licensing agreements. This could result in quickly establishing this new technology in the industry and re-establish Apple as a leader in technology development. Developing a better marketing and distribution of their products is a further recommendation for Apple. Apple products are not as available as PCs to the retail market. People should have as easy access to Apple products as they have on other PC’s. Next, Apple should develop an integrated and easy-to-use computer system. This system could be targeted to young children and older individuals that would be interested in using a computer but do not want the hassle of setting up equipment. Although there are many different strategies to consider, Apple’s future success will depend on their future strategic decisions. Next, Apple has proved to be much more innovative in the industry than Microsoft. By trying to be always one step further, Apple has managed to develop the iPod and iTunes, as well as the iPhone which are all complements to the digital industry. Microsoft has not developed anything new and original for a long time now. It seems that all they do is creating advanced version of the operating system that is not always compatible with the old ones. Unlike Microsoft who is desperately trying to buy Yahoo! nd stay competitive, Apple does not have to do anything to prove its popularity. It already has faithful customers and their numbers are increasing every day. The reason for this is Apple’s good knowledge in customer base. Apple’s move into new industry may have different effects on its core business. However, given the success of the iPod and iTunes as well as the further promotion on the iPhone, it is safe to say that Apple is doing well in both industries. This means that Apple has already shifted in a different direction (digital music) but so far it has had a lot of success. In fact, some people might have heard about the iPod first, and then found out that Apple is actually a big and successful company that manufacturers computers as well. If a customer is satisfied with one product, he/she will be willing to buy another from the same company. If a person sees that Apple is selling all of these different products, and they are all popular and good quality, there is no reason why this person would not buy from Apple. Apple already has loyal customers and any innovation that may happen could only lead to more success. It will also increase its profits and gain more popularity. This is why, we believe that moves into new industry might impact Apple’s core business, but in a good way – bring better promotion and reputation. There are number of reasons why apple is set up for success within computer and music industry. It designs a very good quality, compatible hardware and software products. The operating system that runs on the Mac hardware (Mac OS X) remains as the major advantage over any version of Microsoft poor quality operating system with a lot of viruses, worms, spyware, and adware. Apple creates programs that run on Mac Os X operating system, and this brings bigger market share. Apple is set up for success because it targets a niche market: the Apple users. As the case study presents, it creates its own miniature techno-environment, economy with a wide range of products offered to their clients, this builds up their market share, and strengthens their position, creating future loyal customers. Apple sets up its own stores to display their products; in this way it catches new potential clients. Apple launched many advertising campaigns; one of them featured â€Å"real people† who had â€Å"switched† from the Microsoft Windows platform to the Mac. A popular advertising slogan â€Å"Think Different† remained the integral part of Apples identity. Put simply, Apple approaches the customers, with original, funny ads, this precipitates to the creation of the products considered as fashionable, well designed and build on Apple technology. Apple owns a big share of the market, which makes it easier for the future success. It is better to work for Apple because it s a dynamically growing company with well developed campuses where the employees play and work at the same time. With the high technology used in the Apple product, employee can participate in the development or learn how company like Apple works. Apple is a rewarding environment in which employees can build their career using their special skills and talents. Apple is looking for newly graduated stude nts, and professional programmers who are looking for work sacrificed for people who would like to work in different departments, starting from Mac Hardware Engineering finishing on Retail. It is worth working for a company like Apple because of the success that the company has achieved. Steve Jobs has done an amazing job at revitalizing Apple Computers. He took over Apple when it was at the brink of death, and brought back with much life. In spite of the bad publicity about its unprofitable quarters, predictions about its death, falling market share, and advice on how to save the business (i. e. make Windows compatible hardware), Jobs continued to prove the critics wrong. Even with the 5% market share, Apple is trying hard to increase its market share. As the world’s lowest paid CEO at $1 per year (Guinness World Records, 2000), Jobs strives to make Apple provide the best computing experience to its users. To be a successful CEO, one must understand the market they are competing in. Even though the previous CEOs did not have any computer related experiences, but was highly successful and regarded at their previous positions. The CEOs did fail to adapt their strategies remain competitive in the computer market. Scully could not maintain the competitive advantage it once had, and the other two CEOs did not have the right strategies to bring Apple back to its glory. Because they did not fully understand the computer market as Jobs had done, they unsuccessfully struggled to keep Apple from falling farther down the market. With Jobs deep understanding of the computer market as a pioneer in two businesses, consumer, and a technician, he implemented many of the strategies Apple should have done in the beginning. His added value to the Mac with software, customized the products to a target market, and simplified the product chart. Steve Jobs has successfully saved Apple from death, but he faces a greater challenge, increasing market share. As long as Jobs can maintain Apple’s competitive advantage and sustain it, increasing market share should not be too much of a problem. References http://www. bloggingstocks. com/category/battle-of-the-brands/2. http://piqued. brianfrantz. com/? s=apple3. www. dailyindia. com4. http://www. operating-system. org/betriebssystem/_english/bs-macos.

Exclusive Styles Ladies Boutique Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Exclusive Styles Ladies Boutique - Term Paper Example SWOT analysis (alternately SLOT analysis) refers to a method of strategic planning for the evaluation of Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats that are present in a business venture or a project (Humphrey, Albert, 2005). The SWOT analysis for the Exclusive Style Boutique is as follows: Strengths The boutique will have ‘hit-the-trend’ style clothes which will be a big attraction and will present wide variety to the trendy and contemporary style women. The clothes will be affordable and easily accessible to the women across the globe. The clothe range will be diverse with various choices and different fabrics in the product line. Moreover, additional services like salon, cafe and lounges will be available which will successfully position the boutique in the minds of consumers and will build its brand image. Weaknesses Some of the weaknesses that the boutique may face might include the difficulty to manage the product lines, big staff and the store s pace. It may incur high management costs and difficulties in the management of customer services. The growing popularity of the store would require the management to maintain the presentation of its interior and manage the uniqueness of product, style, and fabric. Opportunities The external environment of Exclusive Styles would provide it good opportunities to avail. For instance, it has been a trend that the young population spends more; therefore, the major target population will be young ladies or the working class who prefer to look and wear well every day. In order to create brand attachment and fame, the store will have a good opportunity to get the brands advertised and endorsed through celebrities. Furthermore, the option of choice,... Regarding the tough market competition, the owner of a small boutique mentioned various designers that have already captured the market and have maintained their own customer bases. They have already positioned them so much in the minds of the customers that it becomes difficult for a new business venture in the same industry to deal with the cutthroat rivalry. Besides all other factors, the market conditions, according to her, present an uncertain climate. There is the recession, variations in exchange rates, laws and regulations of trading, higher expenditures, persistently growing inflation and many other factors which may hinder the progress of a business. Not only may this, but a new business struggling to expand and diversify become difficult to be managed and controlled in terms of its scope and human resource base. Thus, the general opinion given by the boutique’s owner stated that the new business ventures in the industry need to be more competitive and challenging in order to cope up with the existing and the upcoming market conditions. After interviewing the owner, one of the employees from the same boutique was enquired about the work management and the viewpoints. According to her, the customers exhibit a good behavior when they are treated with concentration and are given extra services. For a new business venture to be successful, especially a boutique, it is essential that the employees are kept satisfied with good quality products, better after sale services.

How I would change the U.S. Healthcare system for the better Essay

How I would change the U.S. Healthcare system for the better - Essay Example To start with, the dysfunctional public policies have been the root cause for the failure of the set up to provide state of the art and up to the mark healthcare facilities to all and sundry. Moreover there is a general need to understand how we are faced with a need to ration the responsibility within ourselves. It is all about understanding each other and in the end, comprehending that the health of one human being in the society or for that matter in the country would encourage another person to remain healthy as well. In fact, this would force the latter to make sure he receives the best possible healthcare amenities at the hand of the state. After all, it is the state’s responsibility to provide up to the mark healthcare facilities. Policy changes thus become the first and foremost directive in this regard that can be taken. These policy changes entail a complete disassociation between the consumption of healthcare services as well as paying for the same services on the other hand. Secondly, the need of the hour in this healthcare agenda is to see for ourselves that we acknowledge the issue of healthcare as being some what not aligned with the society’s needs and it is an independent entity all the same. Thus it needs to be treated as such. This means that if the state understands that healthcare is something that is kept separate from the rest of the facilities that it usually provides and the same is made available to each and every person within the country, irrespective of his or her standing, caste, color or creed then only one can assume that some thing better is happening in the healthcare circles of US. Next in rank is emotional health which is very closely related to spiritual health in that people’s emotions draw heavily from those around them. This makes it especially important that whatever type of group one seeks out for spiritual guidance is