Last month I thought my principal choices for an ultra-ultralight laptop (as close to 2 lbs. as possible) were the IBM Thinkpad X40 and the Panasonic Toughbook W2. But the Thinkpad X40 doesn't have a touchpad, and the W2 has limited RAM and a built-in optical drive, which I don't particularly care about and which therefore just adds unwanted weight.
The resolution? I got a Toshiba R100 instead. Don't know how I initially overlooked it, except perhaps that it just wasn't being reviewed as much. In any case, what a gem -- 12.x" screen, very spacious keyboard, and it weighs 2.2 lbs. (sic) with one battery or, with a second battery that gives a total of 6.5 hours of uptime, 3.03 lbs. Extraordinary.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Organized labor in the U.S. - back to the early 1900s
The percentage of American workers who are members of unions dropped to 12.5% in 2004, the New York Times reported the other day. That includes public-sector workers. The rate for private-sector workers is a mere 7.9%, "the lowest level since the early 1900s."
American unionization levels peaked at nearly 35% in 1945. This compared favorably with the West German peak of 36% in 1951, it should be noted, although the U.S. and Germany have obviously diverged on this dimension since the 1950s.
American unionization levels peaked at nearly 35% in 1945. This compared favorably with the West German peak of 36% in 1951, it should be noted, although the U.S. and Germany have obviously diverged on this dimension since the 1950s.
Steven Greenhouse, "Membership in Unions Drops Again," New York Times, 1/28/05. For the American peak: Paul Boyer, ed., The Oxford Companion to United States History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 429; for the West German peak: Wendy Carlin, "West German Growth and Institutions, 1945-90," in Economic Growth in Europe Since 1945, ed. Nicholas Crafts and Gianni Toniolo (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 467.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)