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G.M., Detroit and the Fall of the Black Middle Class

By JONATHAN MAHLER
Published: June 24, 2009
The Pontiac Assembly Center in Pontiac, Mich., is a massive, low-slung structure of concrete and corrugated green steel that squats conspicuously among the many strip malls that line one of the city’s main thoroughfares, South Opdyke Road. Locals refer to the three-million-square-foot factory, which makes Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, as Plant 6, because when it opened in 1972, it was the sixth General Motors manufacturing facility in this city, 25 miles north of downtown Detroit. At the time, General Motors was the world’s largest automaker. It dominated the American market, manufacturing half of the vehicles sold in the U.S. As recently as 2003, Plant 6 was running three consecutive eight-hour shifts, employing 3,000 people and making 1,300 trucks a day.

PALM PRE

Full Review
Features
At first blush, it’s easy to see the comparisons between the Pre and its obvious target, the iPhone. Both feature ample multi-touch screens, 3G internet connectivity, 3.2-megapixel cameras, Wi-Fi, app stores, just a handful of exterior buttons, and months of months of gloss layered on their finely honed operating systems. Beyond that, the Pre departs dramatically from Apple’s formula.
Most obviously, Palm has sanded the iPhone’s tablet-like form factor down to a smaller, rounded-edge design that’s supposed to be reminiscent of a river stone. And while the 3.1-inch screen comes up a bit short on the ruler as a result, there’s a surprise hiding underneath: a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out on a slope for quicker text entry.
Turning the phone on, things get even more unique. Unlike the iPhone, the Pre’s unique WebOS can run multiple apps simultaneously, allowing users to seamlessly switch between any two, three or twelve tasks with a flick of the finger, or perform tasks like playing music from Pandora while browsing the Web. It also includes a powerful calendar and contact solution that syncs from multiple online sources (like Google and Facebook), as well as an App Catalog full of free and paid software for the phone that users can download and install in seconds.
If that weren’t enough, Palm’s additional $70 Touchstone charger for the Pre tops off the battery wirelessly. It looks like a pedestal. Pop the phone on top, and it’s charging.

Build Quality and Form Factor
Not surprisingly, Palm has taken a few cues from other leaders in the mobile space by packaging the Pre into a rock-hard paperboard box that’s built like it should house diamonds. In fact, it could probably break through a window in the right hands. Inside, you’ll find the phone itself, a microUSB cable for charging (along with the requisite plug to covert a standard outlet into a USB port), a pair of rubbery black earbuds, and a suede pouch.
Palm’s dramatic claims about the Pre’s “river stone” design weren’t hyperbole. We might believe this thing spent some time at the bottom of a babbling brook if it weren’t plastic. The corners have been totally knocked off, the front and back blend smoothly into the side with rounded edges, and the whole phone bows out gently in the middle. This is a nice phone to hold, and it’s equally at home in the pocket, where it seems to melt right in.

NEW DRAKE JOINT. I THINK ITS FUNNY BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM TO DO ANYTHING FOR THE SONG. 'YE COULDVE TAKEN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ROUTE IN DIRECTING THIS.

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