

Poll: Do you think that Apple or Exxon brings more value to society? - BenSchaechter
http://gopollgo.com/apple-briefly-passed-exxon-as-the-most-valuable-company-in-the-world-do-you-think-that-apple-or-exxon-brings-more-value-to-society

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polyfractal
Apple machines use plastic. Plastic is derived from petrochemicals.
Petrochemicals are created by ExxonMobil (and other oil companies).

We may not like oil companies because they are greedy, capitalistic assholes
that manipulate the system to their benefit. But disregarding the impact
plastics and polymers, most of which are derived from petrochemicals, would be
extremely naive. Try to imagine modern life without plastic. Just look around
whatever room you are in and notice how many objects use plastic. And that is
just in the consumer space of an average room. Imagine all the industrial and
manufacturing processes/parts that use plastic.

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pedalpete
Further more, how would you get your Apple (and non-apple) products without
oil? Like or dislike, we have to accept that the current energy paradigm has
created much of the wealth in the world today.

Though we look at oil as a bad product, so was the newton, but it served a
purpose. The current product of oil companies might not end up being the last.
I suspect in 100 years we may see an ExxonMobile providing clean efficient
energy from an infrastructure they were able to develop because of the vast
trillions they made in the days of oil.

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anactofgod
“Market cap" represents a "perception of future performance", not an
assessment of a company's "value to society”.

Investors are just expressing a sentiment that Apple - a company that has
rebased its product and service offerings at least five time during its 35
years of existence, in many instances cannibalizing the incumbent cash-cow to
pioneer a new business opportunity - may have better long term business
prospects than ExxonMobil - a company that has an 100+ year history of
providing the petroleum-based commodities that are the current basis of our
civilization, but has arguably demonstrated no other competencies.

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michaelpinto
You're comparing apples to oranges in the worst way: It's like asking if the
police or fire department is more important to a small town (answer: you need
them both). I also think the very notion of the "most valuable company" is a
very loaded phrase as well.

