March 20, 2011

That is sick! Russian Government surprised not every student has an iPad

I've always thought that the phrase "Let them eat cake" (which is attributed to Marie Antoinette, and I don't want to discuss whether it was said by her or not, it doesn't really matter for the today's article) has been the best illustration of detachment of the supreme power from the problems of ordinary people. I've always laughed at it. Until today.

Nikolai Vinnichenko, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Urals Federal District met with students & was having a conversations with them answering their questions.

Nikolai Vinnichenko told the students that he uses the Internet daily, although he is far behind the president in terms of Internet usage.

"I'm just like you, there are portable Internet resources. (what is this? - The Russian Truth) Have all of you got iPads? Or, at least, iPhones? I think everyone has." The silence in the hall lasted for 2 minutes.

It's obvious, Nikolai Vinnichenko has no idea that the student's stipend is about $30, while the cheapest version of iPad in Russian costs more than $600, and iPhone4 costs $1500. And the parents of the studens he was having conversation with hardly make the so called survival level (that's $150 per capita).

I once again realised how far the Russian government is from the problems of people who elected them.

"How come you don't have iPads, my people?"