The iPad singlehandedly ruins the Finnish economy

This piece of news* sums up everything that’s wrong with the traditional Finnish mindset: instead of celebrating wins and looking into future opportunities, one single device (coming from a Nokia rival) is demonized and blamed for basically bringing down our dear country’s whole economy. A blog post about Finnish media treating ‘beacons of hope as state enemies‘ by Steve Blank, a professor of entrepreneurship at Stanford, is spot on in this case as well.

The iPad and other tablets (including the surprisingly potent Kindle Fire by Amazon) are not weapons of mass destruction. They simply manifest people’s increasing willingness to consume, create, edit and organize media through a rich experience wherever they are. This should not be seen as a threat but as an infinite possibility – especially in a country as technologically savvy as Finland.

Luckily, things don’t look as bleak for the younger generation, whose enthusiasm and inspiration oozes from these videos and photos taken during Steve Blank’s recent visit to Aalto University. Just hope there was an Aalto Entrepreneurship Society for the old hands as well – they could use the spirit.

*The text translated for my English speaking readers:

“THE iPAD NOW HITS THE PAPER MILLS!

‘The consumption of paper is decreasing at a staggering annual rate of 3.5%. The iPad effect as well as the looming recession threat to accelerate this decline’, warns the new director of market research at UPM.”