[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Ok this is not a personal grip thread because this guy is not a member here and even if he is I have problems with an article on his site not here.

I read this today on: Macnet2 http://www.macnet2.com/oped/index.html

To sum it up John sends an open letter to Steve Jobs telling him to lose the gloomy Red Cross logo in memory of the deaths at NY and to post OSX news instead.

It has been just over a week and John wants all this to get out of his site and have 10.1 news in its place.

Is it me or is this one insensitive bastard?

[San Acoustic]

It might be legit, but it might be a hack. Find out for sure before you let it direct any action on your part.

[IceEnclosure]

smooth kosmo..smooth

[San Acoustic]

So it is a hack?

[CaseCom]

It reads like one of those spoof op-ed columns in The Onion.

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

I think it is real. I am not even American and I can't believe that anyone would say what he said.

[FERRO]

Wether its a hack or not... it brings up a point....

I think in that we all (of course to a lesser expressed degree) have felt our lives shaken and disrupted and that can bring about a struggle between the "need and want" to express understanding and compassion to others wether in business or personal situations after some time has passed.

Now there is not only a call to recover from this... but it is neccessary

I think what brought this about was an assertion that becuase he wanted his computer fixed quickly that he had no compassion for the people who died.... and that he should assume that becuase of this tragedy, that All work at the repair department has stopped and that good service can no longer be expected.....

this would anger me too...

I can understand the impact of the tragedy on all business as it relates to the human and finacial condition, however being talked down to by a service rep, who would attack my character becuase I was concerned about a very important peice of equipment that (probably) relates to my business...


I think his thoughts were noted in haste to rebuk the rep who pissed him off...

I would assume most of it was written with a recently anger invoked sense of apathy

I understand his plight, but his (public) responce is in poor taste.

[ 09-22-2001: Message edited by: FERRO ]

[Millennium]

I must admit, I'm somewhat bothered by Apple's attitude towards this, which I daresay borders on milking what has happened.

A terrible thing happened on Tuesday. Certainly, it should be acknowledged. But we cannot allow this thing to dominate our minds and hearts, to drive us into a deep depression from which we don't recover for months on end. I've been looking at the other computer companies' pages; while a couple of pages still mention it, even these are otherwise back to business as usual.

Apple shouldn't be playing this "I'm more sensitive than you" game. Certainly keep a mention on the page; as a suggestion, RAILHead Design has an excellent banner that they've allowed others to use. Check it out at http://www.railheaddesign.com (incidentally, they've also been posting Puma news).

Has anyone else had a rep like this guy wrote about? It's quite possible, even probable, that it's just one rep who lost someone in the crashes, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it's possible that it reflects corporate morale as a whole, and that worries me. Is it possible something is going on at Apple that they aren't telling us, and I don't mean something good?

[IceEnclosure]

6000 plus people, numbers climbing...

although I think their main page should not be dominated by it, i would imagine that having that on their page has generated a bit of cashola towards the red cross, which is a good thing.

and kosmo(that's his membername in the user forums at macnet) shouldn't have made(in my opinion) that letter open to the public.

try to grasp...(surely you already have) 6 0 0 0 + people

count out 6000 pennies... whoa.. that's alot of pennies (group them in stacks of 100)(now pretend each penny has a family, kids, parents, a dog, a cat)
(whoa)

[TheJoshu]

Originally posted by IceEnclosure:
<STRONG>try to grasp...(surely you already have) 6 0 0 0 + people

count out 6000 pennies... whoa.. that's alot of pennies (group them in stacks of 100)(now pretend each penny has a family, kids, parents, a dog, a cat)
(whoa)</STRONG>

Heh. When you put it that way, imagine all the pennies from Vietnam, Korea, WWII (6 million caught in the genocide, without even counting war-related casualties!), WWI, the Civil War, et cetera, et cetera. 6,000 can easily fluctuate between a tiny number and a huge one. But... I still find it huge, in comparison to zero.

[BuonRotto]

Originally posted by Millennium:
<STRONG>I must admit, I'm somewhat bothered by Apple's attitude towards this, which I daresay borders on milking what has happened.

A terrible thing happened on Tuesday. Certainly, it should be acknowledged. But we cannot allow this thing to dominate our minds and hearts, to drive us into a deep depression from which we don't recover for months on end. I've been looking at the other computer companies' pages; while a couple of pages still mention it, even these are otherwise back to business as usual.

Apple shouldn't be playing this "I'm more sensitive than you" game. Certainly keep a mention on the page; as a suggestion, RAILHead Design has an excellent banner that they've allowed others to use. Check it out at http://www.railheaddesign.com (incidentally, they've also been posting Puma news).

Has anyone else had a rep like this guy wrote about? It's quite possible, even probable, that it's just one rep who lost someone in the crashes, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it's possible that it reflects corporate morale as a whole, and that worries me. Is it possible something is going on at Apple that they aren't telling us, and I don't mean something good?</STRONG>

I fail to see this at all. If anything, Apple was seen as being tardy with its condolences. It's not like "Keep the economy humming and buy an iMac today! &lt;link to store&gt;" Anyway I just don't understand what you're talking about. It's a simple sign and a link to the Red Cross. Milking it? "i'm more sensitive than you?" I see none of this and I think it's your interpretation however cynical of something otherwise devoid of such inferences. Give it two or three weeks until something comes up with Apple to replace this message. Simply throwing the Quicksilver splash isn't appropriate, they need a segue, and event to say, "OK, we're moving on."

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Maybe we should ask the MoFo is he was serious first.

If Apple does not want to move on after a week and a half that is up to them. Most of the public has yet and there is more important things out there then 10.1.

[Silky Voice of The Gorn]

I agree with the writer's points, but it *has* only been less than two weeks since the Attack. It seems so much longer than that...
Apple, and everyone else, have to feel their way carefully back to what is "normal".

[Millennium]

If anything, Apple was seen as being tardy with its condolences.

What I am about to say may sound callous. But does Apple owe its condolences to anyone? Certainly, it is a very nice thing of them to do, but I would argue that neither they nor any other company owe condolences to anyone, except for employees who lost family and/or friends. It is certainly a nice gesture of goodwill that they do so, but it is not necessary.

It's not like "Keep the economy humming and buy an iMac today! &lt;link to store&gt;"

I'm not certain I understand what you mean by this.

Anyway I just don't understand what you're talking about. It's a simple sign and a link to the Red Cross.

No. It is a sign and link to the Red Cross which dominates the home page and hampers normal operations.

The main section of Apple's homepage includes a splash graphic, a short blurb to its right, and then three smaller "news items" below that. I would propose that the Red Cross graphic be made one of those three news items, and for the page to otherwise resume as normal. This gives the tragedy recognition, while not interfering unduly with getting back to business as usual.

Give it two or three weeks until something comes up with Apple to replace this message.

That is far too long.

The only way to beat a terrorist is to not be afraid. Certainly a horrible thing happened, but to allow it to become The Angst Of America for weeks on end does no good, and indeed does more harm than good. People don't think quite straight when overcome by depression, a phenomenon I have personally experienced, and while those who lost loved ones should certainly be allowed whatever time they need to process their grief, the rest of us need to pick up the slack, clear our minds again, and move on.

Simply throwing the Quicksilver splash isn't appropriate, they need a segue, and event to say, "OK, we're moving on."

Which is precisely what I propose.

[Monique]

It has only been one week and half.

The important thing now is to show the world that the United States is united in its resolve to avange the victims of this tragedy; not to turn it into a soap opera; as in my ex-office as of last Tuesday; people would stop everything at lunch and start watching the news. Even if it is important to stay inform; it is a shame that people are watching it like they are voyeurs.

I love the United States very much and my prayers are still with the families of the victims and there will be justice because the U.S. is one of those rare countries where its people show amazing resilience.

God Bless America.

[buon working]

This really is a non-issue. Only Mac zealots are screaming about something so trite as their splash page. "Big friggin whoop." Honestly. Having said that of course, I continue:

What I am about to say may sound callous. But does Apple owe its condolences to anyone? Certainly, it is a very nice thing of them to do, but I would argue that neither they nor any other company owe condolences to anyone, except for employees who lost family and/or friends. It is certainly a nice gesture of goodwill that they do so, but it is not necessary.

And this comment gets us nowhere. It's is a nice gesture. Doing nice things, however small is still nice. End of story.

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It's not like "Keep the economy humming and buy an iMac today! &lt;link to store&gt;"
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I'm not certain I understand what you mean by this.

I mean they could be far more tasteless. You implied that Apple is somehow trying to use this to their business advantage and I see none of this. If they posted something along these lines, you would certainly have a point though.

No. It is a sign and link to the Red Cross which dominates the home page and hampers normal operations.
The main section of Apple's homepage includes a splash graphic, a short blurb to its right, and then three smaller "news items" below that. I would propose that the Red Cross graphic be made one of those three news items, and for the page to otherwise resume as normal. This gives the tragedy recognition, while not interfering unduly with getting back to business as usual.

We're heading into "If I were running Apple" fantasies here and they're not particularly relevant now. This isn't Apple's lifeline here, it's their home page for propoganda and the tabs are still at the top, the most important parts of the site's business.

That is far too long.

Not really, but oh well.

The only way to beat a terrorist is to not be afraid. Certainly a horrible thing happened, but to allow it to become The Angst Of America for weeks on end does no good, and indeed does more harm than good. People don't think quite straight when overcome by depression, a phenomenon I have personally experienced, and while those who lost loved ones should certainly be allowed whatever time they need to process their grief, the rest of us need to pick up the slack, clear our minds again, and move on.

We are still handling this grief and will be for some time. Most people are just moving through the anger stage now so rather than keep ourselves in denial or pretend it never happened, let's face it head-on. Voila, link to the Red Cross. This message says nothing of fear or paralysis by anyone at Apple or browsing their site.

No news is no news, not bad news, not good news. Those making cynical assumtions that this is somehow a front for bad things at Apple because they don't already have big new splashes up are being foolish.

This thread has become ridiculous despite a reasonable start. We have more important thing to think about like, say, donating blood.