[suthercd]

Take a look. 'nuf said.

Craig

[FAerrorTAL]

i saw that earlier. such class, kudos and hats off and all that. apple makes me proud nearly every day.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Famous dead guys selling computers = class.

[juanvaldes]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
<STRONG>Famous dead guys selling computers = class.</STRONG>

I think there is a fine line between acknowledging the death of a great revolutionary musician and using their death to sell this or that.

[dogzilla]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
<STRONG>Famous dead guys selling computers = class.</STRONG>

Wow. And I thought *I* was cynical.

[moreno]

when i die i want to be a think different symbol @ apple.com!
but apple, don't expect to sell many machines with my photo on the main page!

[BTP]

Apple has been a class act for a lot of years. This, while welcome, is not unexpeceted.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by BTP:
<STRONG>Apple has been a class act for a lot of years. This, while welcome, is not unexpeceted.</STRONG>

Ya, I was first thinking "class" when they used Gandhi to sell powermac's. I'm sure he would have approved

[Simon Mundy]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
<STRONG>Famous dead guys selling computers = class.</STRONG>

I didn't see the 'Buy the George Harrison Dual Spiritual 800mhz G4. Click here' button anywhere.

It's a bloody nod of acknowledgement to a cultural icon. It IS class, because it shows restraint, and it pays respect without crossing the line.

But thank you for your valued contribution.

[Eug]

Originally posted by Simon Mundy:
<STRONG>

I didn't see the 'Buy the George Harrison Dual Spiritual 800mhz G4. Click here' button anywhere.

It's a bloody nod of acknowledgement to a cultural icon. It IS class, because it shows restraint, and it pays respect without crossing the line.

But thank you for your valued contribution. </STRONG>

Uhh. no. It's called brand recognition, this time without any monies (that we know of) going to their estate. (Even if they did donate to a charity in their name, I'd say it's tacky.)

[Ghoser777]

Yeah, and all those damn websites out there that had tributes to those who died on September 11th, well they shouldn't have had those either! They were only their selfish attempts to sell more of product x.

You've just committed a big-old fallacy: the Intent fallacy. It is impossible for one to know the intent of another person, even if told specifically by that other person.

F-bacher

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Simon Mundy:
<STRONG>

I didn't see the 'Buy the George Harrison Dual Spiritual 800mhz G4. Click here' button anywhere.

It's a bloody nod of acknowledgement to a cultural icon. It IS class, because it shows restraint, and it pays respect without crossing the line.

But thank you for your valued contribution. </STRONG>

You're welcome. And the difference is that they have been using famous DEAD icons to sell computers through brand recognition. You can look up what that means.
This latest one is just another shot at that.

This is also much different then Sept 11 as they didn't make posters and print ads about it for 3 years.

[Eug]

Originally posted by Ghoser777:
<STRONG>Yeah, and all those damn websites out there that had tributes to those who died on September 11th, well they shouldn't have had those either! They were only their selfish attempts to sell more of product x.

You've just committed a big-old fallacy: the Intent fallacy. It is impossible for one to know the intent of another person, even if told specifically by that other person.

F-bacher</STRONG>

Interestingly I don't see such pix on the Apple site when other people of note die. However, George Harrison meets a large portion of the target audience of the Mac hardware and software. Even if my supposition were a fallacy, it still looks tacky. One can pay tribute in much more subtle and tactful ways.

[Ghoser777]

They put him on their front page, they haven't made any posters, as far as I can tell. There's no "Think Different" slogo at the bottom.

Oh, I'm really suprised this argument that you can't use dead people has gotten this far without a lot of flak. Tons of companies use gimmicks involving past American heros that died in the revolutionary war to sell products and services. I'm sure they all endorse the products that their images are used to endorse.

Anyway, I highly doubt Uncle Steve was jumping for joy with a great marketing stratgey centering around the death of George Harrison (although I can never know). If I ran a company, one that always pushed the fold and had a slogan like "Think Different," I'd be nuts not to remember the death of a member of the Beatles who did the same thing back in the 60's.

But maybe you're right.

F-bacher

[Ghoser777]

Originally posted by Eug:
<STRONG>
Interestingly I don't see such pix on the Apple site when other people of note die. However, George Harrison meets a large portion of the target audience of the Mac hardware and software. Even if my supposition were a fallacy, it still looks tacky. One can pay tribute in much more subtle and tactful ways.</STRONG>

Such as...? Frontpage tribute does it for me. Would u prefer them to have it in the "Hot news" section? Or maybe one of those little buttons that are normally at the bottom of the page?

F-bacher

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Ghoser777:
<STRONG>They put him on their front page, they haven't made any posters, as far as I can tell. There's no "Think Different" slogo at the bottom.
</STRONG>

"Watch a QuickTime movie about George Harrison on cnn.com"

P L U G!

[Ghoser777]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
<STRONG>

"Watch a QuickTime movie about George Harrison on cnn.com"

P L U G!</STRONG>

Yeah, they could have said movie, or they could have even referenced a windows media player version... as if they should rip off any identifiers on any coffins that dead people are buried in. Heaven forbid it be advertising in a time for sorrow or morning. Get over it. This isn't that big of a deal.

F-bacher

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Ghoser777:
<STRONG> Get over it. This isn't that big of a deal.

F-bacher</STRONG>

Honestly I don't care. You seem hung up on reloading the page and defending it though.

To each his own but the last word I would use for it is "class".

[Ghoser777]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
<STRONG>

Honestly I don't care. You seem hung up on reloading the page and defending it though.

To each his own but the last word I would use for it is "class".</STRONG>

Wait, this isn't slashdot I was just bored - work is slow. No lemmings in the computer lab forgetting how to insert their floppy disks the right way

F-bacher

[iBabo]

sheesh, im guess someone at apple, like SJ, is a big Beatles fan

R.I.P George...you will truly be missed

[LtKernelPanic]

I think it's a nice tribute on Apple's part to one helluva musican. I highly doubt by putting George Harrison's picture on the mainpage that they were hoping it'd make people want to buy a Mac.

[israces]

quote:


Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:

"Watch a QuickTime movie about George Harrison on cnn.com"

P L U G!




Yeah, they could have said movie, or they could have even referenced a windows media player version... as if they should rip off any identifiers on any coffins that dead people are buried in. Heaven forbid it be advertising in a time for sorrow or morning. Get over it. This isn't that big of a deal.

F-bacher

I think the "quicktime" was more the result of a standing rule from the pr department than any sly attempt at advertising. More like brand management in that ANY time the quicktime format is used, it HAS to be listed as a "quicktime movie." Probably so they don't lose the brand/copyright.

[iSore]

You want cynical. I'll show you cynical.

If it isn't an attempt to exploit Harrison's death to move inventory, then surely it is a particularly grotesque display of boomer solipsistic sentimentality.

Anyone else wanna give it a go? Really -- loads of fun.

[brachiator]

Apple's a profit-motivated business firm, ergo everything it does is intended to increase the bottom line of its balance sheets. That's the gospel of our neo-liberal society, mates! ;-) (More than that, its a key aspect of the law of corporations...)

That said, Harrison may have been an icon -- even a sensitive and brooding and thoughtful icon -- but he was just a strummer. Never really did much of great note (which is not to derogate his extraordinary contributions to the arts, just to place them in cultural context).

You want crass, take the nadir of Apple's "Advertise Different" campaign, in which it shamelessly hijacked the image, reputation, and significance of Gandhi and the Dalai Lama. That's not only crass but insulting to the intelligence and politics of anyone who was aware enough to understand the ad. There's nothing "different" about selling computers -- at least not on the same scale that measures genocide, military occupation, resistance, and some of the greatest political horrors and victories of the 20th Century.

Maybe Steve-o shoulda donated some of his and Apple's cash to Bangla Desh, or to rebuild Afghanistan, or to organize against the military junta in Burma... that might have been a fitting tribute to Harrison's ideals.

[theolein]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
<STRONG>

"Watch a QuickTime movie about George Harrison on cnn.com"

P L U G!</STRONG>

Would you have preferred or expected Windows Media Player?

[Red Commet]

I thought it had to do with the name of the company.

The name. There are two legends about the name and logo of Apple Computer. It may have been inspired by the mathematician Alan Turing who opened up the field of computer research notably with the enigma machine and his ficitonal Turing machine. Turing committed suicide by biting in to a poisoned apple, hence the logo. The other legend is that the founders of what would be Apple were sitting around the table. One of them was eating an apple and told the others that if they could not come up with a name, they might as well name the company after this apple. Some people also claim that Apple was named after Apple Records, the Beatles' recording company, and even other people claim that it was named after the apple that supposedly fell on Newton's head and made him discover the laws of gravity. Apple Records later sued Apple Computers for the name, and they agreed that Apple Computers could keep the name as long as they kept out of the musics business. Of course, Apple Computers eventually introduced quite advanced sound capabilities into their Macintosh Computers, which Apple Records didn't really like. Apple Computers therefore introduced a new system sound (a "beep") called "Sosumi" - "so sue me".

http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Apple_Computer

[edddeduck]

Sheesh there is as far as I can see NO advertising and they are linking to another company CNN..

The fact that it says quicktime is not really a factor as most downloads on eversite say quicktime vers needed of Window's media required this is apples site so you expect a quicktime link there is no real advertizing here you look to deaply at this dude's... (And Dudette's)

Cheers Edd

[tinrib]

tacky.

don't know about their intentions... but garamond and those b/w shots. It LOOKS like an Apple Ad.

[GRAFF]

It is the Christmas season. Apple has lots of goodies to sell, and what do they put on their home page - "George Harrison 1943-2001". Does that make you want to jump up and buy an iPod?

Now look at Amazon.com or M$.com - buy buy buy (and no bye-bye George)

You see what you look for, but I think Apple is a class act.

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

You people are a perfect example of why advertising works.

Picture this, the marketing people in Apple say, ok George is dead. Lets slap a picture of him of him up on the web site and:

1) People will think we are a "class act"
2) We can link to a QUICKTIME video of George. This will encourage people to download the QuickTime plugin then next week we can have a press release stating that we have 300,000 QT downloads a day.
3) This will also remind people of our Think Different campaign.

And they seem to know what they are doing as you fell for it.

[Oink]

If it sells, Apple would have Bill Gate on its website's index page all year long! What about that law suit regarding the name of the company, and what about that kid who dared to THINK DIFFERENT by registering imac.com and was forced by Apple to shut down... Shameless

My thoughts are just mine!

[dhi]

Why the flaming?

Why be cynical all the time?

I think Apple acknowledges that they have a community of like minded individuals - why not acknowledge GH? Lots of newspapers (which depend on a community of like minded individuals) publish obituaries why not Apple? - if it seems to connect with the people at Apple and their perceived community...

If you think of the people who started Apple George Harrison would have been one of those who thought different and whom they identified with. And yes "Think Different" is a slogan - but for a certain generation it does mesh with their way of thinking. Those of the Hippy Generation really did consider they thought different ... and by golly - perhaps they did - after all look what they have done.

I think Apple (or the people within Apple if you like) are just going - "We identify with that person and that generation"

You know my first reaction was "58 - that's too young to die!"..... I'm firmly a Gen X (if it is possible to be such a thing - since identifying with anything is meant to be anathema) - the Beatles were the equivilent to me of Nirvana to most of you - but the passing of George Harrison does mean something... I mean - I remember where I was when I heard that John Lennon died...

No I don't want to be cynical - I refuse...

(and stop the knee jerk flaming - it is unbecoming)

[oh and I should remember not to post when I've been drinkng.... ]

[Xeo]

At almost every iTunes demo or demo where Jobs plays music, the Beatles is one of his choices.

Hmmm... So maybe Steve is a Beatles fan. Shock!! Don't you think it's possible that he called up the webmasters and said, "Put Harrison's picture on the front page." Don't you think it's possible that he actually respected the man, and since he has this company with a website, that he could honor the guy by putting that on the front page?

Oh, I forgot, everything revolves around money. Every intent has money behind it.

Also, for obvious reasons, I'm moving this to the Lounge.

[PowerBookDude]

They have had that up about George Harrison for days.

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Originally posted by Xeo:
<STRONG>
Oh, I forgot, everything revolves around money. Every intent has money behind it. </STRONG>

Oh, I forgot, Apple is a charity..

[daimoni]

.

[PseuFighter]

I hope this isn't an excuse for Apple to try flower power iMacs again .

Anyway, it was a nice gesture on Apple's behalf. I give em a lot of credit.

[iDude666]

Originally posted by iSore:
<STRONG>Anyone else wanna give it a go? Really -- loads of fun. </STRONG>

ok! there's my cynical:



you're right, that was fun!

but, i tough it was nice from apple.

btw, where can i find the apple garamond font?

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Wow, who thought that a French Canadian could be funny

[Lerkfish]

I think the correct answer is probably the simplest one: Jobs is a beatles fan, and like the executive editor of our paper that asked for a four page spread on saturday and a two page spread on sunday, they are just using their internal company power to pay homage to someone they personally idolized as younger men (or children).

Just as an example, if I were a huge Gary Larson fan (I am) and he passed, if I owned my own company, I might be inclined to pay homage and run one of my favorite Larson cartoons, like "my arent they fine little maggots". And, I probably wouldnt even be thinking about anything other than homage.

However, I do think it would behoove the marketing dept. to bring up all the concerns about what people would perceive.

I'm a very cynical person, too, but I didnt take it any other way than an homage from the CEO who is a big fan.

[m a d r a]

I think it's a nice tribute on Apple's part to one helluva musican. I highly doubt by putting George Harrison's picture on the mainpage that they were hoping it'd make people want to buy a Mac.

oh don't be so f**kin naive!

by putting these anti-establishment, rebellious [but not too dangerous] 20th century icons on their ads apple are saying to you "hey look! we're not really a multinational corpo out to screw you for every penny we can. we're anti-establishment rock'n'roll dudes like you... we're a bit scruffy... we don't wear ties... we're not like microsoft at all- honest!"

and enough of you make the subconscious link to justifiy it.

it's "we feel your pain" advertising

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Originally posted by m a d r a:
<STRONG>

oh don't be so f**kin naive!

by putting these anti-establishment, rebellious [but not too dangerous] 20th century icons on their ads apple are saying to you "hey look! we're not really a multinational corpo out to screw you for every penny we can. we're anti-establishment rock'n'roll dudes like you... we're a bit scruffy... we don't wear ties... we're not like microsoft at all- honest!"

and enough of you make the subconscious link to justifiy it.

it's "we feel your pain" advertising</STRONG>

Wow, someone gets it.

[edddeduck]

This thread is becoming reading to much into something that is properly has very little meaning behind it the same thing goes on about what is inside the briefcase in Pulp Fiction and its a conspiracy etc etc.....

Sheesh

Jobs and Apple were revolutionarys everyone of that era knows the beatles and proberly liked them they too were revolutionarys...

no-one mentioned the Red Cross apple front page in the same font as the think different ad's was showing apple helping out and thus buy an Apple and help the red cross in NY.....

Sheesh look at the history one of the members of the greatest modern day bands of all time has died and apple are paying there respects....

THATS IT...... (how can you be so callus thinking its about money.. As Steve Wosniak said Apple's about doing and creating cool stuff creating money is a by product... )

So listen to some beatles and lament..

Cheers Edd

[edddeduck]

A few more thoughts.

Oh they might have checked if it would impact sales but I don't think its a marketing campaign....

No more than the Red Cross NY ad was....

Cheers Edd

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Originally posted by edddeduck:
<STRONG>no-one mentioned the Red Cross apple front page in the same font as the think different ad's was showing apple helping out and thus buy an Apple and help the red cross in NY.....
</STRONG>

"Yeah, and all those damn websites out there that had tributes to those who died on September 11th, well they shouldn't have had those either! They were only their selfish attempts to sell more of product x." -Ghoser777

[edddeduck]

oops....

But anyway point made...

POST 666 Sign Of Man

Cheers Edd

[Hemingray]

You guys who are b*tching about Apple's decision to pay tribute to the late Harrison have me dumbfounded. I can't even believe you would think this is about money.

YES, Apple is a corporate business, but do you honestly think they did this for brand recognition? I mean come on! September 11th saw probably the most single-used phrase on every web site on the internet "Our [hearts, thoughts, prayers] go out to those in the events of September 11th" or something to that effect. Did those web sites have ulterior motives? "He he, our country just suffered a terrible tragedy! We'll be sure to get points for this!"

There IS something on a deeper level here, people. It's called emotion. Believe it or not, not everything has to do with money as some of you would like to think. Apple did it as a kind gesture, a nod to a great performer and musical icon. That's called class. As others in previous posts have said, note the complete lack of buying information on the home page.

Those of you who don't know the difference between money-making and tribute-paying, well, you've shown you know NO CLASS very well.

&lt;/soapbox&gt;

&lt;flamethrower protection suit&gt;

[mkurland]

I suppose one could claim that any tribute to the dead is ultimately self-serving. After all, the person being honored gets nothing out of the gesture!

However, I'm not cynical enough to believe that Apple's marketing department, upon hearing about Harrison's death, conducted a demographic survey to determine whether sales would be better served by having George on the home page or the iPod.

I'm a web designer, and I have years of experience doing quantitative analysis of human factors engineering issues. The fact that Apple sacrificed an immediate click-through to one of their products, especially during the Christmas season, is pretty significant. As such, I don't see how, from a pure cost/benefit analysis, those who claim that this is purely a cynical manipulation to increase Apple's sales have much of a leg to stand on. Brand building is one thing... but getting people into the Apple Store with a minimum number of clicks is something you can tangibly measure. Apple is taking a hit to honor Harrison, rather than pitching iPod or X.

It makes sense to be somewhat cynical about the motives of a commercial venture. Of course, musicians are commercial entities, too... so when a musician covers a Beatles song, are they doing it because they love the song, or because they want to promote themselves by identifying themselves with the work of a legendary band with great popular appeal? Should they be scorned for doing so? Maybe sometimes. And maybe they love the same songs I do.

On the other hand, as Lily Tomlin says, "No matter how cynical you get, you can't keep up." Being consistantly cynical, rather than being agnostic about the motives of others, consigns one's mind to a grubby world that I, personally, wouldn't choose to live in.

So, I'll give Apple the benefit of the doubt. Harrison inspired many, and I can easily accept that he inspired execs at Apple who are using their status to show their appreciation. I presume blood does run in their veins, and that all of them were young once, and that many of them played Air Guitar to the songs of the Beatles, and are sad at the loss of an icon.

I'm a businessman myself, but my life isn't exclusively about commerce. I have feelings and beliefs and aspirations for my community and my species. Some of these are best expressed by artists, like Harrison, who inspired me. I'll give others the benefit of the doubt that they are simlar, unless proven wrong. I'd hate to always be viewed through the narrow slit of self-interest regarding my own actions, so I'll extend that courtesy to others.

That's not naiive, it's extremely pragmatic for social animals like humans.

[Ghoser777]

Originally posted by Immortal K-Mart Employee:
<STRONG>

"Yeah, and all those damn websites out there that had tributes to those who died on September 11th, well they shouldn't have had those either! They were only their selfish attempts to sell more of product x." -Ghoser777</STRONG>

You do realize that was sarcasm, right?

F-bacher

[OldManMac]

I see it as nothing more than Apple paying homage to someone who influenced a lot of people's lives and who is a cultural icon.

Those who can't get past being cynics have some some issues to address; not everybody is out to rob you or sell you something all the time. So Sad!