Word. I don't care that much for 50 cent's music (except his first unreleased album) but this is dope majorly seriously dude. Word to your mother, brother!
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50-cent-branded Mac rational thread
- Thread starter tveric
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Josh said:
You're comparing an ad in which the artist was not even visible-- Was that even Eminen in the ad?-- to a 50-cent branded Macintosh. Not the same thing. While a lot of people assumed it was a black vs. white thing, the more articulate in the bunch made it evidently clear that that was not the case. (Whether or not you choose to believe them is your choice.) From a very, very outside perspective (both geographically and ideologically), I gathered that:
(a) having a 50-cent iPod ad would be okay.
(b) having a 50-cent iPod would be okay.
(c) having a 50-cent Macintosh computer would not be okay as it would clash with Apple's image. That's not racism or elitism, it's business. Would a Nike-branded Big Mac fit their image? No.
In fact, I gathered that the majority of the naysayers were not in favor of any celebrity-branded Macintosh. (New poll idea perhaps.)
Giving computers to disadvantaged inner city folk? Great idea. Nobody that I recall in the other thread said or implied otherwise. Perhaps having 50-cent set up neighborhood computing centers and having Apple stock them with Mac minis might be a better approach.
Just my 2 cent.
-Squire
P.S. You're totally right about the "and all kinds of childish jokes an ignorant comments come flying through" part, though.
^ the thing is though, we have absolutely no idea how large or small 50 cent's part would be.
It could be even smaller than Eminem's, maybe bigger. We don't know.
It could be anything from branded "PowerMac" to an iPod or even some sort of program that helps people get the usual Macs that already exist. We just don't know.
Without knowing the size of his collaberation, such comparisons I think are entirely equal and justified.
It could be even smaller than Eminem's, maybe bigger. We don't know.
It could be anything from branded "PowerMac" to an iPod or even some sort of program that helps people get the usual Macs that already exist. We just don't know.
Without knowing the size of his collaberation, such comparisons I think are entirely equal and justified.
Squire said:
If you really want to defend that comment as not being racist or elitist, you've got to back it up with why you think it would clash with Apple's image, not just throw such an outlandish statement out there. Otherwise, it just sounds like you're being.... uh, what's the words I'm looking for? Oh yeah, racist or elitist.
tveric said:
With an ad hominem attack within the first two pages, this thread appears to be tipping towards the irrational as the previous one did
Apparently no one can critique 50 Cent or his connection (still a rumor at best) to Apple without being called racist or elitist and that's just simply ridiculous.
What does 50 Cent bring to such a partnership? A known love of philantrophy? Maybe the dollars for R&D for a 'cheap' Mac? Or maybe his own YMCA-style community centers? Or does he bring merely his image and his popularity?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but 50 Cent doesn't bring anything but his image and his popularity. And his image is designed around his 'thug' past and 'gangster' future, his former escapades as a pimp, drug-dealer and mugger, and his new image as a fur-coat ensconsed gunslinger.
How this image can be converted into cheap Macs for inner-city kids eludes me. How this might seem like a crass ploy to use the fleeting popularity of goon-turned-rich to sell the same stuff to white kids in the surburbs doesn’t.
Josh said:
The only person I saw using the 'N' word repeatedly was 50 cent, when I followed a link to his website. Gee- maybe someone who uses that word 100 times in one song isn't such a great spokesman for Apple.
hulugu said:
Whoa, slow down there. It's not critiqueing that gets you branded elitist - it's critiqueing without explaining what your problem is with 50 cent, which many people have been doing. You, on the other hand, explained your position quite rationally and logically, with the exception of the one sentence I quoted.
Most others haven't been so forthcoming, which tends to make people read the subtext - which, let's be honest, has everything to do with rich white people (a large part of the mac demographic) not liking the image put forth by rappers. And if you tell me you've never heard a white person call someone the n-word, you're lying or you're living under a rock. At least, one improvement we can point to these days is that it's no longer socially acceptable to do so in a public forum - it wasn't so long ago that it was okay.
Either way, I'm in the camp that believes the more dialogue and yes, even argument there is (RATIONAL argument), the better it is for everyone. it sure beats censorship. I would discuss this with someone like you all day, and we could certainly disagree, but at least we'd be talking like normal human beings, and maybe get each other's points.
tveric said:
Hold on. Keep in mind a couple of things:
(1) I was merely relaying what I thought was being discussed in the thread. I wouldn't know 50-cent if I stumbled over him. So, my knowledge of his antics is limited. However, few people argued against his thug-like past. That said, (2) I didn't feel like repeating what was already stated dozens of times in the thread (examples of his thug-like past).
In short, those comments were already backed up dozens of times by people who know more than I do. I was merely trying to summarize what was mentioned in the other thread.
-Squire
P.S. I think the majority of the people in that thread (and some in this one) should look up the word racism in a dictionary. Folks, it's not a word to be thrown around lightly. People were not saying African Americans should not be Apple spokespeople; they were singling out 50-cent. Huge difference.
tveric said:
Youre making far too many assumptions.
First, you state that someone who has a dislike of 50 Cent and doesnt explain this dislike must be racist. You cannot make an assumption about context without content. I could call you racist as well because of your assumption that a large part of Mac users are rich white people without the facts to back it up. You make assumptions about people, and that is just as prejudicial.
Secondly, 50 Cent is one rapper and someone can indeed think 50 Cent is a no-talent ass-clown and yet enjoy hip-hop and rap.
Third, discussion is good, but the thread that was closed had gone completely off the deep end had devolved into an abject melee with a few members merely fueling the fire with random insults.
Great points, hulugu. I think what it boils down to is that far too many people use the term racism without actually knowing what it means. The dictionary widget is handy.
* the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as distinguish it as superior or inferior to another race or races.
* prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief
As iGary pointed out in multiple posts, the majority of that original thread (and, of course, this one) was void of such comments. What's the difference between the following?
1) Saying 50-cent's image clashes with Apple's image.
2) Saying Mr. Bean's image clashes with Apple's.
See? Nothing at all about race; they're just two comments about individuals.
-Squire
* the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as distinguish it as superior or inferior to another race or races.
* prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief
As iGary pointed out in multiple posts, the majority of that original thread (and, of course, this one) was void of such comments. What's the difference between the following?
1) Saying 50-cent's image clashes with Apple's image.
2) Saying Mr. Bean's image clashes with Apple's.
See? Nothing at all about race; they're just two comments about individuals.
-Squire
technicolor said:
Okay, I think I see the big misunderstanding going on around here. People weren't calling this rumored Mac the "ghettomac" because it would be for inner-city people, but because it would be 50 Cent-branded. No one was saying that the inner-city was the ghetto, they were just making fun of 50 Cent's ghetto image, which, in most people's opinion, is not a positive image.
The "ghettomac" would be "ghetto" because of 50 Cent, not because of the inner-city. That's what it boils down to. No one was being racist.
I read through the (original) thread after it was closed, and I guess it pointed out a couple of things:
1. That there are limits (or at least tendencies) for the online medium in terms of amount of context and tone to comments - which can result in a lot of misunderstanding and confusion.
2. That some topics, when you have a forum consisting of members ranging in age from 12 to 50 (approx), people are coming from such different levels and manner of experience, familiarity and maturity as to render any common ground and mutual understanding impossible.
meh.
1. That there are limits (or at least tendencies) for the online medium in terms of amount of context and tone to comments - which can result in a lot of misunderstanding and confusion.
2. That some topics, when you have a forum consisting of members ranging in age from 12 to 50 (approx), people are coming from such different levels and manner of experience, familiarity and maturity as to render any common ground and mutual understanding impossible.
meh.
Squire said:
I may be a racist by definition 1. It seems possible to me that there may exist minute average genetic differences between races. I don't care that much one way or the other- but from what little I've read by reputable scientists- it seems possible. For example, there appear be differences in lactose intolerance between different regional groups. What everyone fights about though is the IQ question. Again, it seems possible that there may be small IQ differences on average- but it doesn't particularly matter to me. If I had a choice- I would much prefer that all regional groups had exactly the same average IQ; that may in fact be very nearly true- I'm not certain.
I'm not conciously aware of being racist by definition 2, though like most people, I do have some stereotypes about the average French-person or American or Tibetan. I also have some stereotypes about a black American vs a white American vs asian American- though I think they're almost all based around average cultural (i.e. non genetic or racial) norms for the two groups.
Having said all that- disliking 50 cent is not inherently any more racist than disliking Paris Hilton. They're both talentless hacks.