Al Gore Joins Apple's Board

[lmalave]

Re: Re: The internet as we know it?

Originally posted by bobindashadows
Haha! Thus, he was the key player who made it happen, because he was on a committee that made sure money moved.
My father's friend's father was one of the core engineers who developed the copper transistor. Al Gore doesn't even have that much, as far as I see. He made sure money was appropriated so that another entirely separate group of people could have their idea of the Internet network made widespread. If that means he made an initiative to invent (in the strict, common sense of the word) the internet, then I made an initiative to invent the copper transistor. Simply being on a committee to make sure a budget was well-defined does not make you the inventor. I've gotta run, but somebody may want to grab a Merriam-Webster definition of invent.

[edit] I thought I remembered the quote saying "I made an initiative in inventing the internet..." so much of that is irrelevant. [/edit]

I just looked up the exact quote, it was:

"During my service in the
United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

I think if you do your own research instead of relying on Republican commentators, you will find Gore's statement to be accurate. He was the only government official I ever saw focusing on this issue as early as he did. Pop quiz: when was the first time you heard the words "Information Superhighway"? Well, Al Gore invented that term in the late 80's to sell the concept to non-tech people.

You have to remember the Gore legacy. His father took the initiative in creating the Interstate Highway system. And Gore Jr. though that the Internet would transform commerce and shorten the distance between Americans just as his father's pet project did.

So give Gore some credit will ya? His leadership was indeed important in this field, and I happen to think he is a visionary leader.

 

[Dj Kioto]

Re: Re: Nice move Apple!

Originally posted by imaginereno
Since when did someone saying something make it true???

a republican would be less likley to say something like that about Gore if it were true...
why dont you take a leap of logic, and read something in the context of the statement...

 

[Dazzler]

Al Gore on the Apple Board

As an Australian with only a minor to moderate interest in American politics (but lately that interest is growing) my knowledge of Al Gore is limited - but judging by some of the posts above, he seemed to do some good things - passing legislation that put the internet into the mainstream, for one thing - and some bad - we all know about the "I invented the internet" thing.

So he's on Apple's Board - Steve Jobs obviously knows his stuff, and a link into the consciousness of government and politics can only be a good thing.

And hey - I caught Gore on a rerun of Leno last night - and he seems to be someone who isn't afraid to poke a bit of fun at himself, take other humour directed at him good naturedly, and really care about the family unit and family values.

Based on what I've seen, a few more companies could use a few more people on their Boards like Al Gore.

 

[chubakka]

huh?

So Bush lived outside the real world too, under that theory...
both are sons of Senators.

 

[JBytes]

Re: You have to be kidding me!!!

Originally posted by imaginereno
Is this a joke?
...
Why don't you just have my dog serve as a board member? My dog would have just as much to offer in terms of intelligence!!!!
...

Yeah, but is your dog more intelligent than Gore's bitch?

--JBytes

 

[ennerseed]

Re: Ross Perot

Originally posted by acj
Too bad it's not Ross Perot. He's just so funny.

He was actually NEXT's biggest backers.

 

[shadowfax]

Re: Re: You have to be kidding me!!!

Originally posted by iwantanewmac
Well in any way it's obvious that your dog even outsmarts you. judging by this comment.

wow, that was below the belt!

but i wouldn't mind a dog on the Apple board. that could be cool. maybe it would be better to have a candy apple on the board though.

i guess i hate to admit, but the comment has no thought put into it. but i wouldn't make too big a deal of it. saying something senseless doesn't make you so 😛

 

[lmalave]

Re: Al Gore on the Apple Board

Originally posted by Dazzler
and some bad - we all know about the "I invented the internet" thing.

Don't believe everything you hear in the American media! Gore did NOT claim to "invent" the internet. He claimed to take "the initiative in creating the Internet", which he called the "Information Superhighway." You have to realize that his father, also a Senator, took the initiative in creating the interstate highway system in the U.S., and Gore felt that his legacy would be to help create the internet.

This doesn't mean that Gore knew any technical details about networks, any more than his Father might be expected to know technical details about road construction. But leadership is leadership.

 

[lmalave]

Re: Re: You have to be kidding me!!!

Originally posted by JBytes
Yeah, but is your dog more intelligent than Gore's bitch?

--JBytes

Who? Tipper? 😛

 

[Sublime]

Re: Re: Re: You have to be kidding me!!!

Originally posted by Shadowfax
wow, that was below the belt!

but i wouldn't mind a dog on the Apple board. that could be cool.

Maybe Cyberdog?

😀

 

[Booga]

Re: You have to be kidding me!!!

Originally posted by imaginereno
Is this a joke?

Mr. Al "I invented the internet" Gore?

The idiot that took him over a month to realize and accept that he LOST the election?

Why don't you just have my dog serve as a board member? My dog would have just as much to offer in terms of intelligence!!!!

Was Steve smoking a joint when he typed up this press release????

Geeezzz!!!!!

You can understand his confusion, having been the candidate that received the most votes.

While he never claimed to have invented the internet, and obviously in fact didn't, I honestly believe that the internet wouldn't be what it is today if Al Gore hadn't been around. My understanding is that he was one of the key players in Washington who got the funding secured to move the internet from ARPA to NSF, paving the way for what we know today. He also championed networking to business and economic leaders, and while they may have gone a little off the deep end with it in the late 90's, I think he is a visionary who will bring great benefit to Apple.

(It was, what, 5-10 years ago that everyone was calling him a freak for predicting that the internal combustion engine would be phased out in his lifetime. Now people can't talk enough about fuel cells and hybrid cars that are beginning the process.)

 

[Dj Kioto]

takes a licking and keeps on ticking... oh wait, that was for a watch

It's so funny, Apple has gone a long time with it's G4, and we've almost come to the point where we've stopped playing chicken little and stopped running around saying the sky is falling... it isn't, this does not mean the end of Apple anymore than the absence of the "G5" does... Apple will keep on ticking...

oh, and I'm curious, when jobs came back, and helped bring apple back to profitability, since the iMac, how many of the board members we've had then do we have now, and how much has it hurt them, I'm also curious... what changes have been made to apple's doard of directors since circa '96-'98... I'm jsut curious, I'm not trying to imply... much...

 

[imaginereno]

Re: Re: Good God Please: NO!!!

Originally posted by simX
Let me first start off by saying, no, Gore did not lose the election. Gore got over half a million more votes than Bush did, yet our "democracy" dictates that Bush becomes the president. Furthermore, if Republicans HAD NOT DENIED MANY AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN FLORIDA FROM VOTING, Gore would have won the election because of those votes. Last but not least, Gore actually DID get the majority of the votes in Florida, except the Supreme Court (in their infinite wisdom) blocked the recounts. The election was tainted because of these many issues, and our current "President" of the United States was not a "democratically" elected one.

Now for the quote above: give me a big fat freakin' break. You have not even given Al Gore one day on Apple's board of directors, and yet somehow you reach a conclusion based on mythical evidence that Gore will not be good for Apple's board. I'm not taking sides on this issue just yet, but don't we owe it to any human being to give them a chance before making judgment?

This is in stark contrast to our current "President" of the United States, who has been given two years in office and he's ignoring what the people want by going to war. He's been given a chance, and so we have the right to make a judgment.

I don't care if you're a republican, democrat, a member of the Green party, or that mythical race called "compassionate conservatives". Sorry, I will not be convinced by your little whining rant on Al Gore that he is not a suitable director for Apple. Thanks, I'll let Gore have a chance.

HOW ODD...I THOUGHT THIS WAS ABOUT AL GORE?????

Also, please don't make accusations that you can't substantiate.

One more thing....This is about Apple and Apple Computers, not politics. So, let's keep it ON TOPIC.

Thank you!

 

[Les Kern]

Re: Al Gore

Originally posted by rebscb
Apple will REALLY benefit from Vice President Al Gore's membership on the board due to the fact that he invented the internet!!!

Perpetuating stupidity in the form of a meme?

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Dont get me started . bush denied votes? come on if you vote for more then 1 candidate your screwing up. Bush won the electoral college did he not? Maybe we should go to a system of majority votes period, but i dont think the little states were in favor of this.

 

[neutrino23]

Re: Re: Re: You have to be kidding me!!!

Originally posted by Shadowfax

but i wouldn't mind a dog on the Apple board

Moof!!!


I suggest everyone just take a chill pill.

Al Gore is not being named CEO. He is being named as a director. Aside from his native abilities he can help Apple with the influence he may have.

Also, according to the press release he is already a Senior Advisor to Google so this is at least his second private sector endeavor after Washington (apart from several teaching posts).

 

[mcs37]

Very Cool

I'm a conservative who is very interested in the 15.4" or 17" PB. I think the idea of Al Gore on the board is pretty cool. I've always liked him; he's the best robot I've ever seen, and that includes Data! But seriously, I've been a fan of Gore for his backing of manned missions to Mars.

Mike
------------------
soon-to-be switcher (waiting for the 17" PB)

 

[Dj Kioto]

wait a minute... where am I

they tell us in the office meetings that subjects to stay away from are sex politics and religion, when we are idly chatting away in our cubicles... now maybe... mmaaaaayyyybbbe.... since we're in a MAC RUMORS forum, political talk is kinda out of place... maybe it should be in a current affairs thread...

how (w/specific examples) would Gore hurt, or help apple... let me ask that question...
jobs and apple obviously think gore will help, otherwise he wouldn't be there...

also, this kind of arguing isn't really becoming of a mac user when the other person is using a mac and not a win PC... given if they WERE using a win PC, let the arguing commence... but the politics just dont belong here...

heh, I'm imagining now two political analysts who have kids in the same kindergarden, and when one of the kids points to a picture of a bush, then the parents burst into a huge political debate when in fact the kid was just pointing at a picture of a bush, NOT G.W.B.

 

[jgracia]

Does this means Apple will lost all their Republican users?

 

[BigJayhawk]

Yeah Right! Ummm, errr?

"I invented the internet!" -- Al Gore

That's just as LUDICROUS as if Apple's current CEO came out and said "I invented the Apple Computer!" Oh wait, ummm, errr, he did!?!

 

[DakotaGuy]

As far as sales are concerned this move really does not matter. People buy products no matter who is on the board as long as they are good products. I don't think Gore will cause much to change either way, Apple will stay a strong company. During the Clinton adminstration real movement was going on with the M$ lawsuit which seems to be stalled under Ashcroft, but that could change.

I think there may be a few people who will think negatively about this and will refuse to buy Macs, but they are the same people who were never able to think different in the past. As quiet as it has been kept over the years, the truth is the most conservative people have wanted Apple to fail. Do a lot of looking through webpages and you will see the religious right have made claims about Apple being linked to the Devil. There have also been claims about the OSX name Darwin as Apple being anti-Christian.

I have no idea why so many conservatives see Apple as a threat and at the same time gloat how great Microsoft is, but that is the way it is. I can't say all, but many very conservative people think Apple is evil and Apple users are "weird" They despise the whole idea of being "different."

 

[copperpipe]

now this is what we needed!

I mean this thread will carry us through this week and next for our macrumors fix. I mean, how many times can we talk about wether or not the 970 is gonna be 10% faster or slower than the latest PIV or not?

Yeha, this is the ticket.

Anyway, for everyone saying Gore is dumb, blah blah blah. You are all idiots. I want to ask everyone of you what the heck you've done with your life to be soooooo condescending to our ex vice president, and someone who won the popular vote to be the PRESIDENT OF THE USA. C'mon, did you win the Nobel prize or something?

I mean, I don't like president Bush, but I give him credit for having managed to become the president of the USA. I don't think he's nearly as "dumb" as thousands of quotes out there that make him look really dumb. It's easy to discredit someone, but think about it - could you manage to go through that rat maze without just completely flipping out? Just the running to be president would take its toll on me...

 

[copperpipe]

yeah and one more thing...

The idea of conservatives jumping ship because of this is weird, but maybe a little interesting. I doubt anyone would do that, except maybe the most extreme. But hey, imagine if the decisions were made that way - Apple's marketshare rises 45%!!!

 

[MacVault]

WTF!!!??? OMG...

Al doesn't even know the difference between Micheal Jackson and Micheal Jordan, he thinks he invented the internet, and he was part of the most corrupt presidency in American history! Steve Jobs must have been smoking some shrooms or something when he decided to take on Gore.

Although this is my immediate and overall reaction, I will say there could be some benifit, and perhaps some major benifit by having a board member experienced in such a high position of government, as long as his influence in the company is critically examined, and hopefully Steve Jobs will have the mind to do this, and not just let Al take over the company. I know Steve is on the left, and a buddy of Billy Clinton.

This news does seem kinda like a joke. We'll just have to see what happens.

-Z 😱

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Presidents dont get paid squat compared to Jobs and thousands of other business ceo's. etc. I like Gore and i like Bush and thank this will be good for apple. After all they are still using the g4 so they need all the help they can get.