Apple + 50 Cent = Affordable Inner-City Mac?

[kettle]

...so it's a story of moral blackmail that gets morphed into a game of moral chicken by a Rapper(record company) going the wrong way up a one way moral street.

Anything Apple does here can be spun badly.

 

[HGW]

50c mac

if apple make a 50c branded mac i will eat my keyboard. gimme the ***** cat dolls branded instruction manual.

 

[Subiklim]

what is the difference with Eminem advertising for the Ipod?
oh... I forgot hes white.

I forgot about that! Thanks for bringing that up.

This thread blows my mind.

 

[freeny]

50 cent???
Kanye is too religious...

And which is it any way? Fifty cent or Fitty cent?

Id like the Juvenile mac.

Honestly this has to be a joke.. A Fifty cent mac? Think about it people!

 

[poppe]

yo, reading these posts, there are sooo many Marie Antoinettes out there Why would apple do this? Maybe because it's just the thing to do! Technology simply isn't in reach of sooo many, and bringing them in is probably good business/economy sense, especially long-term. I don't know how anyone can live not using the internet, but sooo many just have to. The next step, and probably just as important, is the access cost. 50 dollars to Comcast every month is a rip, and gas+electric comes first. This move would also bring a think-different, ethical punch to the marketplace for sure! The buzz would be phenomenal. Bring it on!

OK, and now for my mad version: Stop the sarcastic, hateful, idiotic references to drug containers and pimp machines. You oughta be ashamed. This isn't about branding a ghetto culture, it's about providing what people need and presently can't have. Associating this with some lyrics in .50 songs is just lame. Again, think different, please.

Should we associate this then? If they are going to use his name to brand it, how would they associate it?

I know when the jordans came out I associated his shoes with dedication hard work and the want to succeed, but 50 cent, his profession of rapping about shooting up, getting shot, and degrading women shouldn't be associated?

Please clarify...

Side note: how about the Rosa Parks, MLK, Jordan, or I can't think of anyone off the top of my head in the entertainment business, but there are alots that would be a better influence and brand for the inner city kids (well I would think).

But having a MLK laptop wouldn't sell no not like a Wanksta mini/ laptop...

 

[Josh]

I was thinking the same thing. very depressing and disapointing.

what is the difference with Eminem advertising for the Ipod?
oh... I forgot hes white.

Exactly.

This thread has a lot of disgusting comments in it.

This is a good thing, for inner city people, for Apple, and for 50 cent. I assure you, you will not see "50-cent teams with Apple: Stocks Plummet" in any headlines.

Needless to say, my respect for the MR community was higher before I entered this thread.

 

[Core Trio]

Ya know, the vast majority of inner-city black people are good people just trying to get by in a world full of crime and poverty where people like 50-cent prey on their pain as thugs until they make it big. He's also a turncoat on his own people who praised the Prez after Katrina. If they want a hip-hop artist promoting their products, why not Kanye West? At least he actually cares about the lives of black people and to my knowledge did not spend his adolescence as a terrorist in his own community.

kayne west has about as much class as 50 cent.

Is anyone forgetting that bargain computers for low income families are not exactly Apples business?? If you think they are going to release some machine for under the price of an iPod (estimating at about $350 b/c lets face it many people in the financial situation this addresses dont have hundreds of dollars to throw around). Apple is out to 'switch' people, and create returning customers, they run on a long term strategy, and i doubt they think they can count on continued business from the inner-city. Apple is still a business, that answers to its stock holders, in a time of growth for them, reaching out and giving charity is probably not at the top of their list of priorities. Moral? no. Good business? damn right.

And btw...i dont think its fair to just assume that all inner city people are black. Just a thought.

EDIT: Apple wont even give us a keyboard and mouse with the Mac mini for $699, and people actually think they are going to have a packaged deal for less? please.

 

[iGary]

Exactly.

This thread has a lot of disgusting comments in it.

This is a good thing, for inner city people, for Apple, and for 50 cent. I assure you, you will not see "50-cent teams with Apple: Stocks Plummet" in any headlines.

Needless to say, my respect for the MR community was higher before I entered this thread.

What disgusting comments?

 

[1984]

Some of you are forgetting the main point. I am not a fan of 50-Cent myself, but if this materializes this would be a very good thing. A Mac program for those in the inner-city / low-income? They'll need the assistance.

They don't need 50-Cent to do this.

 

[Subiklim]

Needless to say, my respect for the MR community was higher before I entered this thread.

Well said. God forbid that somebody lessens the perceived status and esteem with owning a precious Mac. This is about helping less fortunate people. We're lucky to use great computers. Why should be be the only ones that can? To the guy who said earlier that he won't buy macs if this goes through, good riddance.

 

[1984]

I'm no fan of 50-cent's music, but a lot of you seem to think he advocates what he sings in his songs. Remeber, he writes/sings them merely for the money, it doesn't mean he personally believes it. Among the rappers, I hold him in the highest esteem (though that's not saying much).

What a role model!

 

[zap2]

i'd much rather see a 50 Cent iPod, as he does music, not computers. If it does end up being a Mac, i would hope the Mac would not be a "50 cent Mac"(in the way U2 has an iPod) but more a 50 cent supported Mac, were his people and he helped Apple make ads for it, and such but don't name the Mac after him, that would suck( and i mean an Mac named after an artist, i mean i would not want a ColdPlay Mac and i love them!)

Also I like idea of a low cost Mac but if Apple gets a reall low end chip in it, then OS X runs bad, and its worthless, if the put a faster chip, it makes the Mini look like a bad deal. SO i don't really see room for a "good" low end Mac

 

[devron]

How about....letting the tech sell itself?

I live in Jamaica, NY....coincidentally about 2 miles from where 50 grew up (he went to my elementary school). I work in the tech industry and as someone who has an appreciation for both communities, I can tell you that people in the inner city don't want "tech on the cheap". They use firefox and are familiar with DRM and bit-torrent just like everyone else. If people are interested in tech, they'll seek it out. They don't need to be marketed to.

Secondly, as someone of color (and who's not all that sensitive...I'm sure that's the assumption often times), I appreciate the posts where folks are just discussing the idea. It is dumb. But then there are the posts that start to insult the folks who live here. Without shouting anyone out, I'm reading references to "ghetto" and discussion around poor folks like they're filth. There are folks who didn't ask for 50 (the artist or a mac worth two quarters) and who don't all wish to be associated with him. I dug his first album and admire his desire to do business with apple, but can we please be a bit sensitive to the folks who live here?

Lastly, I think a low cost mac.... somewhere in the spirit of $100 laptop project.... is a good thing. And not just for the "inner city". Exposing some of the midwest and poorer areas all around this nation to lower cost tech might be the thing that grows young minds and helps them to arrive at that gas-alternative energy....or a longer life battery for my MacBook Pro.

 

[JBazz]

When the another race strikes so close to home (macs) you all really show your true colors(no pun intended). What a bunch of bigots.

Yeah. That MUST be it. It cant be that I dispise fiddy pennies because he is a POS. It MUST be because he is.....black~! Cant possiably be because he went to prison for selling drugs out of an underaged girls panties. Lied about being shot nine times, stole another idiots street name to gain "street cred", advocated violence and promotes every foul thing I dispise. Nope has to be because he is black.

 

[kahn]

ignorance

i cannot believe what i'm reading. you people have to be the most closed minded, hateful bunch. Perhaps Apple and 50-cent are having talks to develop a lower priced Mac that will serve the needs of those with lower incomes. I don't see anything about a 50-cent themed anything.
geez!
expand your universe just smidge

 

[Subiklim]

What a roll model!

I appreciate you cutting out what I put directly after your quote that pretty much negates your point.

It's role model, by the way.

 

[HGW]

eminem

not technically white, they made him black for the ipod ad.

but who cares

computers to low income households should'nt be gangsta or apple branded they should call them them potato's or something and come with lots of mice

 

[Subiklim]

Yeah. That MUST be it. It cant be that I dispise fiddy pennies because he is a POS. It MUST be because he is.....black~! Cant possiably be because he went to prison for selling drugs out of an underaged girls panties. Lied about being shot nine times, stole another idiots street name to gain "street cred", advocated violence and promotes every foul thing I dispise. Nope has to be because he is black.

Don't you seee? THis isn't about 50 cent. It's about getting quality computers to low income families. 50 cent is just the vehicle to get it to them. Let's face facts here, the lower income families are more intune with 50 cent than they are with... oh, lets say Bob Dylan.

 

[1984]

Yes, they do. They need to understand that hip-hop culture is not some "freeing" expression of indivuality as it's billed, but a way for a few people to get disgustingly rich glorifying uglyness. Its a way for these people to rise themselves out of the ghetto, tell the people they what ****** conditions they are in, and how they understand (while they drink their Crystal and ride in their beamers) and have the idiots lap it up and make them a folk hero.

Yes, hip-hop and rap, beacons of purity and personal expression. I'd choose to characterize the "art forms" as the epitome of scam as an art form. Not only that, but they glorify the scum of modern society. While hip-hop I'll agree has some redeeming qualities, rap is nothing other than a fundamentally deterimental influence on America proper. As such, I do not want to see it as part of an Apple product. Ads are fine (and even then, I feel a bit of twinge, but I understand the marketing aspect), but to validate the crap that is rap with an apple branded GhettoBox™ ? No thanks.

At least there are a few intelligent people on the forum. Maybe back in the 70's and 80's Rap had a legitimate message but that time is long, long gone. It's all about the money these days even if that means drugs, rape and murder. This is a slap in the face to all the parents and teachers in the inner city trying to keep their children off the street and provide them with better lives.

 

[poppe]

i cannot believe what i'm reading. you people have to be the most closed minded, hateful bunch. Perhaps Apple and 50-cent are having talks to develop a lower priced Mac that will serve the needs of those with lower incomes. I don't see anything about a 50-cent themed anything.
geez!
expand your universe just smidge

The negotiations between the rapper and Apple are for a "branding deal." Appleinsider.com

What doest that mena then if it isn't 50 cent themed?

 

[mark!]

SMFHITTATSCTS

seriously, there is so much ignorance and racism in this thread.
I don't understand what is so wrong if this unlikely event were to happen.
So 50 cent might be...I don't know colaborating (sp?) with Apple to make a lower end affordable Mac.

and?

I don't think this is going to make Apple's stock go down or something...
It's not like G-unit (WHICH ISN'T 50 CENT) is gonna be plastered all over the Mac...

If Apple were to colaborate with Queen I wonder what people would think...
or even some white person...

I don't know. This is just rediculous how people are reacting to this.

 

[kahn]

very sad indeed

I'm thinking of never reading this site again. I want to throw my Mac in the trash if this is the community of people who proclaim to think differently. Perhaps PC users at least have the decency to be more compassionate and open minded.
shame on all of you.

 

[poppe]

I would just like to know is 50 cent the god of inner city as many keep speaking like... Ok not god... but is 50 cent the Jordan of inner city? Do kids in inner city in general think 50 cent that is succeful and products by him are they in demand by inner city kids?

 

[iGary]

seriously, there is so much ignorance and racism in this thread.

This looks pretty ignorant to me:

 

[ericmooreart]

He's not looking out for inner city kids, he's looking out for his own pocket. If he cared, he'd donate some of his money back.

Of course he's looking out for his own pocket. But he could make all the profit he wants if it means a low income kid could have an affordable Mac. Its easy to rag on the idea if you already have a Mac or the means to buy one.