Apple Honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Its Home Page

[Renzatic]

Did people get this upset when apple.com had Nelson Mandella on its homepage (and for a lot longer than one day)? They've also payed tribute to Rosa Parks, Gregory Hines, George Harrison and Robin Williams. I don't get what the big deal is.

Nothing more annoying than all the high and mighty telling everyone else who has the right to honor someone and who doesn't.

Probably. People will bitch about anything these days.

I think the better way to put it would be to say that some people tend to get way, way way, too uptight over some pretty harmless stuff. The bitching is a side effect of this.

 

[Lucky736]

Perfect example of another Media Created Image.

Here are some lesser known facts and details. Wonder if Tim actually read anything on him or just watched his favorite Sunday AM show to get his info over the years.

http://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/restoring-king/

Again, he did a lot in many ways but it's funny how distorted an image we get FED sometimes of someone.

 

[KdParker]

However one should be expected to be shot to death for attacking a policeman regardless of cultural or racial differences.

Which we don't know since there was never a trial in the Ferguson case.

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Perfect example of another Media Created Image.

Here are some lesser known facts and details. Wonder if Tim actually read anything on him or just watched his favorite Sunday AM show to get his info over the years.

http://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/restoring-king/

Again, he did a lot in many ways but it's funny how distorted an image we get FED sometimes of someone.

Didn't see anything that wasn't common knowledge in the article. Not sure what was considerd 'lesser known facts' in that article.

 

[apolloa]

This is basically what I think about it: Last Week Tonight - Corporations on Twitter.

Apple should stop doing this. This man campaigned for equal rights, Apple make computers. There is zero overlap. It's embarrassing.

It is certainly not a publicity or marketing opportunity. Seriously, did Apple really lose all of their class the day Steve passed?

haha, yeap pretty much. But considering the abuse the workers making Apple devices suffer every day, according to the documentary's, I don't think Apple had any class when Jobs was alive anyway?

MLK IMO fully deserves to be remembered and recognised, but not as a cheap marketing gimmick for a giant corporation who's only morals are to it's share holders like most corporations.

 

[vtrautia]

This memorial is about core values that Apple stands for. They want to honor great people that changed the world for better.

 

[ctdonath]

Which we don't know since there was never a trial in the Ferguson case

The evidence is public and prolific. Have you looked at it? I have; it's plainly obvious what happened.

The point of a grand jury is precisely to stop such pointless/obvious cases from wasting the court's time and financially destroying the defendant (even if he is acquitted, legal defense is horribly expensive).

 

[AppleFan360]

This "crap" is just supporting a good civil rights movement leader. Seriously what is wrong with that?

Because it had nothing to do with making computers and iPhones.

Secondly and more importantly, Why are you so offended by the background changes on Apple.com?

Because it had nothing to do with making computers and iPhones.

Is this concept so difficult to understand?

 

[Tech198]

Ouch.... that's all i gotta say...

 

[Poisonivy326]

Because it had nothing to do with making computers and iPhones.

Because it had nothing to do with making computers and iPhones.

Is this concept so difficult to understand?

Hmm. It's called advertising ... Is this concept so difficult to understand?

 

[springsup]

No one human works at Apple, or buys Apple products, ever, so it obviously doesn't apply to Apple (sic).

Oh, and I prefer companies involving themselves overtly like this (even if its a backdoor promotion) than pouring their money into lobbying... At least this is overt. They are putting their reputation on the line.

In doing this, they can later be called hypocrites if they don't respect their previous actions.

Social responsibility and involvement of companies in their communities is how it was in the past.

Companies like Walmart, which have nothing to answer too since they stand for nothing but making money, is what you should most be afraid of.

It's overt but it's shallow and meaningless. PR campaigns like this are relatively cheap and more immediately self-serving.

If Apple and other technology companies really wanted to take responsibility for their communities, they wouldn't shift their profits to tax havens. California is home to almost half of the Fortune 100 companies, yet schools there are shutting down for lack of funding. If they want to take responsibility, they can take the initiative in helping their own home state (where most of their employees and their families live).

 

[proline]

Right.....and the MLK honor on the front page of Apple's website (coupled with the MR news article) caused you to buy an Apple product right?.......Yeah, I didn't think so. Oh that just destroyed your argument.

LOL. You've never heard of branding? You know, associate your product with things that are desirable so that when people are looking to buy they feel positively toward you. I really shouldn't have to explain this to an adult.

There is no 'one thing' that causes you to buy Apple. Rather Apple's marketing machine works from start to finish- features, design, branding, advertisements, promotions, media manipulation, pricing, etc. This is very much Apple marketing at work.

 

[trife]

Perfect example of another Media Created Image.

Here are some lesser known facts and details. Wonder if Tim actually read anything on him or just watched his favorite Sunday AM show to get his info over the years.

http://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/restoring-king/

Again, he did a lot in many ways but it's funny how distorted an image we get FED sometimes of someone.

There is literally NOTHING in that article that hasn't been known for YEARS.

Nothing.

And nothing in that article takes away from King's contributions to our world.

You're trying a little too hard right now. Stormfront is that way ----->

 

[proline]

It's overt but it's shallow and meaningless. PR campaigns like this are relatively cheap and more immediately self-serving.

If Apple and other technology companies really wanted to take responsibility for their communities, they wouldn't shift their profits to tax havens. California is home to almost half of the Fortune 100 companies, yet schools there are shutting down for lack of funding. If they want to take responsibility, they can take the initiative in helping their own home state (where most of their employees and their families live).

Just as Apple should not be lauded for this cheap marketing display, nor for any other social good they do (that's right, their solar panels are purely PR), Apple should not be criticized for following tax law to the letter. After all, trying to fund public services by shaming this or that company into paying more taxes than it needs to is a waste of time, better to focus on fixing the relevant laws in the first place.

 

[JayIsAwesome]

gosh dang it some of you guys are just ridiculous! Mlk was a huge factor in why there's a shred of equality in our country today. Stop biching and moaning. Was he a womanizer....probably. I mean he was basically a rockstar. Did he smoke cigarettes....yea. Everybody has faults. Some greater than others, but the dude literally sacrificed his life so that one day millions of people wouldn't have to be treated and looked at like animals. I think it's ok to honor him.......

This. MLK wasn't perfect but the guy died for people like me to be able to have even a little bit of equality in this damn country. He played a huge factor in erasing the constant division of skin color. My grandmother (may she RIP) would tell me about how it was when she was growing up. She couldn't sit at a certain table b/c she was black. She couldn't go to a certain store b/c she was "colored" She couldn't use a certain water fountain b/c she was a "negro" Being called the N word. MLK played a huge role in making equality exist, or atleast making America more equal compare to what it was prior to him having a dream. Why some are getting so bent out of shape over Apple posting a picture of him, is beyond me. The man did a lot of for this country. Him being honored for 1 day out of 365 isn't going to kill anybody. Jeez some of yall need to chill out.

 

[Keirasplace]

It's overt but it's shallow and meaningless. PR campaigns like this are relatively cheap and more immediately self-serving.

If Apple and other technology companies really wanted to take responsibility for their communities, they wouldn't shift their profits to tax havens. California is home to almost half of the Fortune 100 companies, yet schools there are shutting down for lack of funding. If they want to take responsibility, they can take the initiative in helping their own home state (where most of their employees and their families live).

The reason they are shutting down is not corporate taxes and you know it. Communities can't raise money from property taxes because of some proposition voted on a long long time ago.

There is nothing wrong with self-serving. When we do a good thing, its because it makes us feel good and yes, sometimes look good. If people actually gave a crap how good they look to others by our charitable action, we wouldn't have to wade in world were our worth is measured by how many boots you've put across someone's neck and the size of our pocketbook. That's the kind of self-serving that actually that I want companies to indulge in.

 

[Lucky736]

There is literally NOTHING in that article that hasn't been known for YEARS.

Nothing.

And nothing in that article takes away from King's contributions to our world.

You're trying a little too hard right now. Stormfront is that way ----->

No one is trying too hard at anything.

Most people think he was something akin to a saint, this is what the media has projected for years. It's not they were hiding anything. It's that with such a one sided projection people find no need to go and hunt down additional info. Where did I say this was new or previously unavailable information, I didn't. Please do not put words into my mouth or twist them to see fit. Everything there can be taken literally and is not ambiguous whatsoever.

I'm not arguing what he did or didn't do for the "movement" but most people have no idea what he actually stood for, or did, outside of saying something generic like "rights for blacks." They have no idea that his political agenda was completely different than theirs, or not, and have no idea about anything else that he did outside of being a public speaker and activist. You ask them specifics and they come back with "rights for blacks" or something similar.

This leads back to my point about Tim. The points he makes are all very generic. Maybe he doesn't realize that, based on his own statements, much of what he believes and stands by is very different than what MLK believed and stood by. Then again, like I said, if you get your info from your favorite Sunday AM political program or the 5 o'clock news most of the time what does one expect.

 

[sickducker]

Yes they did....

Indeed, Apple and many other tech companies have raised the living standard of many people by providing them a better alternative to agricultural labor.

 

[scottsjack]

Really? What news channels do you watch? I only ask because it seemed like a very small minority of folks out there that were actually causing problems with violence, looting, etc.

Exactly, the thugs that robbed the store, the thug that fought with the policeman and the thugs that were burning down peoples' businesses were, and more accurately are, the problem. The people who were peacefully protesting are hardly ever the problem, nor are they thugs.

 

[mdelvecchio]

This is basically what I think about it: Last Week Tonight - Corporations on Twitter.

Apple should stop doing this. This man campaigned for equal rights, Apple make computers. There is zero overlap. It's embarrassing.

It is certainly not a publicity or marketing opportunity. Seriously, did Apple really lose all of their class the day Steve passed?

you do realize that Jobs put MLKjr in his Think Different ad campaign, right?

no, of course you didnt.

 

[KdParker]

The evidence is public and prolific. Have you looked at it? I have; it's plainly obvious what happened.

The point of a grand jury is precisely to stop such pointless/obvious cases from wasting the court's time and financially destroying the defendant (even if he is acquitted, legal defense is horribly expensive).

Geez - assume much? I read what was presented.

But it was ran like a trial which was incorrect and nothing was plainly obvious when you only have one side of the story given by the defendant. The prosecutor simply didn't want to indict therefore he controlled the grand jury process to ensure the outcome.

Also the purpose of a grand jury in not to protect the defendant from a trial.

 

[robjulo]

Honoring humanity yet becoming partners with someone who slapped the heck out of a woman because he didn't like a music review she wrote.

Cook's hypocrisy is priceless.

 

[OutSpoken]

Damn.. The ratio of closet racist douchebags to better than that in here is atrocious.

sad but true. A couple familiar names keep popping up too

 

[Poisonivy326]

No one is trying too hard at anything.

Most people think he was something akin to a saint, this is what the media has projected for years. It's not they were hiding anything. It's that with such a one sided projection people find no need to go and hunt down additional info. Where did I say this was new or previously unavailable information, I didn't. Please do not put words into my mouth or twist them to see fit. Everything there can be taken literally and is not ambiguous whatsoever.

I'm not arguing what he did or didn't do for the "movement" but most people have no idea what he actually stood for, or did, outside of saying something generic like "rights for blacks." They have no idea that his political agenda was completely different than theirs, or not, and have no idea about anything else that he did outside of being a public speaker and activist. You ask them specifics and they come back with "rights for blacks" or something similar.

This leads back to my point about Tim. The points he makes are all very generic. Maybe he doesn't realize that, based on his own statements, much of what he believes and stands by is very different than what MLK believed and stood by. Then again, like I said, if you get your info from your favorite Sunday AM political program or the 5 o'clock news most of the time what does one expect.

Who thinks MLK was a saint? In his time his womanizing was pretty well-known (and he was constantly threatened by the closeted, cross-dressing J. Edgar Hoover). It matters not one bit to me. The man inspired many people to do great things, and died for his beliefs. Carping on MLK for his private failings when was such a force for the greater good is like complaining that the Venus de Milo has no arms.

The fact that there's so much bitching about Apple displaying MLK on their homepage for one day speaks volumes that MLK's dream was NOT fulfilled.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

LOL. You've never heard of branding? You know, associate your product with things that are desirable so that when people are looking to buy they feel positively toward you. I really shouldn't have to explain this to an adult.

There is no 'one thing' that causes you to buy Apple. Rather Apple's marketing machine works from start to finish- features, design, branding, advertisements, promotions, media manipulation, pricing, etc. This is very much Apple marketing at work.

So, according to you then, in publicizing MLK, Apple is trying to associate with black people so that black people will see Apple in a positive way and buy from Apple?

You say "...associate your product with things that are desirable...", where "things" here are a race of people?

I understand branding, but don't quite get how that works with MLK and Apple?

 

[springsup]

you do realize that Jobs put MLKjr in his Think Different ad campaign, right?

no, of course you didnt.

What Steve did in one campaign isn't relevant. He didn't put up 'doodles' on every annual holiday.

What's so special about MLK day 2015? Did Apple do anything for it last year? Year before that? How about the one before that? How about on any MLK day in the last 10 years? No, they didn't. They did this when Mandela died and I didn't think it particularly appropriate then, either. Apple doesn't really have anything to do with race.

One thing Apple does have a lot to do with is education. Their products support children and adults through their learning, and Apple's products are particularly popular in that area. They have lots of unique offerings which can help people learn. For a long time, Apple was the only computer manufacturer which offered student discounts where they operated. iTunes U is fantastic.

Let's imagine Apple started working closely, publicly with UNICEF to support children's education initiatives around the world. That's entirely appropriate, because education is relevant to what they do. Now let's say they had a page congratulating Malala Yousafzai on her Nobel prize and pointing to women's education initiatives which they support and so on. That would all be entirely appropriate and you wouldn't hear a cynical peep from me.

Martin Luther King in this instance is just a random hero. He's a guy whose message of equal civil liberties can't really be disagreed with. He doesn't particularly fit Apple in any way, shape or form. He doesn't belong here. It's not appropriate.

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The fact that there's so much bitching about Apple displaying MLK on their homepage for one day speaks volumes that MLK's dream was NOT fulfilled.

You couldn't be more wrong. This isn't about MLK at all. That's kind of the point. He has nothing to do with Apple. Race relations is not an issue which involves Apple at all. Civil rights is not an issue involves Apple at all.

Apple's website is a professional corporate site, not a blog. Google can get away with random stuff like this because you don't expect professionalism from them. You do from Apple, and it's a shame that they're transitioning in to one of these clueless companies who feel the need to chime in on every event or holiday happening in society.