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apple is not a news outlet

No, they're not a news outlet. They sell movies and some of those movies are :eek: movies with Robin Williams in them. I don't know when that happened. Maybe you should write a complaint to Apple demanding them to knock it off...
 
So basically you're saying you don't have any clue what you're talking about, but you want to believe your friend's death had some purpose so you can feel better about it. You have my sympathies for the pain they caused you, but I will never feel ashamed of valuing human life or trying to help others going through something similar to what I went through several times.

And no, I don't equate depression with a bad day at work, I equate it with the repeated depressive episodes I've experienced over the last twenty plus years, lasting anywhere from several weeks long to many months, and the three times I made very detailed and specific plans to end my life during the darkest points in three of those episodes, and the one time when I did actually self-harm in another one of those episodes.

I understand that during those periods a person is not thinking rationally, but if anything I've said in this topic is remembered by anyone at some point in their lives and they decide to live as a result, I don't really care what you think about me or my experiences. On the other hand I find your position on suicide morally reprehensible and incredibly dangerous. Please keep your pro-suicide views away from anyone who might be vulnerable.

And as one who's been there, I fully agree with all of this as well. Although I see your first post as total BS.
 
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So I just noticed this on the tribute page, apparently this morning they had Good Will Hunting, but now it's gone?
 
You don't celebrate funerals with sales. That's tacky.

"If you bring in you spouses death certificate you get 10% off anything in the store..."[
So I just noticed this on the tribute page, apparently this morning they had Good Will Hunting, but now it's gone?

Weird. Glad I bought it when I did.
 
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Don't be so naïve. They're profiting from his death by taking advantage of a business opportunity.

1. You don't know that, maybe they'll donate some of the proceeds.

Even if they don't

2. They have provided value to me and others by collecting his works into one page. If doing this leads to extra profit, they have only achieved this extra profit specifically by providing that additional value into the lives of the people that admired him. In this case, Apple wins because they make more money by providing more value, and the viewers win because they enjoy a greater experience than they otherwise would have.

Apple made $10B in profit from iTunes last year. Do you really think an extra couple thousand movie sales is going to make a dent? Companies are not universally sinister, hoping for people to die to make a quick extra couple bucks... Don't be so naïve.
 
No, they're not a news outlet. They sell movies and some of those movies are :eek: movies with Robin Williams in them. I don't know when that happened. Maybe you should write a complaint to Apple demanding them to knock it off...

Talk about a straw man...

The reason why this is rubbing people the wrong way, so to speak, is because Apple is presenting it as a tribute or remembrance of the deceased, yet still making a handsome profit in the process. Money taints acts of good will -- it's as simple as that.

A proper gesture would have been to make a donation in the name of the deceased, not profile the products still available for sale. In my view, this is equivalent to selling flowers at the funeral of a florist, and then claiming it's a tribute to the deceased.
 
Should they?

Has Apple announced that they are donating their 30% cut to any suicide prevention organizations?

I seriously feel Apple is doing this just to honor Robin. He was an Apple lover & the company knew it.

Far too many people here are jumping off the cliff to make Apple out as the nasty, greedy villain. That's to be expected when so many people "shoot first & ask questions later"
 
Im with those that think that this is in terrible taste and Apple simply cashing in. There can't be any other way to look at it.

Tim Cook does mention that Robin Williams was involved with Comic Relief USA, a charity that's raised upwards of $50 million for homeless assistance.

Now HAD Tim Cook said that 10% of sales or some suitable figure were going to be donated to this charity, then I would have said good on you Apple but as it stands, its simply cashing in as businesses are meant to do :(

I don't see it that way. I think that collecting his greatest works in one place so that we can all see how long and celebrated his career was is a nice, quiet tribute.
 
Sure, let's celebrate suicide with a big sale, and turn him into some kind of role model by spending weeks talking about how great he was.

The point was that he was great, except for his suicide. I feel even worse for his family. I remember seeing Zelda Williams in the Legend of Zelda OoT remake ad.
 
Sadly Apple can't control themselves, much less suppress their greed. It wouldn't have bankrupted them to wait a couple of days before doing this.
 
Really? Should they do this with all singers, performers, actors that commit suicide, or just Robin Williams? He chose to take his own life. Should Apple or any other company condone suicide by donating to charity. Kill yourself and we'll donate to charity. What are you thinking? Oh wait, I don't think you are.

Donating to a charity that tries to prevent people from committing suicide isn't condoning suicide. It's trying to prevent the hundreds of people that die the same way as Robin Williams from doing so.
 
How about a tribute to Lauren Bacall?

YES! I demand it! I demand that Apple donate $5 billion dollars to Prevention of Old Age! Because Lauren was 89, and she died of natural causes, died of old age.

Oh and shame on Apple for not giving freebies of Lauren Bacall's collection of movies, some of them dating back to 1940s but never digitized. For shame! This is my entitlement, dammit! Whenever some celebrity dies, we as a society are entitled to this! And since Apple is a successful company with loads of cash, they are expected to give to these causes automatically! Anything less means they have failed as a company! For shame!
 
A dedicated section, but no discounts. Looks like Apple is just trying to cash in on this marketing "opportunity". Makes me feel kind of off about it...

I myself would feel off about it if they actually did put the movies on sale. For me that just sounds even more like marketing. Maybe it's just me but one of the first things I think of when I think of marketing is sales. and not just a list of all his movies they have available. Too me it seems like Apple knows people will more than likely be trying to look up some of this movies now that they haven't seen in a while so they're just giving them a section so it is easy for everyone to find them. Now if they were trying to entice more people to buy them by doing a sale then I'd have an issue with that as then to me it'd sound like they are taking advantage of it.
 
I don't think they intended to profit from this section, but it's not a good move. It looks tacky at best, profiteering from another's death at worst. I think it likely is the former, but that's still not a good image.

If they had just included a link to donate to a charitable organization on the section rather than even donating some of their profits, it would look fine. As Apple did it, it's gauche, unfortunately.
 
If Apple really wanted to get some good press, when a movie star dies, let anyone rent 1 of their movies free of charge. They can eat that and it would look very nicely on their part. Or let anyone download a song when an artist dies, etc.
 
Funny, I'd consider a "sale" to be more distasteful.

THAT sounds like cashing in...trying to spur sales, as it were.

Simply making a list seems more respectful to me.

I find it hard to believe you could not view a list of his movies for sale on the iTunes store before. Viewing a list of movies by a specific actor sounds like a basic feature.
 
I think they should not reduce the price, but give the money to his charity.

Simply creating a section at this moment really sounds like trying to cash in on the increased demand his death suddenly originated.

Honestly, if you feel this way then don't buy anything from the Robin Williams section. Decide how much you are willing to donate to his charity to give him the honor you owe him, write that check or electronic funds transfer or credit card transaction, and send it off.

Then you have to decide whether you will take a tax deduction for your donation, or if that would be in poor taste.
 
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