Apple Institutes New Charitable Matching Program for Employees

[AppleScruff1]

[/COLOR]@ AppleScruff

Am on my iPad so can't multi quote but Jobs was still very active at Apple in the summer

He did the iPad 2 keynote, he did the keynote at the developer conference, he did the presentation at the council meeting, he has regularly been seen on campus since he announced his medical leave so he has still been heavily involved, I fully believe he will do the keynote for the iPhone 5

Keep telling yourself that. It's all window dressing, to help the transition. He looked very weak at the iPad 2 Keynote and even more so at the WDC. Why do you think they reported that he was seen on campus? Do you think he shocked the board when he resigned? Do you think it was a spur of the moment decision? My money is it was being planned months in advance to make a smooth transition of power and keep the stock market from panicking. What Apple did worked very well. Smooth transition, no investor jitters. And the Chairman title is part of this too. The poor guy is dying, what is so difficult to comprehend about that?

 

[Lennholm]

I was not a motivational coach, I was employed by the government to get unemployed people who had been out of work for more than 6 months fit for, I would show them how to use computers, improve their CV, show them how to act in interviews but it became obvious to me that at least 9 out of 10 had no intention of looking for a job, the same *******s who blame immigrants for "stealing all the jobs", if it was down to me having seen unemployed people day in day out I would stop all unemployment benefits after 6 months and let them starve in the gutter like rats if they haven't got a job by then, I had sympathy for the unemployed until I took that job.

Now I work in marketing and am earning twice as much and working alongside albitious people

Well maybe motivational coach isn't the proper term, we don't call them neither motvational nor skills coaches where I live obviously since I don't live in an english speaking country.
But your description is exactly what I was talking about. We have a alot of these programs here where unemployed people or put in coaching programs with the promise that it helps.
It doesn't, it's just a way to get these people out of the "openly unemployed" statistics and a way for the companies providing these coaching services to get the government to waste money on them.
I was in a program like that about 10 years ago when I was unemployed. We met for three hours every working day, it was the longest three hours I have ever experienced, completely useless.
And the reason people were unemployed was not because they didn't know how to write a CV, it was because there simply were no jobs available in that small town.
I got out of there when appeared one of those jobs that occationally appears in bulk and all you have to do is show up, those temp jobs you can get when you're young since the employer only has to pay half the social fees.
When I got out, not one of the persons that was there while I was there had left and the only ones that had gotten employment was a couple of people that had been recruited as coaches themselves, I wouldn't be surprised if all coaches were recently unemployed.

So, it doesn't work. It's nothing but a storage for people, waste of taxpayer money and has no constructive value at all.
I'm not speaking solely from my personal experience, several investigations from the last few years show that it's a waste of time and money.

 

[CWT1965]

Keep telling yourself that. It's all window dressing, to help the transition. He looked very weak at the iPad 2 Keynote and even more so at the WDC. Why do you think they reported that he was seen on campus? Do you think he shocked the board when he resigned? Do you think it was a spur of the moment decision? My money is it was being planned months in advance to make a smooth transition of power and keep the stock market from panicking. What Apple did worked very well. Smooth transition, no investor jitters. And the Chairman title is part of this too. The poor guy is dying, what is so difficult to comprehend about that?

I believe that he has cancer and is undergoing chemo, his gaunt apprearance in recent pics while sad to see looked like the typical chemo patient, look at those pics of Michael Douglas when he was on chemo last year, he looked as bad if not worse than Steve and look at him now, looking at him you wouldn't think it was the same guy

If I am right and Steve is undergoing chemo then that means his condition while serious is not terminal as they would not blast someone with chemo who is in a hopeless situation.

I also believe that Steve's health is the reason for the iPhone 5 being launched so late, I think they are waiting for Steve to finish a course of chemo so that he is fit enough to carry out the keynote in the iPhone 5, Steve doing the keynote would be headline news all over the world, publicity money can't buy so better Apple holding back the iPhone 5 till there is a break in Steve's health and having Steve present it than have Phil Schiller present it real soon.

 

[samcraig]

I believe that he has cancer and is undergoing chemo, his gaunt apprearance in recent pics while sad to see looked like the typical chemo patient, look at those pics of Michael Douglas when he was on chemo last year, he looked as bad if not worse than Steve and look at him now, looking at him you wouldn't think it was the same guy

If I am right and Steve is undergoing chemo then that means his condition while serious is not terminal as they would not blast someone with chemo who is in a hopeless situation.

I also believe that Steve's health is the reason for the iPhone 5 being launched so late, I think they are waiting for Steve to finish a course of chemo so that he is fit enough to carry out the keynote in the iPhone 5, Steve doing the keynote would be headline news all over the world, publicity money can't buy so better Apple holding back the iPhone 5 till there is a break in Steve's health and having Steve present it than have Phil Schiller present it real soon.

because it clearly HAS to be all about money, right? Apple better get used to doing keynotes without Steve. I don't wish him ill... but realistically - how many more do you think he should or would do.

 

[CWT1965]

There are no words. Personally - I shudder to think of a world where there are no choices. And I find it hard to believe that anyone with a right mind would want "one company to rule them all"

I don't want to see inferior products eating into Apple's sales and market share, if those products were comparable quality to Apple products then free market is great but Apple having 100% of the market would mean no people being ripped off by phone companies into buying crap like Blackberry or Apple rip off's like Samsung plus Android fanboys turn me against Android phones with their vile attacks on Apple, if Apple wiped Android off the face of the planet then it is karma after their rabid fanboys have bashed Apple so much.

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because it clearly HAS to be all about money, right? Apple better get used to doing keynotes without Steve. I don't wish him ill... but realistically - how many more do you think he should or would do.

If I am right and he has cancer but curable then I think with a carefully managed schedule and just being chairman of the board he could live for another 10 years which would be a lot of keynotes.

Steve is the greatest orator of the last century without doubt, him presenting the keynotes sells products, if he just takes it easy without the stress of day to day management and just does keynotes I think he will be able to launch Apple products for another 10 years

 

[samcraig]

I don't want to see inferior products eating into Apple's sales and market share, if those products were comparable quality to Apple products then free market is great but Apple having 100% of the market would mean no people being ripped off by phone companies into buying crap like Blackberry or Apple rip off's like Samsung plus Android fanboys turn me against Android phones with their vile attacks on Apple, if Apple wiped Android off the face of the planet then it is karma after their rabid fanboys have bashed Apple so much.

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If I am right and he has cancer but curable then I think with a carefully managed schedule and just being chairman of the board he could live for another 10 years which would be a lot of keynotes.

Steve is the greatest orator of the last century without doubt, him presenting the keynotes sells products, if he just takes it easy without the stress of day to day management and just does keynotes I think he will be able to launch Apple products for another 10 years

Holy selfish.

As for your comment about samsung and blackberry - different strokes for different folks. Just because you think they are crap doesn't mean everyone does.

And thank G-D there aren't a lot of people who think like YOU in regards to most things!

 

[CWT1965]

Holy selfish.

As for your comment about samsung and blackberry - different strokes for different folks. Just because you think they are crap doesn't mean everyone does.

And thank G-D there aren't a lot of people who think like YOU in regards to most things!

Nothing selfish about it at all, Steve IS Apple, even if he has to do less work these days and in the coming years he is still Mr Apple, Cook and Ive and so on are hired helps but Steve founded it so there is nothing selfish about thinking that Steve would carry on doing the keynotes in the coming years for the company he chairs and built up from scratch, Steve would WANT to.

Apple at the end of the day are a business and if Apple board thinks holding back the iPhone 5 till Steve is well enough to do the keynote will sell more iPhone 5's than launching it now or before now then they would go for what would make the most money.

 

[samcraig]

Nothing selfish about it at all, Steve IS Apple, even if he has to do less work these days and in the coming years he is still Mr Apple, Cook and Ive and so on are hired helps but Steve founded it so there is nothing selfish about thinking that Steve would carry on doing the keynotes in the coming years for the company he chairs and built up from scratch, Steve would WANT to.

Apple at the end of the day are a business and if Apple board thinks holding back the iPhone 5 till Steve is well enough to do the keynote will sell more iPhone 5's than launching it now or before now then they would go for what would make the most money.

So now you speak for/and know what Steve wants? Amazing.

 

[CWT1965]

So now you speak for/and know what Steve wants? Amazing.

Maybe he will die this weekend and prove me wrong

But if he wanted the quiet life he could have severed his ties with Apple completely and not moved up to the chairmanship so clearly Steve wants to be involved in Apple as much as he physically can.

 

[MacSince1990]

Yes, given the fact that Apple was near bankruptcy. I don't expect you to give out $100 in charity when you are $1000s in debt or need to eat and have only that money left.

Of course not. But then, he never did reimplement it when Apple became a giant.

His decision makes sense. However, if we also look at this, Apple did not play the publicity card with this new charity work. They are keeping it to themselves, but sites like MR make it news for us. So in a sense they are doing a better job than other companies because they keep their charitable contributions anonymous rather than scream them to the 4 winds. Much more noble.

I'm pretty sure they could have seen this coming. If it happens at Apple, it's news. I'm not saying they did it for the publicity, but I am trying to point out that it wasn't intentionally kept quiet, either. Either way, Jobs probably had nothing to do with it... or if he did, wasn't pleased.

 

[Illumination]

I want to see Apple spend their war chest on world domination of the computing and phone market, I want to see Apple crush Blackberry so that RIMM are reduced to being a software player, I want to see Apple crush Samsung into non existence and to have them go back to making tv's, I want to see Apple force Nokia out of the market, I want Apple to have a near monopoly on phones and tablets and computing so every bit of money Apple spend on PR stunts like this is less money to crush its rivals

1941 called. They want you back in Berlin ASAP.

 

[juliandroms]

Bah

 

[KingCrimson]

The current battle is shaping up much like the battle between Apple and PC clone makers back in the 90's.

It's not the same. Apple has $80 billion in the bank and are a cultural icon the likes of which never seen in human civilization before. Apple is like a massive religious cult.

 

[JAT]

Please enumerate those rights - I didn't realize that the courts have taken away the rights for "standard" couples to inherit property without huge tax burdens, for example.

Everything is now debatable in court. People have inheritance taken away all the time, regardless of wills or relations.

Tax:
Not really an issue for most people, of course. $5m limit now, anyway. Or if you live in some backwards state, I guess that can be a problem. I thought we wanted the rich to pay taxes, anyway?

I guess it doesn't pay to be a rich homosexual, who doesn't own a business, has never heard of joint tenancy (which cuts it in half), and doesn't transfer assets to the Caymans. (well, and then dies) Are your domestic assets over $5m?

 

[juliandroms]

Bah

Bah

 

[Eric-PTEK]

In regards to the church question.

IT seems a lot of the bigger churches are no longer accepting donations for charity. They have created a Foundation which is generally non-denominational that the church and others then donate to.

Solves a lot of the tax and religious issues. An example is a church is generally not able to buy software via non-profit status even though they are a non-profit. Tech Soup has a policy against providing software to denominational specific churches. However the foundation owned by the church does not have that issue.

I think it is a fantastic idea and not to take away from the program or the idea it is good business. As someone else said, the most Apple could ever spend on this per year is 500M and they won't spend anywhere near that but the press will be worth it.

 

[AidenShaw]

...has never heard of joint tenancy (which cuts it in half)

Half, versus zero for married opposite-sex couples.

...Are your domestic assets over $5m?

What's the $5m connection? Explain a scenario, please.

I think a scenario will help show why Apple donated to a campaign to help give equality to *all* of its married employees.

I think it is a fantastic idea and not to take away from the program or the idea it is good business. As someone else said, the most Apple could ever spend on this per year is 500M and they won't spend anywhere near that but the press will be worth it.

The headlines in the mainstream press will be that "Apple Finally Matches Charitable Contributions" - since these matching programs are very common. Apple has been a pariah in not having a corporate philanthropy program, and not matching contributions.

(I do volunteer work with a couple of Bay Area 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and Apple is one of the few companies on the "don't even try" list when we do fundraising.)

 

[juliandroms]

Bah

Bah

 

[AidenShaw]

I don't see the relevance to the original article....

The relevance is that Apple's donation to fight Prop 8 came up, and has been a significant subthread.

 

[jadenio]

To everyone who is fighting about politics and stuff.

I think it is great that Apple is doing this. I'm a shareholder of Apple stocks and I personally love this. You have to remember that the non-profit organization that employees will be donating to will most likely save lives, or make lives better. Why are you arguing about politics when Apple is potentially saving lives… are you really that greedy?

Just thought I would share.

 

[juliandroms]

Bah

Bah

 

[darkplanets]

Never ran a business, I am guessing. At a 30% tax rate, if you can deduct a dollar, you pay thirty cents less tax. How do you not "lose" the seventy cent difference?

You can do it on your personal tax return, too. But if you come out ahead, you may have a serious problem with the DA.

Publicity. How do you place a price on that? In this case it's rather hard, but considering the fact that this will only imply a positive image... 70% on a dollar doesn't sound like too bad of an investment...

Just an opinion though.

 

[jonnysods]

Good for Tim. Wow this would be awesome for churches!!

 

[AidenShaw]

... it's not about publicity ...

Publicity. How do you place a price on that?

It's about making employees happier and keeping them. It gives the employee a good feeling that she can donate to a favorite charity and her employer will match it.

I max out my donations to a gay advocacy group, and my company doubles my money. That feels good.

 

[Dbrown]

I don't want to see inferior products eating into Apple's sales and market share, if those products were comparable quality to Apple products then free market is great but Apple having 100% of the market would mean no people being ripped off by phone companies into buying crap like Blackberry or Apple rip off's like Samsung plus Android fanboys turn me against Android phones with their vile attacks on Apple, if Apple wiped Android off the face of the planet then it is karma after their rabid fanboys have bashed Apple so much.

I bet you have an apple logo tatoo somewhere and a framed picture of steve jobs.