Bruce Springsteen names Bill Gates as maker of iPod

[Maedus]

Of course, if you don't like the red, white, and blue Bruce Springsteen iPod, you could buy the white iPod for $150 USD less. And I would assume that the primary customer of a Springsteen iPod would be Spingsteen fans so that would be the audience Apple should try to please with a Spingsteen designed and approved iPod.

Plus people shouldn't be so petty to be offended by the colors of another country's flag. Especialy when those colors are also used by many other countries such as Great Britain and many of its current and former territories and a colonies as well as France and many of its current and former territories and colonies.

Hmm, now that I think about it. The international appeal of a red, white and blue iPod would be pretty great. Apple should then market a red and white ipod. Then they could sell it to countires like Japan, Canada, and Switzerland (and anybody else with a red and white national flag). With a few clever designs, Apple could minimize the required number of covers while maximizing the number of countries covered by patriotic iPods.

The Yellow, Blue, and Red iPod. Is it the Colombian iPod or the Venezuelan iPod? No, its both! And the US, UK, France, Australia, and even Paraguay can stand united in their Red, White, and Blue (Or is it Blue, White and Red ) iPods. International nationalism!

 

[kettle]

Yes!!!

Something along the lines of "I love that song *Born in the USA* by that English chap - what's his name - oh yes, Elton John"

....But Elton John did write "Born in the USA".

 

[camobag]

....But Elton John did write "Born in the USA".

No he didn't. Also, a red, white and blue iPod would be cool (with the stars and stripes, ofcourse, hence Bruce Springsteen).

 

[hob]

How would putting an American flag on a product offend anybody? Especially if they gave a range of versions - I'd snap up a Union Jack iPod in a second!! I doubt they would release on without releasing them all, thus it wouldn't happen

 

[BillHarrison]

Not only born in the USA, but also educated here as well

If I was going to make a statement of that magnitude, I would make sure I had some idea what I was saying. But thats just me....

Lots of people don't mind sounding stupid...

Although I often wonder if its only that they sound that way....

 

[kettle]

Not only born in the USA, but also educated here as well

Not sure if I know that one... doesn't sound very catchy.. sure it'll be on an Elton "Best Of" somewhere though.

The Confederate flag would be good too, I'd get General Lee and 01 engraved on it as well.

 

[jemeinc]

I admire Bruce most-of-all for his songwriting, both the words and the music too. His voice is raspy, and his guitar playing is average, I guess, but that's OK.... (He plays guitar and sings a lot better than I do, of course!)

QUOTE]

I respect that- it's quite possible that his weaknesses (avg. guitar skills, "unique" voice- still can't figure out why he gets in that squat and looks like he's squeezing one out when he sings though-lol...) could be a huge part of his appeal... I'm probably gonna get flamed for this one, but I'll say it anyway- look at Kurt Cobain- he was a poor, not average-poor, guitar player, with a distinct voice... Not exactly your textbook description of someone with all of the gifts of a great musician- but there's no denying the impact he had in the musical world..

 

[jefhatfield]

I admire Bruce most-of-all for his songwriting, both the words and the music too. His voice is raspy, and his guitar playing is average, I guess, but that's OK.... (He plays guitar and sings a lot better than I do, of course!)

QUOTE]

I respect that- it's quite possible that his weaknesses (avg. guitar skills, "unique" voice- still can't figure out why he gets in that squat and looks like he's squeezing one out when he sings though-lol...) could be a huge part of his appeal... I'm probably gonna get flamed for this one, but I'll say it anyway- look at Kurt Cobain- he was a poor, not average-poor, guitar player, with a distinct voice... Not exactly your textbook description of someone with all of the gifts of a great musician- but there's no denying the impact he had in the musical world..

cobain and springsteen are best known in rock and roll for their songwriting abilities much like whitney houston is known for her voice and steve vai is known for his guitar playing

different musical artists excel at one or more skills and it's a good thing we don't look for technical musical expertise in every musical artist that makes it big...that would be boring and be a big bash for professional studio musicians...hey folks, let's all sound just like toto

 

[mac-er]

What if Apple did make a small number of limited edition r/w/b iPods exclusively for U.S. customers? If the normal white iPod is available to everyone in the world, why get offended? It's not like a r/w/b iPod would be the only choice for everyone in the world.

Personally speaking, I do not think Apple should make something like a r/w/b pod, but I say this due to non-political reasons in mind.

I'm am American, and I think a Union Jack iPod would be sweet.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Well, as long as we're being nationalistic around here...

Presenting...the iRaqiPod!

 

[snowdog]

You could just put on a skin.

They got the Union Jack as well

 

[FYA]

red... white and blue

they could also sell it in France.

 

[clayj]

they could also sell it in France.

And Russia... but I think that many red, white, and blue flags use different shades of red and blue, so that probably wouldn't work.

 

[Chappers]

Of course by putting the flag of a country on a consumer product can be considered offensive.

 

[mad jew]

So let's get this straight. This Bruce dude condemns the world with horrible music and gets my little Stevie's name wrong!

 

[IJ Reilly]

I expect if Bruce really wanted his "own" iPod, he'd get it. Who's the clearly bigger star, Springsteen or U2? (Neither, and that's my point.)

I remember when Ronald Reagan tried to co-opt "Born in the USA" for his '84 reelection campaign. Not only did it piss Springsteen off, it was kind of funny -- I guess the Reagan campaign never actually listened to the lyrics.

BTW, you can tell me Bruce is irrelevant when he gets fat and starts playing Las Vegas. Until then, he's still The Boss.

 

[MacNut]

BTW, you can tell me Bruce is irrelevant when he gets fat and starts playing Las Vegas. Until then, he's still The Boss.

Vegas no but Newark yes.

 

[memofromturner]

Vegas no but Newark yes.

Yeah, maybe if the guy played a show outside his backyard, people would care.

 

[jefhatfield]

I expect if Bruce really wanted his "own" iPod, he'd get it. Who's the clearly bigger star, Springsteen or U2? (Neither, and that's my point.)

I remember when Ronald Reagan tried to co-opt "Born in the USA" for his '84 reelection campaign. Not only did it piss Springsteen off, it was kind of funny -- I guess the Reagan campaign never actually listened to the lyrics.

BTW, you can tell me Bruce is irrelevant when he gets fat and starts playing Las Vegas. Until then, he's still The Boss.

even though i voted for reagan in 1984, and that's only because i didn't like mondale, i couldn't believe in any way springsteen could be seen as a supporter of reagan...that would be like W hiring green day to be their campaign band

of course the dems have had a relationship with fleetwood mac (clinton and gore), springsteen (kerry), and charlie daniels band (president carter in 1976), but the republicans have never been able to get a high profile musical artist on board the same way as their opponents...the closest they got was having michael jackson visit reagan at the white house but being a devout jehovah witness, jackson did not endorse any political candidate

 

[G4scott]

Didn't HP give 50-Cent a bastardized, diamond-studded iPod for some promotion? It had HP all over it, and no mention of Apple... Go figure... Apple does the work, and someone else gets the credit...

Now as far as springsteen's iPod... I blame his usage of illegal drugs at anti-war rallies on this slip up. If he didn't actually use them, just being around that amount of is was probably enough to do some permanent damage. And as far as his music, I'm just not a fan for reasons I don't want to get into...

 

[jefhatfield]

i urge all springsteen haters to listen to his album "nebraska"

born to run and born in the usa are his more commercial cash cows, but some of his low key work is really great even though it never got the airplay it deserved

i hope springsteen fans can come up with other, rarely listened to work that he has done that some can listen to

i also like the rant before "the river" from his live concert album....great stuff

 

[IJ Reilly]

I think Nebraska is probably his greatest album, though it was hardly appreciated by his fans when it came out. I've also always been real fond of Tunnel of Love. His first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, tends to be forgotten, but it had him being compared favorably to Dylan at the time. That turned out to be the wrong comparison for the right reasons.

 

[BJKU]

Evaluating great guitarists.

Totally agree that Cobain and Springsteen are better known for their songwriting. But this is what non-guitarists and those guitarists obsessed with leads and soloing need to get through their thick heads...THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO PLAYING GUITAR THAN PLAYING A SOLO!!!

I've been playing and studying guitar for almost 30 years, played in a few bands in my younger years, and I can tell you that Bruce and Cobain are and were very good guitarists, not average or below average. They are certainly not virtuosos like Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Beck, etc...but that's because they chose not to play a style of music that lends itself to long guitar god solos. When I was 12, that's all I wanted to do, play electric guitar, loud blues solos up and down the neck and all over. About 20 years later that got really old and a whole new world of guitar playing opened up for me when I learned folk, country and bluegrass. The fills, runs, rythms, bass lines, partial chords, alternate tunings, there is SO MUCH MORE TO PLAYING GUITAR THAN PLAYING A SOLO!!! Check out Sonic Youth, they must have invented an additional 100 or so alternate tunings. That takes talent, creativity, innovation, guts.

Cobain was completely original with his guitar as in everything he did. It was more about the sound and the energy than treating the guitar like it's a race to see who can play the fastest. Cobain was more punk rock than anything else and didn't try to be a terrific guitarist. He chose to be an artist instead. He played in alternate tunings which is a huge adjustment in your thinking going from standard to alternate tuning. Shows what a genius he was. Hendrix, Vai, and Clapton on the other hand never played in anything but standard tunings. Great soloists, but their rythmn guitar left a lot to be desired.

Springsteen played some great solos in the 70's, just check out BTR and Darkness albums (his best in my opinion). But over the years he chooses to write songs that do not lend to featuring tons of lead guitar.

I'm a bigger Bruce fan than Nirvana, but I have to say Cobain was more innovative and took more risks with his guitar than the Boss.

BTW - One of the guitar magazines or perhaps it was RS once ranked Cobain among the top 40 guitarists of all time. A bit overrated I agree. So is Prince. But I tend to think those that say he was below average tend to be those who are stuck in guitar solos forever, love blues and/or metal and can't appreciate anything else. The guitar solo and rock music in general is given far too much weight in evaluating who is and who isn't a great guitarist.

 

[Thomas Veil]

I remember when Ronald Reagan tried to co-opt "Born in the USA"...I guess the Reagan campaign never actually listened to the lyrics.

Reagan never listened to anybody.

 

[jefhatfield]

Totally agree that Cobain and Springsteen are better known for their songwriting. But this is what non-guitarists and those guitarists obsessed with leads and soloing need to get through their thick heads...THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO PLAYING GUITAR THAN PLAYING A SOLO!!!

very true indeed