One-of-a-Kind Products Designed by Jony Ive and Designer Marc Newson Sold Off at (RED) Auction

[notjustjay]

Pretty close here...

"The eye of a needle" is scripture quoted by Jesus recorded in the synoptic gospels:

I don't want to risk derailing the thread or sending it to PRSI, so I'll try to keep this concise. That verse is taken from Mark 10, the story of the rich young ruler. The message from that passage is that you can't earn or buy your way into heaven. Nobody can, rich or poor. That man claimed to have followed every one of the ten commandments his entire life -- he was trying to say that he was a perfect person. Jesus challenged him about the one material vice he was still hanging on to, saying "well, if you claim to be so good, give away all your possessions then". He wouldn't do it, and walked away. Jesus essentially said "See? Nobody's perfect."

There have been plenty of Christians that have made good business decisions and done very well for themselves financially. Consider the Parable of the Talents, which praises a man who invests wisely the resources given to him by God, but criticizes the man who hoards it or squanders it. What would be considered sinful is if you don't help out your fellow man when you can, put your love of money before anything else, or if you refuse to give it up should God call you to do something else. But being wealthy is not, in itself, a bad thing.

 

[ctdonath]

I was supporting the charity

Sorry, misunderstood something. Easy to do in a high-tension low-content thread.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Only the stupendously wealthy can afford to spend cash like this to buy one-off trinkets to impress their friends.
Good cause? Call me cynical, but isn't it the greed of the stupendously wealthy that causes the uneven distribution of wealth that leads to poverty and hardship in poorer parts of the world (devastation of rain forests for cattle raising, abuse of workers for cheap electronic manufacturing, private ownership of freshwater supplies etc).
The 'saintly' folk who bought these goods will no doubt get a massive tax break on these charitable purchases, and alleviate any guilty feelings (if they are indeed capable of such an emotion) connected with the origins of their income.

So being wealthy is a crime. Wow. The MR crowd here once again shows their true colors by up voting this nonsense.

 

[Carlanga]

And it appears you own a mercury cougar. You should try one of these spoilers.

How so? Your "joke" doesn't work. Btw I own Mitsubishi.

But I will leave you be with your incredible knowledge of ghetto things.

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So being wealthy is a crime. Wow. The MR crowd here once again shows their true colors by up voting this nonsense.

He didn't mentioned the very rich to be criminals? Just untruthful on many of their actions.

 

[Shrink]

I don't want to risk derailing the thread or sending it to PRSI, so I'll try to keep this concise. That verse is taken from Mark 10, the story of the rich young ruler. The message from that passage is that you can't earn or buy your way into heaven. Nobody can, rich or poor. That man claimed to have followed every one of the ten commandments his entire life -- he was trying to say that he was a perfect person. Jesus challenged him about the one material vice he was still hanging on to, saying "well, if you claim to be so good, give away all your possessions then". He wouldn't do it, and walked away. Jesus essentially said "See? Nobody's perfect."

There have been plenty of Christians that have made good business decisions and done very well for themselves financially. Consider the Parable of the Talents, which praises a man who invests wisely the resources given to him by God, but criticizes the man who hoards it or squanders it. What would be considered sinful is if you don't help out your fellow man when you can, put your love of money before anything else, or if you refuse to give it up should God call you to do something else. But being wealthy is not, in itself, a bad thing.

Your explanation of my mis-use of the quote corrects my error.

Sorry about my uniformed reference...

Thanks for the correction...

 

[FloatingBones]

Apple's not exactly been known as a charity giver. Jobs stopped most of that.

That's a low-information comment. Surely you must know that Tim Cook instituted a very generous charitable matching program -- years ago.

I don't know what Microsoft donates, although of course Gates has given a LOT more than Jobs ever did.

You're not doing an apples-to-apples comparison. Bill Gates was actually a centibillionaire for a while. He kept his founders' stock in MSFT while Jobs sold most of his shares in AAPL after he left in the 80s. Forbes estimated his wealth at $8.3B in 2010 -- only a tiny fraction of the wealth of Gates.

Your comment is also missing the point. We're not talking about the charity contributions Gates/Jobs. We're talking about contributions of the companies themselves. As you yourself noted:

[Auction donations provide] virtually free publicity for the companies donating them.

Your statement above made my point well: "[You] don't know what Microsoft donates". I don't know, either. AAPL's contribution to Project Red is highly visible, and it's highly-effective virtually free publicity.

As for Samsung, apparently they're no slouch when it comes to charity and community involvement. [...]

No doubt. But you missed the point: public awareness of Samsung's charitable activities is also far less visible by the general public than Apple's. Samsung could also have win-win charitable contributions that also provided virtually free publicity for their products. MSFT could do the same.

 

[Rocketman]

Thank you for the thoughtful posts on my unboxing posts. I want to see the photos! Please?

If nothing else I am curious what box it came in . . .

 

[MacVista]

[/COLOR]

This.
No more needs to be said (except maybe 'kill the rich')

No need to kill them, simply tax them for their fair share, and no tax deduction loopholes, please. (Yep, for some, that may be worse than death).

 

[Cythth]

Only the stupendously wealthy can afford to spend cash like this to buy one-off trinkets to impress their friends.
Good cause? Call me cynical, but isn't it the greed of the stupendously wealthy that causes the uneven distribution of wealth that leads to poverty and hardship in poorer parts of the world (devastation of rain forests for cattle raising, abuse of workers for cheap electronic manufacturing, private ownership of freshwater supplies etc).
The 'saintly' folk who bought these goods will no doubt get a massive tax break on these charitable purchases, and alleviate any guilty feelings (if they are indeed capable of such an emotion) connected with the origins of their income.

1989 called and want's its communist czar back.

 

[Krazy Bill]

He didn't mentioned the very rich to be criminals? Just untruthful on many of their actions.

So lying and cheating is a trait exclusive to the wealthy?

You guys crack me up.

 

[Swordylove]

I can't keep this to myself anymore. That desk is ugly ugly ugly! Ive should stick to (and improve on) designing computers and gadgets. The end.

 

[Parkin Pig]

So lying and cheating is a trait exclusive to the wealthy?

No, but their actions have the most effect.

For example, Las Vegas is trying to illuminate and air condition a desert, and I'm at home trying to save the planet by rinsing out a peanut butter jar for recycling.

 

[Sv3n]

Open forums are for people to voice their opinions and see the opinions of others. You accuse others of passing judgement whilst in the very same sentence pass judgment with your fabricated theory of selective reading for self-validation.

I did not intend to say that people should not post their opinions. Indeed, I said that they are entertaining to read through. I suppose I should clarify my meaning. What bothers me are the people who speak as though they have all the answers and make overarching assumptions about an entire group of people (in this case, the wealthy). To me, this is a form of prejudice.

As for changing the world - I know I can't change the world, but I'm wise enough to recognise when some large corporation is burning my house down and charging me for the heat.

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do". Keep advocating the things you are passionate about! I am not trying to squash your voice.

 

[Rogifan]

According to Forbes, the final total raised for this event was $46M as the Gates Foundation as well as the US and UK governments made matching donations.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriek...-fund-to-fight-aids-tuberculosis-and-malaria/

 

[imageWIS]

Damned if you do...damned if you don't.

No.

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Wow. $16m in one year vs. $65m in 7 years. The 1% really are the source of all things good.

Utter and complete ignorant nonsense.

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They donated millions and they get vilified. I guess no good deed goes unpunished. evil rich people

How do you think they got the money in the first place?!?

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This is a disgusting generalisation.

No, what's disgusting is that people have this kind of money while children are starving; what's also disgusting is your defense of such a system! WHAT is wrong with you??

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Wow they really blew past all the estimates!

Disgusting that people can moan about a load of money going to charity.

You can give to charity without buying overpriced toys / stroking your ego. Your point FAILS.

 

[FloatingBones]

The 'saintly' folk who bought these goods will no doubt get a massive tax break on these charitable purchases, and alleviate any guilty feelings (if they are indeed capable of such an emotion) connected with the origins of their income.

You have no idea about the tax impact of the bidders of this auction. You called yourself cynical; that sounds appropriate to me. Have you gone back and done any research into the winners of the auction to see if your stereotypical assessment as actually correct? Here's the lesson: innuendo is never a substitute for facts. Next time, please do your homework first.

This is an inspiring story, and I am disturbed that the discussion of the massive preparation and auction got hijacked by the political discussion. Someone might hesitate to create similar events (of any scale).

Isn't there something better out there to be second-guessing?

You can give to charity without buying overpriced toys / stroking your ego. Your point FAILS.

Such amazing over-the-top second-guessing.

@imageWIS: you are welcome to fund-raise for good causes any way you wish. But criticizing how someone else generates $46M for charity is utter nonsense. Criticizing how someone else either contributes to charity or causes such an amazing fundraising event to happen is deeply disappointing.

 

[Apple0001]

Concerning the special Mac Pro....

I am afraid that I don't quite get it. While it is certainly an original, it seems that it would not be very hard, for the most part, to replicate what Ive has done. Though the Mac Pro is currently not for sale, the various photos and videos suggest that its outer cylinder case comes off easily. So what is to stop someone from taking it off, going down to the local auto paint shop, select a metallic paint, have it painted, and then hand rub the finish. The bottom part of the Mac Pro with the grooved outlets for air flow, presumably, may not come off easily and might have to be left black. But I am not so sure that is a bad thing. For example, a metallic, chinese red, with a black bottom would be a good combination. Apple, always intent upon individualization, should have offered different colors.