Not a fanboy or hater, but am I the only one who sees the irony?

[jberryhill]

Apple "Big Brother" Commercial 1984:



Apple Launch Event 2017:



Is that really the image they were aiming for?

[Trust Buster]

1. I appreciate Jobs' contribution in the technological field. He was a brilliant man.

[jberryhill]

2. Replicating Apple's 1984 Commercial For Their Own Launch Was Less Than Brilliant

[Trust Buster]

3. I think it is silly and petty to fixate on a commercial ignoring Jobs' contributions.

[jberryhill]

4. What a bizarre comment

A passing observation of obvious stylistic irony is hardly a "fixation".

[Orrex]

9. The commercial is nauseatingly overpraised as being The Best Commercial Ever!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT THEY ONLY AIRED IT ONCE?!?!? ONCE!!!!!!1!!


Yes, Jobs did a great job of appropriating innovation and rebranding it as Apple, and he did a spectacular job of making people overlook his grotesque personal shortcomings and commercial failures.

But none of that changes the fact that his company has become exactly the company that his company so famously mocked In The Sacred Commercial.

[Trust Buster]

10. I disagree. Genius always comes with personal shortcomings. And, as for what Apple has become,

It has become a world leader in communications technology. I am communicating with you via an iPad. I also have an IMac notebook and an iPhone. I owe Apple a debt of gratitude. If you don't like the company or their products, you are free not to patronize Apple. You have a choice. I have a choice. Every American consumer has a choice. You can't ask for more than that.

[Orrex]

11. Nonsense. So-called genius too often gets a pass because people too often fetishize "genius"

An asshole is an asshole even if he wears the same shirt and eats only fruit.

If you don't like the company or their products, you are free not to patronize Apple. You have a choice. I have a choice. Every American consumer has a choice. You can't ask for more than that.

That is such a load of garbage, and I've seen it many times before. Defenders of weak positions always cry First Amendment or some variation thereof, as if that has anything to do with the situation at hand, which of course it does not.

I will personally give you $100,000,000 if you can show me where I have ever denied anyone the right to buy Apple products (other than my children, who would be buying said products with my money).

It's not about freedom of choice, and it's smarmy and disingenuous of you to try to cast it in that light.

instead, it's about recognizing that a tax-dodging multi-billion dollar multinational company has indeed become exactly the company that the company itself so famously derided in 1984.

[Trust Buster]

12. You clearly reject the nature of a world economy. No doubt we differ on Aipac.

The market decides these things. We are not talking about oil or healthcare where people have few choices. Apple products are a completely voluntary purchase. The aggregate market will decide and not your individual grievances.

[Orrex]

13. No, we differ on your desperation to change the subject

Specifically, you have this persistent need to frame the issue as matter of choice, when it's not at all about that.

The market decides these things. We are not talking about oil or healthcare where people have few choices. Apple products are a completely voluntary purchase. The aggregate market will decide and not your individual grievances.

Every single syllable of that excerpt is completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand.

Your claim about "individual grievances" is also preposterous, because Apple based its entire fucking brand on this silly notion of mass-produced and aggressively marketed faux-individuality.

Ultimately it makes no difference to me if you buy a brand new iPhones exactly as every other individual who buys one. Hell, buy ten of them--I don't give a shit.

The issue is not whether it's a good phone or a good brand or a trendy new money-grab marketed under dubiously shady practices. The issue is that the company has become the very monolith that it was once praised for deriding.

You can choose to recognize this, or you choose to pretend that it's not true. No one is denying you that choice, least of all me.

[marylandblue]

5. Yes I am sure that was on purpose

Jobs was a brilliant marketer, everything was intended to build a loyal brand following, and it worked.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. Well, if they want to extend the Orwell analogy, it's Animal Farm

The end result of their revolution is that they've become exactly what they revolted against.

[Kleveland]

7. The depth of Apple's contributions to the computing world..

.. and the consumer electronics and communication industries is often overlooked, and rarely acknowledged completely.

There is a huge number of serious Apple haters out there, and most do not recognize this fact.

Even MicroSoft owes a lot to Apple, and of course ironically, Apple owes a lot to MicroSoft.

I use a lot of Apple products, and yes, they piss me off at times.

But not as much as the MicroSoft products that I also have had to use over the years.

There is no perfect world in the technology world.

It continuously evolves, and also consumes itself.

The thing that drives me mad, is the constant change forced upon consumer for changes sake.

It does not always represent a better way to do things, it only changes things. Sometimes for the worse.

I for one, generally dislike Windows operating systems, but I often have to use them for various reasons.

The main reason is that many software/hardware vendors refuse to write a Mac/OS X version of things like programming utilities for Audio Visual equipment, and many other things.

As I said, I use both OS's, but most of my computers are Macs.

Choices are good. Sometimes bad choices prevail.

I do not think that Apple has become part of the stodgy establishment.

You may feel differently, and see irony where you wish.

[Mosby]

8. for me, I don't hate apple

I just think their stuff is overpriced.

And apple is definitely part of the establishment. Maybe even more than MS.

[GeorgeGist]

14. The greed of Apple is remarkable ...

In January, Apple said cash reserves had increased by $8.5bn to $246bn. More than $230bn was parked at offshore subsidiaries, the biggest overseas holdings of any non-financial company.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/05/01/apples-cash-reserves-swell-250bn/