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Given the audience, and the accepted notion that Apple, as a business, wants people to buy their hardware, isn't Schiller's comment meant as something of a joke

Given the audience, and the accepted notion that Apple, as a business, wants people to buy their hardware, isn't Schiller's comment meant as something of a joke? This is what's wrong with the Internet! The reaction reminds me of Madeleine Albright's comment about there being "a special place in Hell for women who don't support other women," a comment she made at a Hillary Clinton function. Apparently, Ms. Albright has been making this comment at the end of speeches for years. Do you know why? Because in the context it's funny. It's funny because it's exaggerated, quasi-ridiculous thing to say. But, the last time she said it, at the Clinton rally, people in the Twitterverse -- or whatever we're calling it -- took offense and went crazy. I'm sorry, but both Albright's comment and Schiller's comment are benign jokes. The Internet manufactures outrage.

ArkyBeagle 11y ago
It aggregates it rather than manufacture it. It's really something.
m3rc 11y ago
So? It's still a shitty joke, and in the Apple case it breaks a key rule of comedy by punching down. It also leaves a really bad taste in your mouth for the rest of the address because instead of Apple trying to increase profits by building better products, it starts to become Apple guilting people into buying things they don't need just because their possessions are old. It especially feels crappy when no product they unveiled was anything except a yearly iteration.
- tombert 11y ago
  If a web developer gets frustrated by having to support Internet Explorer 8, is that offensive? "How dare you! You're punching down at people who are stuck with Windows XP!" The internet is very good at being offended by everything.
  - m3rc 11y ago
    Not upgrading from IE8 is the same as using a laptop made 5 years ago now?
    - tombert 11y ago
      My point is that no one has this outrage machine when web developers whine about Internet Explorer, even though plenty of people are stuck using it for financial reasons, just like people who are stuck with five-year-old computers, and as a developer, I actually do find it frustrating when I have to support older hardware. I'll admit the choice of the word "sad" might have been poor, but it's hardly worth getting offended over.
      - mikeash 11y ago
        Aren't there better alternatives to IE that don't cost money? That doesn't seem to be the same at all. Much of the reason older PCs are still useful is because the software is still mutable, often at no monetary cost.
        tombert 11y ago
        Plenty of companies cannot upgrade away from IE because the cost would be too high. I worked at a company that only worked with IE7 at one point. Sure, I could have said "just use Firefox" or "just use Chrome...It's free!", but that wasn't really an option. Now, granted, I'm aware that a company is not the same as a person, but it was just a dumb example I used to kind of point out that getting offended because Apple "punched down" is kind of arbitrary.
        mikeash 11y ago
        Why wasn't using Firefox or Chrome an option? They're free. Maybe corporate policy prohibited it, but that means it's basically a choice to keep using old and broken stuff. People find Apple's statement offensive because the people who use old PCs tend to be poor, so that statement was basically shitting on poor people for not having the means to buy new electronics. I don't see how your example compares.
- theseatoms 11y ago
  Not punching down is a key rule of comedy? That would be news to the majority of working comedians.
- ProAm 11y ago
  Apple expects it's customers to spend ~1100 every two years on their products. So it's sad for Apple that people are waiting 5 years to think about new hardware.
mbesto 11y ago
> I'm sorry, but both Albright's comment and Schiller's comment are benign jokes. The Internet manufactures outrage. The internet distributes messages. People manufacture outrage because it's good PR.
big_paps 11y ago
No, this isnt a joke. The reaction of the audience showed that clearly. How pityfull they shook their head to confirm how "sad" a five year old windows computer is. That part of the keynote was really so ugly-spoiled-hipster-narrow-minded that i really started to think about switching to windows for the first time after 12 years of apple usage.
kelnage 11y ago
Is it a joke that Apple mark their computers as "obsolete" and stop providing support after they've been available for 5 years? This "joke" might have a chance at being funny if they didn't apply the punchline to their own stuff.
- mariodiana 11y ago
  A product is marked "vintage" after 5 years have past since the date its production was discontinued, and "obsolete" after 7 years. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624
oxide 11y ago
>I'm sorry, but both Albright's comment and Schiller's comment are benign jokes. if you think that's a joke, I feel sorry for you. you must give just about everyone the benefit of the doubt regardless of context.

ArkyBeagle 11y ago

It aggregates it rather than manufacture it. It's really something.

m3rc 11y ago

So? It's still a shitty joke, and in the Apple case it breaks a key rule of comedy by punching down. It also leaves a really bad taste in your mouth for the rest of the address because instead of Apple trying to increase profits by building better products, it starts to become Apple guilting people into buying things they don't need just because their possessions are old. It especially feels crappy when no product they unveiled was anything except a yearly iteration.

tombert 11y ago
If a web developer gets frustrated by having to support Internet Explorer 8, is that offensive? "How dare you! You're punching down at people who are stuck with Windows XP!" The internet is very good at being offended by everything.
- m3rc 11y ago
  Not upgrading from IE8 is the same as using a laptop made 5 years ago now?
  - tombert 11y ago
    My point is that no one has this outrage machine when web developers whine about Internet Explorer, even though plenty of people are stuck using it for financial reasons, just like people who are stuck with five-year-old computers, and as a developer, I actually do find it frustrating when I have to support older hardware. I'll admit the choice of the word "sad" might have been poor, but it's hardly worth getting offended over.
    - mikeash 11y ago
      Aren't there better alternatives to IE that don't cost money? That doesn't seem to be the same at all. Much of the reason older PCs are still useful is because the software is still mutable, often at no monetary cost.
      - tombert 11y ago
        Plenty of companies cannot upgrade away from IE because the cost would be too high. I worked at a company that only worked with IE7 at one point. Sure, I could have said "just use Firefox" or "just use Chrome...It's free!", but that wasn't really an option. Now, granted, I'm aware that a company is not the same as a person, but it was just a dumb example I used to kind of point out that getting offended because Apple "punched down" is kind of arbitrary.
        mikeash 11y ago
        Why wasn't using Firefox or Chrome an option? They're free. Maybe corporate policy prohibited it, but that means it's basically a choice to keep using old and broken stuff. People find Apple's statement offensive because the people who use old PCs tend to be poor, so that statement was basically shitting on poor people for not having the means to buy new electronics. I don't see how your example compares.
theseatoms 11y ago
Not punching down is a key rule of comedy? That would be news to the majority of working comedians.
ProAm 11y ago
Apple expects it's customers to spend ~1100 every two years on their products. So it's sad for Apple that people are waiting 5 years to think about new hardware.

mbesto 11y ago

> I'm sorry, but both Albright's comment and Schiller's comment are benign jokes. The Internet manufactures outrage. The internet distributes messages. People manufacture outrage because it's good PR.

big_paps 11y ago

No, this isnt a joke. The reaction of the audience showed that clearly. How pityfull they shook their head to confirm how "sad" a five year old windows computer is. That part of the keynote was really so ugly-spoiled-hipster-narrow-minded that i really started to think about switching to windows for the first time after 12 years of apple usage.

kelnage 11y ago

Is it a joke that Apple mark their computers as "obsolete" and stop providing support after they've been available for 5 years? This "joke" might have a chance at being funny if they didn't apply the punchline to their own stuff.

mariodiana 11y ago
A product is marked "vintage" after 5 years have past since the date its production was discontinued, and "obsolete" after 7 years. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

oxide 11y ago

>I'm sorry, but both Albright's comment and Schiller's comment are benign jokes. if you think that's a joke, I feel sorry for you. you must give just about everyone the benefit of the doubt regardless of context.