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Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake

239 points by sahillavingia 16y ago

pat2man 16y ago
The real story here is how valuable and important free internet access points are. We should all support companies and individuals that provide free network access.
- orblivion 16y ago
  As long as they're going out of their way, they would certainly waive the connection fee for internet access if there was one, of all things.
dholowiski 16y ago
This is of course what Apple (and any other company) _should_ have done in such a situation, but they sure deserve some recognition for actually doing it.
- zaidf 16y ago
  Agree. I want to say companies that do this should be the rule, not the exception. I remember when the floods hit Mumbai few years ago, restaurants across the city stayed opened through the night feeding folks, in many cases for free.
  - Natsu 16y ago
    As near as I can tell, it is the rule right now in Japan.
- Splendorist 16y ago
  What surprises me most is the immediate reactions of the senior managers. I wonder if that's brilliant sense or even better, part of an 'Apple culture' I'm not familiar with.
  - nettdata 16y ago
    I think it's just being a human being that's in a position to help another human being. Good people are good people, regardless of who they work for.
    - dholowiski 16y ago
      True, but it seems to have been unanimous and immediate at Apple. Good people are good people, but it seems like quite a few of them work for Apple. I wonder if this would happen in the US too, or if it has something to do with Japanese culture?
      - res0nat0r 16y ago
        I'm going more along the lines of this is HN, and there are tons of stories on Apple posted here every day. I'm sure there could be 3 pages worth of HN stories posted here from all of the other Japanese non-tech businesses doing the same thing if the audience here were also so obsessed with those corporations daily operations.
  - statictype 16y ago
    I'm sure this has nothing to do with Apple's culture and everything to do with people acting like normal people and helping others in times of need.
    - Stormbringer 16y ago
      How strange then that we don't hear similar stories about other companies in Japan...
      - statictype 16y ago
        Are you serious? We don't hear stories about other companies because humans going out of their way to help others in the wake of a natural disaster isn't something singularly unique that it requires a post to social news sites whenever it's done. The only reason we're hearing this story is because someone in love with Apple received an email about employees in an Apple store doing their civic duty and decided that this was "Apple's role" in the disaster. Honestly, I bet people at Apple who see this are slightly embarrassed that their huge company's role in this disaster is letting people charge their iOS devices in their shop and watch tv. (Not meant as a slight against Apple.) Imagine if someone wrote a blog post about how he saw an American guy bringing a bottle of water to a kid who lost her way during the earthquake and decided to title it "America's role in Japan"
jaysonelliot 16y ago
My father-in-law works in Tokyo, but lives in Kamakura. He wrote us a long email about his journey home. Because trains were not running, the only option was to walk the 60+ kilometers home. All along the way, he saw people finding places to sleep in bars, stores, even 7-11s. All of them were full, so he could only keep on walking. Eventually, he found a bar that had room for him to come and sleep on the floor, so that he could continue his journey home in the morning. There was no food on the shelves of any store, so people had to share what they had with each other. Allowing people to sleep in the Apple stores must have been incredibly important to the staff. God knows how they might have fared otherwise.
- nandemo 16y ago
  I live in Tokyo. Many, many people slept at their offices on Friday night. That wasn't uncommon at all. Indeed, I'm at a loss to understand why would anyone think that was an exceptional decision by Apple (not saying you're one of them, but OP seems to be). Maybe your father-in-law was one of the millions who got stranded halfway home, or maybe he really wanted to be with his family. But he too could have probably slept at his office instead. Edit: for example, "many of [BofA Merrill Lynch's] bankers even remained in the office overnight because they couldn't get home. The same thing happened to Goldman workers. Because of transport disruptions, bankers returned to their desks at 5.30 pm and then slept in the office. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-did-the-banks-do-when-the-earthquake-hit-japan-on-friday-2011-3#ixzz1Gdqu3lGs http://www.businessinsider.com/what-did-the-banks-do-when-th...
  - patio11 16y ago
    Speaking from personal experience, other major events which can result in a Japanese salaryman sleeping at their office include "the day is Monday", etc. Apparently moving one's toothbrush is a sign of commitment in romantic comedies? I had a toothbrush and shaving kit in my desk for three years. My boss had three changes of clothes.
    - aristus 16y ago
      This is very off-topic, but I am curious about this cultural habit of Japan. Does spending 2X more hours at the office actually get 2X more work done? I tend to lose focus rapidly after 9 or 10 hours.
argarg 16y ago
Funny how every comments from the link are "Wow awesome APPLE is amazing", talking about the company as a whole when it's only a single store story. Yes, what this they made is great, even though it's what every other store should have made in their situation. Just felt like pointing that fun fact out.
- zaidr 16y ago
  If you are stranded, and someone gives you a place to sleep, I think I will scream in thanking them. So yes, Apple did an amazing job.
austintaylor 16y ago
The part about camping out in the Apple Store reminded me of "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" by Cory Doctorow. http://baens-universe.com/articles/when_sysadmins_ruled_the_earth http://baens-universe.com/articles/when_sysadmins_ruled_the_...
- calloc 16y ago
  Awesome comic! I absolutely loved reading it and suggest it to anyone else!
gobongo 16y ago
I hate being "that guy" but I find it very sad that we've reached a point where we're expected to praise companies just for being staffed by humans capable of basic empathy in an unimaginably horrific crisis. It is nice that they did this and all but is it really especially noteworthy? Give me an update when Steve Jobs donates a little bit of his money to the relief effort, (or, really, ANYTHING...) until then I don't really see what this has to do with Apple as a whole.
- Joakal 16y ago
  On the other hand, there's a skewed ratio of outrage to praise. Some people like to hear about the good things from a horrific crisis. You're not expected to praise the companies. Whatever gave you that perception?
- radicaldreamer 16y ago
  A lot of wealthy people donate anonymously so that they aren't harassed or labeled for whom they donate money to and some just don't like drawing attention to their personal lives.
  - SwellJoe 16y ago
    And a lot more people do not donate at all (the percentage of anonymous donations to most charities is miniscule). In the absence of evidence that he has donated, the reasonable assumption is that he has not. That's not to say I believe he is obligated to do so. But, I seriously doubt Jobs generosity...he's always been kind of a jerk, especially in matters of money. I don't understand why anyone would bring up "some people donate anonymously!" as some sort of evidence that Jobs is a giving human being, when most evidence points to the contrary.
    - radicaldreamer 16y ago
      Okay, let's look at the donations that he has to disclose by law: "while Jobs gave $254,000. (His wife Laurene Powell Jobs, however, donated more than $502,915 federally" (Source: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/01/bill_gates_tops_steve_jobs_in.php http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/01/bill_gate...). What's more likely, that this person who intensely guards his personal life contributes only to politicians and supports no causes on his own or that he doesn't publicize anything about his personal life other than what he has to? Everything I've read about Jobs points to him being very uncomfortable with having his life laid open for everyone to peer at and critique.
earino 16y ago
This story made me feel good.
bluedanieru 16y ago
He mentions that his free wifi was the only way to get access to the outside world. I don't know about Softbank (the only provider with iPhones in Japan), but my 3G with Docomo was not disrupted at any point during the crisis. Making calls was difficult or (usually) impossible, but network access was always there. This is in Tokyo.
- nandemo 16y ago
  I had no problems with Softbank's 3G either.
maxxxxx 16y ago
This is just basic human decency and I am sure Apple is not the only company doing this. I don't think it's a good time for some guy from Silicon Valley to praise some entity from Silicon Valley for doing great things. Reminds me of Twitter getting all the praise for revolutions while people were dying. Let's praise them when they spend some of their billions on earthquake relief.
edunne 16y ago
Thats it? really? No pledge of money to help repair? If thats all Apple does in response its extremely weak.
dami 16y ago
Pretty awesome stuff!
ihodes 16y ago
It's a little bizarre how people are either 1) upset at Apple for not doing more 2) expecting all companies to do something like this, thus this isn't exceptional. Addressing point 1 first; there's still time for them to do more. Not only that, but why should private companies be obligated to fund a nation in times of crisis? Sure, it's great when they do, but they already DO pay for this in the form of taxes. Apple is a company; their primary obligation is to their shareholders: their business is business. Now for point 2: see point one. This is exceptional, and this is really neat. This isn't just some donation of funds to another fund; this was a mandated relief effort in the face of an actual crisis. And it showed (whether or not you think it sincere) that Apple cares. I can't be anything but happy that I support such a company.
- Stormbringer 16y ago
  The Apple haters just can't let anything go past without taking a swing. And the irony is they accuse us of having a reality distortion field...
- greendestiny 16y ago
  See jaysonelliot's comment here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2325377 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2325377 This is hard to say without attacking something that is clearly great and helpful to a lot of people, but I think its fair to say that businesses and people all over Japan are currently putting in unbelievable efforts and singling out Apple here just seems to be putting the most bizarre western tech community lens over the thing.
- edderly 16y ago
  Regarding point one, I think some people use this excuse too readily. As a single example consider: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood IMO if companies want to assert rights as individuals I think it is permissible to expect to some level of common morality. This doesn't mean a company has to act in a compassionate or moral manner, just as an individual, but I see no reason to give a corporation a free pass because they might have shareholders and a profit motive.
- 16y ago
jarek 16y ago
Is this materially different from how any other company in Japan reacted?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- Stormbringer 16y ago
  Yes, it is
  - jarek 16y ago
    Per jaysonelliot's recounting it seems at least bars, stores, and 7-11s were doing the same thing within their capabilities.
    - Stormbringer 16y ago
      But not other large corporates, which I think is the point.
      - jarek 16y ago
        Name a large corporation with large retail presence in Japan which was not/is not helping.
- patio11 16y ago
  Many, many companies have performed admirably: offering shelter, giving away their products/services for the duration, trying to help affected customers/employees, etc. I'm quite a ways away from the earthquake, and have used a regional bank for the last seven years. The branch manager called me to say that he noticed my account was nearly empty and, if I or my business was affected by the earthquake, the bank had my back and we could sort out the numbers later. (Situation nominal, by the way -- I just happened to have paid taxes on Friday, which appears to be quite a hit if you only know about savings in yen.)
redcap 16y ago
Author mentions nuclear/acid rain, there are no reports of this. I'm following NHK as well as more lucid western stories and all of them have the Fukushima reactors as worst case not as bad as Three Mile Island, let alone Chernobyl. For English information about what's going on, there's: http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/2530/japan-earthquake-live-report http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/2530/japan-earthquake... http://gakuranman.com/great-tohoku-earthquake/#live http://gakuranman.com/great-tohoku-earthquake/#live http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/japan_quake/ http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/japan_quake/ http://twitter.com/_niten/tokyo-disaster-info/members http://twitter.com/_niten/tokyo-disaster-info/members (list I made)
- trotsky 16y ago
  Check out this little nugget at the bottom of Timeout Tokyo: Suntory vending machines have emergency levers beneath a sticker on the upper-right corners. Pull the sticker off, pull the lever firmly and you'll get free drinks. They built a backdoor into their own vending machines for emergencies and have followed up and gotten the information out there. Free juice for the weary! It was sleeping there the whole time, very japanese. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12163087@N04/4202645718/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/12163087@N04/4202645718/ Suntory Holdings Limited サントリーホールディングス株式会社, Established in 1899 That's the definition of cool.
  - patio11 16y ago
    There exists a particular Japanese megacorp in Nagoya. Like many megacorps, it has a long list of acceptance tests for any systems it ships internally or externally. Two tests on that list: 1) If it would normally exchange money-for-X, we have to be able to tell it to disburse X-for-nothing. 2) If it would normally exchange money-for-X, failure modes of our ability to tell it to disburse X-for-nothing must cause the system to fail into X-for-nothing. e.g. If it were hypothetically a vending machine, a network connection that let you send it a message to turn off needing money would meet #1, and a heartbeat hourly where failure to receive the heartbeat would turn off needing money would meet #2. Anyhow, those two rules are in the strictest category in the SOP: if you fudge one in an acceptance test, the system does not ship. If a system which has somehow made it into production is discovered to not be in compliance, several somebodies will not be going home until it is either in compliance or removed for service. I agree, Suntory's machines are an excellently engineered. I want to emphasize that this level of commitment to engineering excellence is not anomalous here. Japanese megacorps: woe unto thee who has to use our web applications, but for this sort of consideration, we seriously know our stuff.
saint-loup 16y ago
I find this bit really interesting: "You know how in disaster movies, people on the street gather around electronic shops that have TVs in the display windows so they can stay informed with what is going on? In this digital age, that's what the Tokyo Apple stores became."
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
PostOnce 16y ago
I know little of Apple or of Japanese business morals/etc. I wonder, is this an Apple thing, or a Japanese thing, or an Apple Japan thing? Does it lean any particular way? Not that it matters. Good people doing good things. I would be interested in commentary, though.
- tylerhowarth 16y ago
  This is totally an Apple thing. I worked Apple retail, and they tell you all the time that Apple is not in the computer business. They are in the people business. I can see this happening at any major Apple store given the extreme circumstances.
- asknemo 16y ago
  Japanese thing. It's actually happening to every corporate and stores in Japan, from our more extensive coverage here in Asia. It's just that they are too busy continuing to combat the aftermath to think about writing things down and tell the public in the middle of the disaster.
dr_ 16y ago
Well, this is good, but Apple's bigger contribution is allowing donations via iTunes. They have over 200 million credit card numbers on file - that's powerful.
retrogradeorbit 16y ago
Ycombinator is such a massive Apple fanboy hangout these days.
tylerhowarth 16y ago
Honestly everyone needs to get over themselves and their opinions on "roles" in this terrible time. This was an inspiring story coming from a truly frightening and terrible situation.
radicaldreamer 16y ago
Tokyo's gripped with panic and the markets are essentially experiencing a flash crash (http://e.nikkei.com/e/app/fr/market/nikkeiindex.aspx http://e.nikkei.com/e/app/fr/market/nikkeiindex.aspx) and the French Embassy is warning that radioactivity could reach Tokyo in 10 hours (https://twitter.com/#!/reuters/status/47485505813757952 https://twitter.com/#!/reuters/status/47485505813757952)
anigbrowl 16y ago
While doubtless unintentional, this sounds so much like PR as to seem tasteless.
me_again 16y ago
Meanwhile, Microsoft donates $2million (http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2011/03/14/microsoft-supports-relief-efforts-in-japan.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2011/03/14...), and nobody notices. I don't mean "oh, poor Microsoft" - it's just interesting that certain kinds of generosity are appreciated more than others.
Natsu 16y ago
It's good to see people helping each other. This sort of thing is happening all over Japan, though, not just at any one company. I hope that people encourage each other to do more of this sort of thing. That said, I was impressed by Google's approach, even though they're not a Japanese company. They set up a page to give people the latest news on the disaster, made a widget to help people donate to the Japanese Red Cross, powered a person finder to help people locate their loved ones and linked people to all kinds of other official resources so that they know when they're expected to ration power, etc. It's linked from their home page. Honestly, I didn't notice it for a long time, because I always search straight from my browser.
dctoedt 16y ago
Sure, it's just a story of basic human decency, the kind we see in all sorts of crises. But stories are a big way that cultural values are transmitted and reinforced. The latter is important.
rb2k_ 16y ago
> with the phone [...] lines down and > hundreds of people were swarming into Apple stores to watch the news on USTREAM and contact their families via Twitter, Facebook, and email. Why is the internet at the apple store up when apparently the phonelines are down?
l0nwlf 16y ago
Apple did far better then Microsoft atleast. http://www.geekwire.com/2011/bings-japan-tweet-tasteless-marketing-ploy-helping-good http://www.geekwire.com/2011/bings-japan-tweet-tasteless-mar...
jazzyd 16y ago
For anyone interested we formed a global group on Facebook called iHope for Japan http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_201249473238509&notif_t=group_activity http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_201249473238509&#3... The idea is to persuade Steve Jobs donate to the relief effort in Japan. The release of the iPad2 just about coincided with the earthquake/tsunami. What a great opportunity to donate a portion of each iPad2 to sale to Japan. Very positive publicity and who knows they may sell more because of it.

239 points by sahillavingia 16y ago

The real story here is how valuable and important free internet access points are. We should all support companies and individuals that provide free network access.

orblivion 16y ago
As long as they're going out of their way, they would certainly waive the connection fee for internet access if there was one, of all things.

dholowiski 16y ago

This is of course what Apple (and any other company) _should_ have done in such a situation, but they sure deserve some recognition for actually doing it.

zaidf 16y ago
Agree. I want to say companies that do this should be the rule, not the exception. I remember when the floods hit Mumbai few years ago, restaurants across the city stayed opened through the night feeding folks, in many cases for free.
- Natsu 16y ago
  As near as I can tell, it is the rule right now in Japan.
Splendorist 16y ago
What surprises me most is the immediate reactions of the senior managers. I wonder if that's brilliant sense or even better, part of an 'Apple culture' I'm not familiar with.
- nettdata 16y ago
  I think it's just being a human being that's in a position to help another human being. Good people are good people, regardless of who they work for.
  - dholowiski 16y ago
    True, but it seems to have been unanimous and immediate at Apple. Good people are good people, but it seems like quite a few of them work for Apple. I wonder if this would happen in the US too, or if it has something to do with Japanese culture?
    - res0nat0r 16y ago
      I'm going more along the lines of this is HN, and there are tons of stories on Apple posted here every day. I'm sure there could be 3 pages worth of HN stories posted here from all of the other Japanese non-tech businesses doing the same thing if the audience here were also so obsessed with those corporations daily operations.
- statictype 16y ago
  I'm sure this has nothing to do with Apple's culture and everything to do with people acting like normal people and helping others in times of need.
  - Stormbringer 16y ago
    How strange then that we don't hear similar stories about other companies in Japan...
    - statictype 16y ago
      Are you serious? We don't hear stories about other companies because humans going out of their way to help others in the wake of a natural disaster isn't something singularly unique that it requires a post to social news sites whenever it's done. The only reason we're hearing this story is because someone in love with Apple received an email about employees in an Apple store doing their civic duty and decided that this was "Apple's role" in the disaster. Honestly, I bet people at Apple who see this are slightly embarrassed that their huge company's role in this disaster is letting people charge their iOS devices in their shop and watch tv. (Not meant as a slight against Apple.) Imagine if someone wrote a blog post about how he saw an American guy bringing a bottle of water to a kid who lost her way during the earthquake and decided to title it "America's role in Japan"

jaysonelliot 16y ago

My father-in-law works in Tokyo, but lives in Kamakura. He wrote us a long email about his journey home. Because trains were not running, the only option was to walk the 60+ kilometers home. All along the way, he saw people finding places to sleep in bars, stores, even 7-11s. All of them were full, so he could only keep on walking. Eventually, he found a bar that had room for him to come and sleep on the floor, so that he could continue his journey home in the morning. There was no food on the shelves of any store, so people had to share what they had with each other. Allowing people to sleep in the Apple stores must have been incredibly important to the staff. God knows how they might have fared otherwise.

nandemo 16y ago
I live in Tokyo. Many, many people slept at their offices on Friday night. That wasn't uncommon at all. Indeed, I'm at a loss to understand why would anyone think that was an exceptional decision by Apple (not saying you're one of them, but OP seems to be). Maybe your father-in-law was one of the millions who got stranded halfway home, or maybe he really wanted to be with his family. But he too could have probably slept at his office instead. Edit: for example, "many of [BofA Merrill Lynch's] bankers even remained in the office overnight because they couldn't get home. The same thing happened to Goldman workers. Because of transport disruptions, bankers returned to their desks at 5.30 pm and then slept in the office. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-did-the-banks-do-when-the-earthquake-hit-japan-on-friday-2011-3#ixzz1Gdqu3lGs http://www.businessinsider.com/what-did-the-banks-do-when-th...
- patio11 16y ago
  Speaking from personal experience, other major events which can result in a Japanese salaryman sleeping at their office include "the day is Monday", etc. Apparently moving one's toothbrush is a sign of commitment in romantic comedies? I had a toothbrush and shaving kit in my desk for three years. My boss had three changes of clothes.
  - aristus 16y ago
    This is very off-topic, but I am curious about this cultural habit of Japan. Does spending 2X more hours at the office actually get 2X more work done? I tend to lose focus rapidly after 9 or 10 hours.

argarg 16y ago

Funny how every comments from the link are "Wow awesome APPLE is amazing", talking about the company as a whole when it's only a single store story. Yes, what this they made is great, even though it's what every other store should have made in their situation. Just felt like pointing that fun fact out.

zaidr 16y ago
If you are stranded, and someone gives you a place to sleep, I think I will scream in thanking them. So yes, Apple did an amazing job.

austintaylor 16y ago

The part about camping out in the Apple Store reminded me of "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" by Cory Doctorow. http://baens-universe.com/articles/when_sysadmins_ruled_the_earth http://baens-universe.com/articles/when_sysadmins_ruled_the_...

calloc 16y ago
Awesome comic! I absolutely loved reading it and suggest it to anyone else!

gobongo 16y ago

I hate being "that guy" but I find it very sad that we've reached a point where we're expected to praise companies just for being staffed by humans capable of basic empathy in an unimaginably horrific crisis. It is nice that they did this and all but is it really especially noteworthy? Give me an update when Steve Jobs donates a little bit of his money to the relief effort, (or, really, ANYTHING...) until then I don't really see what this has to do with Apple as a whole.

Joakal 16y ago
On the other hand, there's a skewed ratio of outrage to praise. Some people like to hear about the good things from a horrific crisis. You're not expected to praise the companies. Whatever gave you that perception?
radicaldreamer 16y ago
A lot of wealthy people donate anonymously so that they aren't harassed or labeled for whom they donate money to and some just don't like drawing attention to their personal lives.
- SwellJoe 16y ago
  And a lot more people do not donate at all (the percentage of anonymous donations to most charities is miniscule). In the absence of evidence that he has donated, the reasonable assumption is that he has not. That's not to say I believe he is obligated to do so. But, I seriously doubt Jobs generosity...he's always been kind of a jerk, especially in matters of money. I don't understand why anyone would bring up "some people donate anonymously!" as some sort of evidence that Jobs is a giving human being, when most evidence points to the contrary.
  - radicaldreamer 16y ago
    Okay, let's look at the donations that he has to disclose by law: "while Jobs gave $254,000. (His wife Laurene Powell Jobs, however, donated more than $502,915 federally" (Source: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/01/bill_gates_tops_steve_jobs_in.php http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/01/bill_gate...). What's more likely, that this person who intensely guards his personal life contributes only to politicians and supports no causes on his own or that he doesn't publicize anything about his personal life other than what he has to? Everything I've read about Jobs points to him being very uncomfortable with having his life laid open for everyone to peer at and critique.

earino 16y ago

This story made me feel good.

bluedanieru 16y ago

He mentions that his free wifi was the only way to get access to the outside world. I don't know about Softbank (the only provider with iPhones in Japan), but my 3G with Docomo was not disrupted at any point during the crisis. Making calls was difficult or (usually) impossible, but network access was always there. This is in Tokyo.

nandemo 16y ago
I had no problems with Softbank's 3G either.

maxxxxx 16y ago

This is just basic human decency and I am sure Apple is not the only company doing this. I don't think it's a good time for some guy from Silicon Valley to praise some entity from Silicon Valley for doing great things. Reminds me of Twitter getting all the praise for revolutions while people were dying. Let's praise them when they spend some of their billions on earthquake relief.

edunne 16y ago

Thats it? really? No pledge of money to help repair? If thats all Apple does in response its extremely weak.

dami 16y ago

Pretty awesome stuff!

ihodes 16y ago

It's a little bizarre how people are either 1) upset at Apple for not doing more 2) expecting all companies to do something like this, thus this isn't exceptional. Addressing point 1 first; there's still time for them to do more. Not only that, but why should private companies be obligated to fund a nation in times of crisis? Sure, it's great when they do, but they already DO pay for this in the form of taxes. Apple is a company; their primary obligation is to their shareholders: their business is business. Now for point 2: see point one. This is exceptional, and this is really neat. This isn't just some donation of funds to another fund; this was a mandated relief effort in the face of an actual crisis. And it showed (whether or not you think it sincere) that Apple cares. I can't be anything but happy that I support such a company.

Stormbringer 16y ago
The Apple haters just can't let anything go past without taking a swing. And the irony is they accuse us of having a reality distortion field...
greendestiny 16y ago
See jaysonelliot's comment here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2325377 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2325377 This is hard to say without attacking something that is clearly great and helpful to a lot of people, but I think its fair to say that businesses and people all over Japan are currently putting in unbelievable efforts and singling out Apple here just seems to be putting the most bizarre western tech community lens over the thing.
edderly 16y ago
Regarding point one, I think some people use this excuse too readily. As a single example consider: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood IMO if companies want to assert rights as individuals I think it is permissible to expect to some level of common morality. This doesn't mean a company has to act in a compassionate or moral manner, just as an individual, but I see no reason to give a corporation a free pass because they might have shareholders and a profit motive.
16y ago

jarek 16y ago

Is this materially different from how any other company in Japan reacted?

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
Stormbringer 16y ago
Yes, it is
- jarek 16y ago
  Per jaysonelliot's recounting it seems at least bars, stores, and 7-11s were doing the same thing within their capabilities.
  - Stormbringer 16y ago
    But not other large corporates, which I think is the point.
    - jarek 16y ago
      Name a large corporation with large retail presence in Japan which was not/is not helping.
patio11 16y ago
Many, many companies have performed admirably: offering shelter, giving away their products/services for the duration, trying to help affected customers/employees, etc. I'm quite a ways away from the earthquake, and have used a regional bank for the last seven years. The branch manager called me to say that he noticed my account was nearly empty and, if I or my business was affected by the earthquake, the bank had my back and we could sort out the numbers later. (Situation nominal, by the way -- I just happened to have paid taxes on Friday, which appears to be quite a hit if you only know about savings in yen.)

redcap 16y ago

Author mentions nuclear/acid rain, there are no reports of this. I'm following NHK as well as more lucid western stories and all of them have the Fukushima reactors as worst case not as bad as Three Mile Island, let alone Chernobyl. For English information about what's going on, there's: http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/2530/japan-earthquake-live-report http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/2530/japan-earthquake... http://gakuranman.com/great-tohoku-earthquake/#live http://gakuranman.com/great-tohoku-earthquake/#live http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/japan_quake/ http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/japan_quake/ http://twitter.com/_niten/tokyo-disaster-info/members http://twitter.com/_niten/tokyo-disaster-info/members (list I made)

trotsky 16y ago
Check out this little nugget at the bottom of Timeout Tokyo: Suntory vending machines have emergency levers beneath a sticker on the upper-right corners. Pull the sticker off, pull the lever firmly and you'll get free drinks. They built a backdoor into their own vending machines for emergencies and have followed up and gotten the information out there. Free juice for the weary! It was sleeping there the whole time, very japanese. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12163087@N04/4202645718/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/12163087@N04/4202645718/ Suntory Holdings Limited サントリーホールディングス株式会社, Established in 1899 That's the definition of cool.
- patio11 16y ago
  There exists a particular Japanese megacorp in Nagoya. Like many megacorps, it has a long list of acceptance tests for any systems it ships internally or externally. Two tests on that list: 1) If it would normally exchange money-for-X, we have to be able to tell it to disburse X-for-nothing. 2) If it would normally exchange money-for-X, failure modes of our ability to tell it to disburse X-for-nothing must cause the system to fail into X-for-nothing. e.g. If it were hypothetically a vending machine, a network connection that let you send it a message to turn off needing money would meet #1, and a heartbeat hourly where failure to receive the heartbeat would turn off needing money would meet #2. Anyhow, those two rules are in the strictest category in the SOP: if you fudge one in an acceptance test, the system does not ship. If a system which has somehow made it into production is discovered to not be in compliance, several somebodies will not be going home until it is either in compliance or removed for service. I agree, Suntory's machines are an excellently engineered. I want to emphasize that this level of commitment to engineering excellence is not anomalous here. Japanese megacorps: woe unto thee who has to use our web applications, but for this sort of consideration, we seriously know our stuff.

saint-loup 16y ago

I find this bit really interesting: "You know how in disaster movies, people on the street gather around electronic shops that have TVs in the display windows so they can stay informed with what is going on? In this digital age, that's what the Tokyo Apple stores became."

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PostOnce 16y ago

I know little of Apple or of Japanese business morals/etc. I wonder, is this an Apple thing, or a Japanese thing, or an Apple Japan thing? Does it lean any particular way? Not that it matters. Good people doing good things. I would be interested in commentary, though.

tylerhowarth 16y ago
This is totally an Apple thing. I worked Apple retail, and they tell you all the time that Apple is not in the computer business. They are in the people business. I can see this happening at any major Apple store given the extreme circumstances.
asknemo 16y ago
Japanese thing. It's actually happening to every corporate and stores in Japan, from our more extensive coverage here in Asia. It's just that they are too busy continuing to combat the aftermath to think about writing things down and tell the public in the middle of the disaster.

dr_ 16y ago

Well, this is good, but Apple's bigger contribution is allowing donations via iTunes. They have over 200 million credit card numbers on file - that's powerful.

retrogradeorbit 16y ago

Ycombinator is such a massive Apple fanboy hangout these days.

tylerhowarth 16y ago

Honestly everyone needs to get over themselves and their opinions on "roles" in this terrible time. This was an inspiring story coming from a truly frightening and terrible situation.

radicaldreamer 16y ago

Tokyo's gripped with panic and the markets are essentially experiencing a flash crash (http://e.nikkei.com/e/app/fr/market/nikkeiindex.aspx http://e.nikkei.com/e/app/fr/market/nikkeiindex.aspx) and the French Embassy is warning that radioactivity could reach Tokyo in 10 hours (https://twitter.com/#!/reuters/status/47485505813757952 https://twitter.com/#!/reuters/status/47485505813757952)

anigbrowl 16y ago

While doubtless unintentional, this sounds so much like PR as to seem tasteless.

me_again 16y ago

Meanwhile, Microsoft donates $2million (http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2011/03/14/microsoft-supports-relief-efforts-in-japan.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2011/03/14...), and nobody notices. I don't mean "oh, poor Microsoft" - it's just interesting that certain kinds of generosity are appreciated more than others.

Natsu 16y ago

It's good to see people helping each other. This sort of thing is happening all over Japan, though, not just at any one company. I hope that people encourage each other to do more of this sort of thing. That said, I was impressed by Google's approach, even though they're not a Japanese company. They set up a page to give people the latest news on the disaster, made a widget to help people donate to the Japanese Red Cross, powered a person finder to help people locate their loved ones and linked people to all kinds of other official resources so that they know when they're expected to ration power, etc. It's linked from their home page. Honestly, I didn't notice it for a long time, because I always search straight from my browser.

dctoedt 16y ago

Sure, it's just a story of basic human decency, the kind we see in all sorts of crises. But stories are a big way that cultural values are transmitted and reinforced. The latter is important.

rb2k_ 16y ago

> with the phone [...] lines down and > hundreds of people were swarming into Apple stores to watch the news on USTREAM and contact their families via Twitter, Facebook, and email. Why is the internet at the apple store up when apparently the phonelines are down?

l0nwlf 16y ago

Apple did far better then Microsoft atleast. http://www.geekwire.com/2011/bings-japan-tweet-tasteless-marketing-ploy-helping-good http://www.geekwire.com/2011/bings-japan-tweet-tasteless-mar...

jazzyd 16y ago

For anyone interested we formed a global group on Facebook called iHope for Japan http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_201249473238509&notif_t=group_activity http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_201249473238509&#3... The idea is to persuade Steve Jobs donate to the relief effort in Japan. The release of the iPad2 just about coincided with the earthquake/tsunami. What a great opportunity to donate a portion of each iPad2 to sale to Japan. Very positive publicity and who knows they may sell more because of it.