I'm a Mac ... and I've Got a Dirty Secret

[swag]

Run time: 01:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ycih_jMObQ   Posted on YouTube: June 25, 2010 By YouTube Member: ENOUGHproject Views on YouTube: 2510   Posted on DU: June 27, 2010 By DU Member: swag Views on DU: 5630

 

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Congo was actually specifically addressed in the Final Reg bill

I was surprised to see it. Glad this video is out!

See the bottom of page 10 of the bill summary: http://financialservices.house.gov/Key_Issues/Financial_Regulatory_Reform/comprehensive_summary.pdf

(pdf file)

Congo Conflict Minerals:

 Manufacturers Disclosure: Requires those who file with the SEC and use minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo in manufacturing to disclose measures taken to exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of the materials and the products manufactured.

 Illicit Minerals Trade Strategy: Requires the State Department to submit a strategy to address the illicit minerals trade in the region and a map to address links between conflict minerals and armed groups and establish a baseline against which to judge effectiveness.

 Restricts US Funds for Foreign Governments: Requires the Administration to evaluate proposed loans by the IMF to a middle-income country if that country's public debt exceeds its annual Gross Domestic Product, and oppose loans unlikely to be repaid.

[Electric Monk]

2. I'm K&R ing this on my iMac

[tridim]

3. Whoa! Is that the SIlence Of The Lambs girl?

[luvspeas]

4. yup...

n/t

[tridim]

8. I just IMDB'ed her, looks like I've missed all of her work since SOTL.

She's still working a LOT.

[Ken Burch]

46. She played "Kate Switzer" on CROSSING JORDAN

And was the lover/medical colleague of Sara Ramirez's character on GRAY'S ANATOMY.

[whatchamacallit]

7. "It rubs the conflict-mineral free lotion on its skin" K&R (nt)

[pgodbold]

14. ROFL n/t

[CrispyQ]

17. That's the funniest thing I've read on DU in a long time.

I can't stop laughing!

DUzy! DUzy! DUzy!

[femrap]

18. Don't you

mean 'woman?' Or is she really around 12 years old?

[Unca Jim]

41. Sorry...

to those of us who are old, anyone under 30 is a kid. Boys, girls, etc. Nothing personal.

[femrap]

43. Thanks....

I'm old as well. I hate being referred to as a 'girl.' I guess it's similar to the way a black man feels when referred to as a 'boy.' Or even a white man for that matter.

Have a good week.

[Unca Jim]

48. I understand that...

but I think the original poster was mentioning her role in Silence of the Lambs, where she played a college-aged young woman.

Again, it's nothing personal.

Have a great week as well...

[PatrynXX]

27. thought she looked familiar

she's been in the hollywood news of late, but can't remember why...

the bad guy on Silence has been just about everywhere... good and bad. (wasn't he a good on csi? can't remember)

lets see if they can push that to the point of conflict diamonds

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. The link to site from the vid

http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/

[frazzled]

6. Why pick on Macs? It's all the electronics companies

These are just the 21 largest--right from RAISE Hope for Congo's web site (the group whose video you posted).http://www2.americanprogress.org/t/1684/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6265

Posted on an iMac.

[druidity33]

11. it's always been fashionable

to pick on Macs.

Some people just get off on it. Never been able to figure that out, myself.

:shrug:

[Merlot]

15. Mac's have the best commercials to parody

In a weird way it's a compliment to mac's advertising.

Not a compliment to their manufacturing though.

[femrap]

19. So what laptop

can I buy that is Conflict Free?

[onehandle]

21. None. nt

[TheEuclideanOne]

20. I guess it is just a matter of being clever

It get's people's attention. At first, when watching it, you think "Ah Ha!!!, the iPhone, Mac, iPods are so cool but it turns out that they have a dirty little secret. Maybe they are not so cool after all and I can now lecture the people that own that iPhone I wish I could get". Then, at the end, when you realize that it is everybody, it makes that message stick even more.

Seems like a more effective way of catching people's attention than if you started with the message that all of the companies are participating in this.

[Politicub]

22. Because watching the angry Mac mob gather and moan makes it fun

People don't get as bent out of shape around other brands. Witness Acer and SanDisk -- they just don't inspire as many feelings of technology victim-hood.

Mac folks make it seem like a criticism of Apple or its products is akin to a personal attack.

So the answer to question in your subject line is easy. Mac criticism creates traffic and drives page views because Apple fans will inevitability watch the vid, read the article, or whatever just so they can be offended (again) that someone has the absolute gall to say something about their beloved lifestyle brand. It's as predictable as the sun rising in the East.

[Phoonzang]

30. Good answer.

Why attack Mac? It's because Mac is so freaking smug.

[LiberalLovinLug]

47. You are projecting smugness

Because all loyalty to brand polls consistently favors Mac users, is because they garner that support through better products.

So PC users get all huffy (smug) and defensively accuse Mac users of smugness, while we just quietly enjoy our beautifully designed, virus, adware, spyware free computing experience.

Anyways on to the OP. Its a sad state of affairs. But Mac or PC makers or any of those brands will not want to be the first to have to be diligent about where or how they get their minerals for production. Because it will mean an increase in cost, which would affect sales and hamper advantage with other competing brands. And under capitalistic rules, your company MUST provide maximum profits to your shareholders. Unless they are ALL required to follow proper regulations, none of them will.

[frazzled]

32. Not a lifestyle brand for me (or many)

We bought our first Mac in 1993. Why? Because that is what my husband's place of work used, and it helped to be compatible, especially back then. In my line of work, it was necessary because, as an editor, I needed to interact with graphic designers on a daily basis, and Macs were what designers used exclusively at that time (and mostly still do), not because it was a lifestyle brand but because the sophisticated design programs only ran on Macs back then. Stuck with Macs ever since.

My nephew is a mathematics professor (with several big NSF grants to his name). He uses Macs. (Same for my son, who is a Ph.D. student in mathematics). Mathematicians are not exactly lifestyle guys.

I don't own an iPod, an iPad, or an i anything else. (My husband did break down and get an iPhone last year.)

Get over the so-called lifestyle issue--maybe it's your own lifestyle conception that makes you see things this way.

[meegbear]

45. +1

[laconicsax]

29. JFC, saying that both PCs and Macs use te same conflict minerals isn't 'picking on Macs.'

The whole point of the video is that all electronics companies use conflict minerals.

[Dreamer Tatum]

31. Because Mac marketing is smug hipster bullshit nt

[rpannier]

37. The Ad goes after both

It's using the Mac-PC ads to make the case

I like the spot myself

[DJ13]

9. The real dirty secret is that since using Intel chips Macs are PC's too

[midnight]

16. Really? I'm working with a one year old mac that just had

to have a new hard drive installed, and a charger replaced. The store said that the mac should not of received the virus that destroyed the hard drive. I didn't know what to say, but know I will have to ask about Intel chips and if this made my hard drive more susceptible to a virus?

[Captain Boomerang]

10. The horror the horror...

~Tantalum minerals are mined in Australia (leading producer), Brazil, Canada, China, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. The United States Geological Survey reports in its 2006 yearbook that the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces a little less than 1% of the world's tantalum, peaking at ~10% in 2000 and 2008.<7> Tantalum is also produced in Thailand and Malaysia as a by-product of tin mining and smelting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltan

I always thought that the conflict was over stuff like diamonds.

[frazzled]

24. You'll be glad the new FinReg bill has a "conflict minerals" provision

With financial reform apparently headed for passage, conflict minerals opponents were celebrating Friday.

"We see this as a significant step," Lezhnev said.

The conflict minerals provision in the financial reform bill -- which now appears headed for passage and the president's signature -- doesn't ban the import of minerals from the Congo.

Instead, it requires that manufacturers disclose regularly whether they use minerals from the Congo or adjoining countries. If they do, they are required to say whether they have processes to ensure the minerals don't contribute to the conflict.

Tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are covered by the bill.

Companies that violate the provision, either by not disclosing their activities or by filing a false report, could be subject to court sanctions.

The legislation's supporters plan to "name and shame" companies that report they're not taking steps to guard against conflict minerals in their manufacturing process.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/06/financial_reform_bill_contains.html

So goes the awful corporate Democratic Congress and the do-nothing Democratic President (sarcasm).

[Captain Boomerang]

25. I was wondering what exactly they were going to enforce...

It seems as if they were to make the Congo off limits, then you could get everything BUT tantalum from China and South America.

At least they are doing something... Better than turning a blind eye to it.


Ever notice how messed up things are that involve drilling into the Earth?

[localroger]

12. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for Tantalum

While Tantalum comes from other places the Congo ores are far easier to work with than any other source on Earth, and if you want to make really miniaturized electronics, you can't do it without Tantalum. It's kind of odd after all the years we spent focused on the role of semiconductors in the future that a substance needed to make miniaturized capacitors, which are passive devices, has become so key. It turns out putting a billion transistors on one silicon wafer is in some ways easier than making one ten-microfarad capacitor that can fit in your cellphone.

[SlipperySlope]

44. switching current

The caps are needed to help filter the power supply. If we could do something about the FET switching current then there would be less noise and hence less filtering.

[wordpix]

13. thanks for the info-I had no idea. wonder what multinational mining corps are fueling the conflicts

no doubt they have subsurface mineral "rights" that give them the "rights" to tear up the land and wreck everything in sight.

[I Have A Dream]

23. I got the following response from Nintendo...

Hello and thank you for contacting Nintendo,

On behalf of Nintendo I appreciate the opportunity to respond. Nintendo
does not purchase any metals as raw materials. As a remote purchaser that
buys finished components made from many materials, Nintendo requires its
suppliers to comply with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Procurement Guidelines, which stipulate suppliers comply with applicable
laws, have respect for human rights, and conduct their business in an
appropriate and fair manner.

Sincerely,

Nintendo of America
David Marshall

[glowing]

33. Sounds like passing the buck down the "free market/ trade" line. n/t

[liberation]

26. I assume they used "conflict free" electronics to film and edit this parody, right?

Oh, Wait...

[zenprole]

28. It's an iCorpse!

My cell phone is four years old and I'm not going to replace it.

[tblue37]

34. Could you tell us deafies what it's about?

[laconicsax]

35. Conflict minerals and how they're used by Apple and PC makers alike. n/t

[Rmbn]

36. lol

None of this is going to stop, even if the halfassed legislation is passed, companies will move on to other areas and exploit them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. The Mac guy is a friend

His name is John Lehr. He's also the Geico caveman. His mom was a very dear friend who died recently.

And he's a good liberal.

Nice job, John.

[GOTV]

39. I remember him from a little known movie called "Highball"

... he was quite funny.

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. He also has a recently canceled TV sitcom

Ten Items or Less. It was on TBS. Very funny show.

[chrstianmaldor]

42. Hehehe

Hilarious stuff.

[zulchzulu]

49. Afghanistan has the shit we need and we can blame it on Al Qaeda

This is a fucking joke.

Seriously.

It reminds me of the people who are for wind farms but against transmission lines.

:crazy:

[Smarmie Doofus]

50. Kick. I learned something significant today. Thanks. nt