Tim Cook says Apple is 'heartbroken' over Notre Dame fire and will donate to rebuilding wo...

AppleInsider

Apple's Tim Cook has tweeted relief that there were no serious casualties in the Notre Dame fire, and said that the company would be donating to efforts to rebuild what he described as a "symbol of hope."

Notre Dame before the fire. Source: Skouame

Speaking on Twitter, Apple CEO Tim Cook says that the company is "heartbroken" over the enormous fire damage to France's Notre Dame. The 850-year-old cathedral was in flames for 15 hours on Monday, in what is suspected to be an accident connected to renovation works. Cook reports that Apple is going to contribute funds to the rebuilding efforts.

We are heartbroken for the French people and those around the world for whom Notre Dame is a symbol of hope. Relieved that everyone is safe. Apple will be donating to the rebuilding efforts to help restore Notre Dame's precious heritage for future generations.

-- Tim Cook (@tim_cook)

April 16, 2019

Even before the fire was extinguished, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild the cathedral. While Apple has not publicly stated a sum it will donate, currently companies, businessmen and businesswomen have offered a total of around $677 million.

Apple Marche Saint-Germain, near Notre Dame. (Source: Apple)

Apple currently has three Apple Stores in Paris, with one, Apple Marche Saint-Germain, just a few streets away from Notre Dame.

Tim Cook has previously pledged unspecified donations to help with disaster relief following 2018's wildfires in California and $1 million to Indonesia earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in the same year.

anantksundaram

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

reciprocity

It's great to hear that they'll be contributing. I hope Apple finds a way to open up iTunes donations, too, as an easy way for everyone to donate toward the rebuilding effort.

StrangeDays

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

Doesn't make up for decades of poor economic policy that favors the billionaire class and creates an ever-widening wealth gap where there are more billionaires minted every year and the middle-class shrinks and the poor get poor. A few good deeds (tax write-offs to boot) aren't a course correction.

anantksundaram

StrangeDays said:

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

Doesn't make up for decades of poor economic policy that favors the billionaire class and creates an ever-widening wealth gap where there are more billionaires minted every year and the middle-class shrinks and the poor get poor. A few good deeds (tax write-offs to boot) aren't a course correction.

Of course, I should have expected nothing different from you!

Thanks for not disappointing.

zoetmb

StrangeDays said:

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

Doesn't make up for decades of poor economic policy that favors the billionaire class and creates an ever-widening wealth gap where there are more billionaires minted every year and the middle-class shrinks and the poor get poor. A few good deeds (tax write-offs to boot) aren't a course correction.

True, but it's Congress that makes that policy, although admittedly at the push of lobbyists who represent the rich.   We're never going to get out of that situation until we get money out of politics and the current Supreme Court is never going to do that.    If the B's and M's would do more like this (and pay their fair share of taxes), I would have less of a problem.   The Gilded Age rich were largely horrible people, but at least they left us with some great public spaces:  libraries, museums, opera houses, railroad terminals, parks, university buildings, etc.  And most of the big tech companies pay most employees quite well (although a lot of that high compensation goes into ridiculously over-priced housing).   

Without Congress getting money out of politics, I don't know what the solution is to restore a strong middle-class in the U.S.   At least unemployment levels are relatively low and for the poor, at least many states and cities are taking action on their own to raise the minimum wage.   In NYC, the minimum wage is now $15/hr for almost all employees.   With two people in a household making that wage full time, that's about $60K a year and while still tough, they can live okay, especially if they're already in affordable housing.    I believe that when housing is built for the rich, the developers should have to build X units for the middle-class and poor.   And the real middle class - an $800,000 2 bedroom condo is not viable for the middle class as I define it.     I'm sure plenty here who only believe in letting capitalism and the markets define pricing will strenuously disagree, but all the homeless living along California highways says that our current system doesn't work anymore.   Every new building constructed in NYC is only for the rich and sales prices on old units are also only for the relatively wealthy.    Archie Bunker would be a rich man today because he could have sold his little crappy house in Queens for close to $1 million.   Of course after selling, he would have had to move to somewhere where housing is a lot less expensive.  

vaillaw

I would be great if Apple set up a page for people to donate to help rebuild Notre Dame.  With so much fraud these days people don't know where to donate but they would trust Apple.

Johan42

StrangeDays said:

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

Doesn't make up for decades of poor economic policy that favors the billionaire class and creates an ever-widening wealth gap where there are more billionaires minted every year and the middle-class shrinks and the poor get poor. A few good deeds (tax write-offs to boot) aren't a course correction.

The US has setup its infrastructure to benefit the wealthy only. Companies are all about pleasing their shareholders and giving their executives large sums of money. Can’t really go in a good direction if doing anything to please the working class ends in a negative stock. And lawmakers couldn’t care less for as long as their pockets are lined with cash.

knowitall

zoetmb said:

StrangeDays said:

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

Doesn't make up for decades of poor economic policy that favors the billionaire class and creates an ever-widening wealth gap where there are more billionaires minted every year and the middle-class shrinks and the poor get poor. A few good deeds (tax write-offs to boot) aren't a course correction.

True, but it's Congress that makes that policy, although admittedly at the push of lobbyists who represent the rich.   We're never going to get out of that situation until we get money out of politics and the current Supreme Court is never going to do that.    If the B's and M's would do more like this (and pay their fair share of taxes), I would have less of a problem.   The Gilded Age rich were largely horrible people, but at least they left us with some great public spaces:  libraries, museums, opera houses, railroad terminals, parks, university buildings, etc.  And most of the big tech companies pay most employees quite well (although a lot of that high compensation goes into ridiculously over-priced housing).   

Without Congress getting money out of politics, I don't know what the solution is to restore a strong middle-class in the U.S.   At least unemployment levels are relatively low and for the poor, at least many states and cities are taking action on their own to raise the minimum wage.   In NYC, the minimum wage is now $15/hr for almost all employees.   With two people in a household making that wage full time, that's about $60K a year and while still tough, they can live okay, especially if they're already in affordable housing.    I believe that when housing is built for the rich, the developers should have to build X units for the middle-class and poor.   And the real middle class - an $800,000 2 bedroom condo is not viable for the middle class as I define it.     I'm sure plenty here who only believe in letting capitalism and the markets define pricing will strenuously disagree, but all the homeless living along California highways says that our current system doesn't work anymore.   Every new building constructed in NYC is only for the rich and sales prices on old units are also only for the relatively wealthy.    Archie Bunker would be a rich man today because he could have sold his little crappy house in Queens for close to $1 million.   Of course after selling, he would have had to move to somewhere where housing is a lot less expensive.  

Direct democracy (the end of political parties and mandate system) would be the solution.

knowitall

Its of course completely inappropriate to make a (terrible) joke at this point.
I can hardly resist the temptation ...

(Strange to see all those serious faces, while the fact of the matter is that ND badly needed restoration but almost no one cared to even listen.)

fred1

knowitall said:

Its of course completely inappropriate to make a (terrible) joke at this point.
I can hardly resist the temptation ...

(Strange to see all those serious faces, while the fact of the matter is that ND badly needed restoration but almost no one cared to even listen.)

Of course it needed restoration. This is exactly what was taking place until this fire. Were you kidding, or just ignorant?

hydrogen

knowitall said:

Its of course completely inappropriate to make a (terrible) joke at this point.
I can hardly resist the temptation ...

(Strange to see all those serious faces, while the fact of the matter is that ND badly needed restoration but almost no one cared to even listen.)

A major restoration was about to start, and you can see this with the scaffoldings appearing on other pics of ND on fire. Fire is a likely unwanted consequence of these works in progress. And true, a 850 years building requires some periodic restoration, as it already took place in the past (the last major one around 1850, as a result of Victor Hugo's "communication" campaign).

The fact the the oak frame never burnt in 850 years is a sort of miracle (nearly all similar cathedrals wooden roofs burned). It is probably time to use more modern material (although this point will be hotly debated, of course), as it has already been the case for other ancient buildings (Vaux Le Vicomte, The Reims cathedral, etc ...).

auxio

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

While I applaud the contribution some are making, the reality is that our system is gamed in favour of those who act in their own self-interest.  It's actually founded on the assumption that humans are, by nature, selfish.  While I won't debate human nature, I will say that if you assume that's true, then why would you expect the rich to help anyone else out unless there's something to be gained from it?  This is really the fundamental flaw in the whole notion that private individuals (not the government) will act in the best interest of a larger group (city, state, nation).

tyler82

I and many others see it as a symbol of child abuse.

mdriftmeyer

No company is going to hold your hands for free.

zoetmb said:

StrangeDays said:

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

Doesn't make up for decades of poor economic policy that favors the billionaire class and creates an ever-widening wealth gap where there are more billionaires minted every year and the middle-class shrinks and the poor get poor. A few good deeds (tax write-offs to boot) aren't a course correction.

True, but it's Congress that makes that policy, although admittedly at the push of lobbyists who represent the rich.   We're never going to get out of that situation until we get money out of politics and the current Supreme Court is never going to do that.    If the B's and M's would do more like this (and pay their fair share of taxes), I would have less of a problem.   The Gilded Age rich were largely horrible people, but at least they left us with some great public spaces:  libraries, museums, opera houses, railroad terminals, parks, university buildings, etc.  And most of the big tech companies pay most employees quite well (although a lot of that high compensation goes into ridiculously over-priced housing).   

Without Congress getting money out of politics, I don't know what the solution is to restore a strong middle-class in the U.S.   At least unemployment levels are relatively low and for the poor, at least many states and cities are taking action on their own to raise the minimum wage.   In NYC, the minimum wage is now $15/hr for almost all employees.   With two people in a household making that wage full time, that's about $60K a year and while still tough, they can live okay, especially if they're already in affordable housing.    I believe that when housing is built for the rich, the developers should have to build X units for the middle-class and poor.   And the real middle class - an $800,000 2 bedroom condo is not viable for the middle class as I define it.     I'm sure plenty here who only believe in letting capitalism and the markets define pricing will strenuously disagree, but all the homeless living along California highways says that our current system doesn't work anymore.   Every new building constructed in NYC is only for the rich and sales prices on old units are also only for the relatively wealthy.    Archie Bunker would be a rich man today because he could have sold his little crappy house in Queens for close to $1 million.   Of course after selling, he would have had to move to somewhere where housing is a lot less expensive.  

It is the bribed [lobbied] Congress who fund their campaigns that underwrite and often completely write the legislation that Congress pushes.

mdriftmeyer

fred1 said:

knowitall said:

Its of course completely inappropriate to make a (terrible) joke at this point.
I can hardly resist the temptation ...

(Strange to see all those serious faces, while the fact of the matter is that ND badly needed restoration but almost no one cared to even listen.)

Of course it needed restoration. This is exactly what was taking place until this fire. Were you kidding, or just ignorant?

It's needed restoration for over 150 years. Let's hope they put in high rise fire suppressant systems and install a means to divert heavy water in case of a fire to minimize any potential mold/flood damage to put out future disasters. A custom composite engineered roof would go a long way to start.

seanj

I’m not sure why Apple or anyone else is donating to rebuild Notre Dame. The cathedral, along with 70 other churches are all owned by the French state. So these donations are simply reducing the bill the French government will have to pay to repair it.

apple ][

Apple should raise all prices for Macs and iOS devices in France by a small amount, perhaps 1%, to compensate for this gesture.

fastasleep

apple ][ said:

Apple should raise all prices for Macs and iOS devices in France by a small amount, perhaps 1%, to compensate for this gesture.

I bet you’re fun at parties. 

Apple113

Such a shame there is so much economic illiteracy. FYI, the rich pay far more than their fair share in taxes. The United States has one of the most progressive tax systems in the entire world. Further, the increase in the income of the upper end of the income spectrum is nearly entirely explained by an increase in the usage of performance pay, reflecting inequality of productivity, not the "evil rich" stealing the wealth from middle America. If you pay employees by their productivity rather than paying them by the hour, you're going to have more inequality because some employees are more productive than others. There is absolutely nothing unfair about this. It rewards those that put in the effort instead of rewarding those that sleep at their desks. The greed of some people to steal what isn't theirs is quite something.

6502

knowitall said:

zoetmb said:

StrangeDays said:

anantksundaram said:

For all those folks that berate and denigrate the "billio-nayahs" and "millio-nayahs", I hope they can pause a bit and reflect on -- heck, perhaps even thank? -- all those Bs and Ms that have stepped up to already fund almost half a billion euros for the reconstruction and restoration of Notre Dame. With possibly more to come.

Doesn't make up for decades of poor economic policy that favors the billionaire class and creates an ever-widening wealth gap where there are more billionaires minted every year and the middle-class shrinks and the poor get poor. A few good deeds (tax write-offs to boot) aren't a course correction.

True, but it's Congress that makes that policy, although admittedly at the push of lobbyists who represent the rich.   We're never going to get out of that situation until we get money out of politics and the current Supreme Court is never going to do that.    If the B's and M's would do more like this (and pay their fair share of taxes), I would have less of a problem.   The Gilded Age rich were largely horrible people, but at least they left us with some great public spaces:  libraries, museums, opera houses, railroad terminals, parks, university buildings, etc.  And most of the big tech companies pay most employees quite well (although a lot of that high compensation goes into ridiculously over-priced housing).   

Without Congress getting money out of politics, I don't know what the solution is to restore a strong middle-class in the U.S.   At least unemployment levels are relatively low and for the poor, at least many states and cities are taking action on their own to raise the minimum wage.   In NYC, the minimum wage is now $15/hr for almost all employees.   With two people in a household making that wage full time, that's about $60K a year and while still tough, they can live okay, especially if they're already in affordable housing.    I believe that when housing is built for the rich, the developers should have to build X units for the middle-class and poor.   And the real middle class - an $800,000 2 bedroom condo is not viable for the middle class as I define it.     I'm sure plenty here who only believe in letting capitalism and the markets define pricing will strenuously disagree, but all the homeless living along California highways says that our current system doesn't work anymore.   Every new building constructed in NYC is only for the rich and sales prices on old units are also only for the relatively wealthy.    Archie Bunker would be a rich man today because he could have sold his little crappy house in Queens for close to $1 million.   Of course after selling, he would have had to move to somewhere where housing is a lot less expensive.  

Direct democracy (the end of political parties and mandate system) would be the solution.

You mean you want the entire nation to vote on every bill? And, if there is no congress, who would put forth the bills? We've already seen a hint of this in CA with the endless propositions on every ballot.