Excellent idea. I like the idea of forced indoctrination of children and adults alike. Make sure they tell the parents to bring all their credit cards. I think Apple should also sell those things they suspend over babies cribs. A nice mobile of Apple devices such as iPods, iPhones and notebooks. The first things baby sees when he wakes and the last thing he sees when he goes to sleep are Apple products. "A" is the first letter of the alphabet. All babies should learn that "A" stands for Apple. Not some stupid fruit, but the honest-to-goodness Apple Inc. In 10 years or so the words Apple Inc. will take the place of as American as "apple pie." I don't care what Apple does to turn the tide. Anything they can do to boost the current stock price is good enough to suit me.
I remember a field trip the local Coca-Cola bottling plant when I was a kid in elementary school. It was one of the things you looked forward to when reaching the 5th grade. All the kids got a ruler, pencil and note pad with Coca-Cola on it. (The words not the drink.) I don't think we got to drink any of the soda though. And yes Coke is my preferred soda now but I don't really think the field trip had anything to do with my choice. (It was the advertising on TV. ) Though many here would say that it was the field trip that brainwashed me into drinking Coke. \
The trouble with most of the views here is that they're thinking like adults. Instead of like kids. Because we're more "educated" than the kids, we know what's really going on in the world around us. And we should protect our kids from what we know. Just because we may see it as a waste of time and tax dollars. It's an evil capitalistic society at work. It will corrupt the minds of our kids. It'll be an inconvenience to the shoppers. It's something Microsoft would do. (And we all know how evil Microsoft is). Blah, Blah, Blah. It doesn't mean the kids has to think this way. Instead of thinking for the kids, think like a kid. And you'll see that from their point of view they're going to have fun and it's educational at the same time. Why spoil what fun the kid may have because you can't see how any good can come of this idea. If you put it to a vote, how many kids would rather stay in class than visit the Apple Store? Hell, how many teachers would rather stay in class than visit an Apple Store?
I really don't see the harm even if the field trip was to a WalMart, Mcdonalds, Post Office, Airport Terminal or auto assembly plant. The last I checked, all of those places are in the real world. A world that the kids will, sooner that you think, have to live in on his/her own.
If you worked for a company that had a "bring your kids to work day", would you feel guilty about taking your kids out of school for a day so that they can see what you do at work? Would you be thinking of the wasted tax dollars becasue your kids weren't attending class that day? Would you be thinking about the "real education" your kids will be missing that day? Would you be thinking of the inconvenience to fellow employees your kids may cause? Would you be thinking about any "evil" motives your company may have? Would you tell your kids that you work for a company that is part of the "evil capitalistic empire"? But your kids would have fun that day right? And in the end, that's all that matters.
Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. Bertrand Russell
Pray tell of what redeeming value it is to visit a bloody Apple store that anyone can visit during opening hours? This is not some behind-the-scenes Apple view of the internal workings of Apple (just try that and see how far you get).
Indeed you are correct in quoting Bertrand Russell as the education system, in this case, will provide his statement fittingly.
If you worked for a company that had a "bring your kids to work day", would you feel guilty about taking your kids out of school for a day so that they can see what you do at work? ...
Most people won't want to... To let their kids see how demeaning/ boring/ repetitive/ greasy/ slime-bucket-office-dealings/ waste-of-college-education/ humiliating their job is.
I know their educational initiatives are obviously much greater than a field trip, but yeah, I think they should focus on donating refurbished/old model iMacs and Mac minis to schools. In America at least, it is shocking just how much inequality there is in schools depending on where you happen to live. I was fortunate to grow up in a decent middle-class suburban community with pretty good schools -- not great -- but pretty good. The highlight had to be an excellent graphic arts/media teacher who was notorious for constantly getting technology grants. He had a full room of iMac G3s with Photoshop/Illustrator/Bryce3D/etc and a few video editing stations with a multi-thousand dollar Sony XLR camcorder. It was quite impressive for our modest school of ~800 students.
On the other hand, take a place like Southern California. You can find two junior highschools 10 miles apart.
One will be a brand new, seven-figure complex with olympic-quality gymnasiums, tracks and sports stadiums. A significant portion of the teachers will have Masters degress and PhDs in their respective fields. They will offer a full range of Advanced Placements courses, Honors classes, SAT prep courses. Their chemistry, physics, and other science classes will have robust, university level laboratories with advanced equipment. They will offer interesting electives like electronics, engineering, or automotive classes. They have modern cafeterias with a diversity of high-quality, high-nutrition lunches. etc. Basically, this would be just as good as the top private highschools in the world.
The other will be many decades old, with crumbling, destitute buildings with cracked concrete sidewalks and barb wire fences. They look more like prisons than schools. They have no resources and are overcrowded to the point of bursting. In many areas, the school itself in unsafe and the kids are lucky just to get through the day without being assaulted, bullied, or shot. Drugs are rampant... Meth, crack, PCP, heroin, etc. In the classrooms, many of the desks are broken and there aren't enough chairs so many kids have to stand in the back or sit on the floor. The ceilings are rotting and moldy, and in the summer it may be 95 degrees in the room as there is no effective air conditioning. There aren't enough teachers and the ones that are present aren't very good. Most don't take much interest in their students actually learning, and the ones that really do try find themselves overwhelmed with too many students and little resources. They don't have enough books, and the ones they do are old, ripped, and out of date. Science labs are non-existent as there is not enough money to provide the proper equipment. Don't even ask about AP or Honors courses, or SAT prep classes....
obviously, abject poverty is the primary cause here, with schools being funded locally so the quality of the school pretty much depends on the taxable income of the area. It's a sad situation to see firsthand. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but we need to recognize the problem. I don't care who you are, where you are from, what your skin color is, or what language you speak. Every child deserves to have a decent education with a safe, healthy school environment. That goes for every child in the world and not just America. Its very sad how screwed up the spending priorities are in this country...
Pray tell of what redeeming value it is to visit a bloody Apple store that anyone can visit during opening hours? This is not some behind-the-scenes Apple view of the internal workings of Apple (just try that and see how far you get).
Indeed you are correct in quoting Bertrand Russell as the education system, in this case, will provide his statement fittingly.
It's not about visiting the Apple Store. It's giving the kids access to knowledge and technology. Many schools don't have computer labs. Let alone anyone that can show the kids all the things that can easily be done on a computer. Many kids experiences on a computer are limited to games, internet and word processing. Many kids thinks that it takes thousands of dollars of software and matching hardware plus hours of classroom instruction to edit photos, compose music and create movies. The bigger Apple Stores are already set up as a place for learning. Most bigger stores already offer weekly seminars to the public on everything from basic computer skills for first time Mac users to movie editing with Final Cut. Most are in the evening and weekends. I think most are free. So Apple is just extending this to K-12 schools in the day.
Did my field trip to the Coca-Cola bottling plant (in the fifth grade) have any redeeming value? I can't say that it has made a difference in my life, so far. But as I think back, it's about the only thing I remember from the fifth grade. So the fifth grade wasn't a total waste of time.
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Einstein
1) Public schools in most states wont be able to do this since the educational value will be pretty hard to prove. I know in my state its hard to get a trip to a museum in today's age, so a mall would be even harder
2) I can see small, private schools being able to do this. Class size less than 10, could make a whole day out of it, chances are theyhave macs in the classroom already ...etc...
3) For most people on this site and macrumors.com, you probably know more than alot of the apple workers in these apple stores. Yes some workers are actually really knowledgeable (the older ones), but the high school and college age workers dont know a whole lot besides the basics....but hey...it sure beats best buy...those workers rank as the least knowledgeable in the industry. Also apple workers dont work on commission, best buy does. Work on commission = lie your way to the consumer.
I really don't see the harm even if the field trip was to a WalMart, Mcdonalds, Post Office, Airport Terminal or auto assembly plant. The last I checked, all of those places are in the real world. A world that the kids will, sooner that you think, have to live in on his/her own.
Back in the day I was a high school math teacher with a class of 10 low-income low-ability twelfth graders in a general math class. Most had math ability at the fifth grade level. I took them on a field trip to a Ford assembly plant for a day. They brought back a few souvenirs and an understanding of the use of math in manufacturing. To many, it was the highlight of their school year, and probably of great value. They saw the purpose of studying math for a future job.
Not that many of the students from an Apple Store trip would end up working there, but some have never had the opportunity to use the high quality hardware and software that Apple offers. The benefits of such a trip would be obvious to the students and their parents, as well as the teacher. Would you rather have them memorizing basic math facts for 180 days a year?
It's not about visiting the Apple Store. It's giving the kids access to knowledge and technology.
Get bloody real. This is nothing more than devout commercialism. Are you a shill for Apple's marketing department? Are they handing-out cards for free music from iTunes during the kiddy visits?
...1) Public schools in most states wont be able to do this since the educational value will be pretty hard to prove. I know in my state its hard to get a trip to a museum in today's age...
Where the hell do kids go, if they can't even go to the museum on a field trip???
Comments
Yay, Apple! Down with Microsoft.
The trouble with most of the views here is that they're thinking like adults. Instead of like kids. Because we're more "educated" than the kids, we know what's really going on in the world around us. And we should protect our kids from what we know. Just because we may see it as a waste of time and tax dollars. It's an evil capitalistic society at work. It will corrupt the minds of our kids. It'll be an inconvenience to the shoppers. It's something Microsoft would do. (And we all know how evil Microsoft is). Blah, Blah, Blah. It doesn't mean the kids has to think this way. Instead of thinking for the kids, think like a kid. And you'll see that from their point of view they're going to have fun and it's educational at the same time. Why spoil what fun the kid may have because you can't see how any good can come of this idea. If you put it to a vote, how many kids would rather stay in class than visit the Apple Store? Hell, how many teachers would rather stay in class than visit an Apple Store?
I really don't see the harm even if the field trip was to a WalMart, Mcdonalds, Post Office, Airport Terminal or auto assembly plant. The last I checked, all of those places are in the real world. A world that the kids will, sooner that you think, have to live in on his/her own.
If you worked for a company that had a "bring your kids to work day", would you feel guilty about taking your kids out of school for a day so that they can see what you do at work? Would you be thinking of the wasted tax dollars becasue your kids weren't attending class that day? Would you be thinking about the "real education" your kids will be missing that day? Would you be thinking of the inconvenience to fellow employees your kids may cause? Would you be thinking about any "evil" motives your company may have? Would you tell your kids that you work for a company that is part of the "evil capitalistic empire"? But your kids would have fun that day right? And in the end, that's all that matters.
Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. Bertrand Russell
Pray tell of what redeeming value it is to visit a bloody Apple store that anyone can visit during opening hours? This is not some behind-the-scenes Apple view of the internal workings of Apple (just try that and see how far you get).
Indeed you are correct in quoting Bertrand Russell as the education system, in this case, will provide his statement fittingly.
Where were the field trips like this when I was at school?
We went to museums, galleries and archeological digs.
It's not fair…
In my younger days the best we could hope for was a trip to the box factory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Gets_Famous
Yay, Apple! Down with Microsoft.
Instead of schools taking kids on a trip to the zoo, Microsoft should bring kids to Steve Ballmer's office. Education, education, education!
If you worked for a company that had a "bring your kids to work day", would you feel guilty about taking your kids out of school for a day so that they can see what you do at work? ...
Most people won't want to... To let their kids see how demeaning/ boring/ repetitive/ greasy/ slime-bucket-office-dealings/ waste-of-college-education/ humiliating their job is.
Or maybe I just need to rethink my career.
On the other hand, take a place like Southern California. You can find two junior highschools 10 miles apart.
One will be a brand new, seven-figure complex with olympic-quality gymnasiums, tracks and sports stadiums. A significant portion of the teachers will have Masters degress and PhDs in their respective fields. They will offer a full range of Advanced Placements courses, Honors classes, SAT prep courses. Their chemistry, physics, and other science classes will have robust, university level laboratories with advanced equipment. They will offer interesting electives like electronics, engineering, or automotive classes. They have modern cafeterias with a diversity of high-quality, high-nutrition lunches. etc. Basically, this would be just as good as the top private highschools in the world.
The other will be many decades old, with crumbling, destitute buildings with cracked concrete sidewalks and barb wire fences. They look more like prisons than schools. They have no resources and are overcrowded to the point of bursting. In many areas, the school itself in unsafe and the kids are lucky just to get through the day without being assaulted, bullied, or shot. Drugs are rampant... Meth, crack, PCP, heroin, etc. In the classrooms, many of the desks are broken and there aren't enough chairs so many kids have to stand in the back or sit on the floor. The ceilings are rotting and moldy, and in the summer it may be 95 degrees in the room as there is no effective air conditioning. There aren't enough teachers and the ones that are present aren't very good. Most don't take much interest in their students actually learning, and the ones that really do try find themselves overwhelmed with too many students and little resources. They don't have enough books, and the ones they do are old, ripped, and out of date. Science labs are non-existent as there is not enough money to provide the proper equipment. Don't even ask about AP or Honors courses, or SAT prep classes....
obviously, abject poverty is the primary cause here, with schools being funded locally so the quality of the school pretty much depends on the taxable income of the area. It's a sad situation to see firsthand. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but we need to recognize the problem. I don't care who you are, where you are from, what your skin color is, or what language you speak. Every child deserves to have a decent education with a safe, healthy school environment. That goes for every child in the world and not just America. Its very sad how screwed up the spending priorities are in this country...
DavidW,
Pray tell of what redeeming value it is to visit a bloody Apple store that anyone can visit during opening hours? This is not some behind-the-scenes Apple view of the internal workings of Apple (just try that and see how far you get).
Indeed you are correct in quoting Bertrand Russell as the education system, in this case, will provide his statement fittingly.
It's not about visiting the Apple Store. It's giving the kids access to knowledge and technology. Many schools don't have computer labs. Let alone anyone that can show the kids all the things that can easily be done on a computer. Many kids experiences on a computer are limited to games, internet and word processing. Many kids thinks that it takes thousands of dollars of software and matching hardware plus hours of classroom instruction to edit photos, compose music and create movies. The bigger Apple Stores are already set up as a place for learning. Most bigger stores already offer weekly seminars to the public on everything from basic computer skills for first time Mac users to movie editing with Final Cut. Most are in the evening and weekends. I think most are free. So Apple is just extending this to K-12 schools in the day.
Did my field trip to the Coca-Cola bottling plant (in the fifth grade) have any redeeming value? I can't say that it has made a difference in my life, so far. But as I think back, it's about the only thing I remember from the fifth grade. So the fifth grade wasn't a total waste of time.
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Einstein
1) Public schools in most states wont be able to do this since the educational value will be pretty hard to prove. I know in my state its hard to get a trip to a museum in today's age, so a mall would be even harder
2) I can see small, private schools being able to do this. Class size less than 10, could make a whole day out of it, chances are theyhave macs in the classroom already ...etc...
3) For most people on this site and macrumors.com, you probably know more than alot of the apple workers in these apple stores. Yes some workers are actually really knowledgeable (the older ones), but the high school and college age workers dont know a whole lot besides the basics....but hey...it sure beats best buy...those workers rank as the least knowledgeable in the industry. Also apple workers dont work on commission, best buy does. Work on commission = lie your way to the consumer.
I really don't see the harm even if the field trip was to a WalMart, Mcdonalds, Post Office, Airport Terminal or auto assembly plant. The last I checked, all of those places are in the real world. A world that the kids will, sooner that you think, have to live in on his/her own.
Back in the day I was a high school math teacher with a class of 10 low-income low-ability twelfth graders in a general math class. Most had math ability at the fifth grade level. I took them on a field trip to a Ford assembly plant for a day. They brought back a few souvenirs and an understanding of the use of math in manufacturing. To many, it was the highlight of their school year, and probably of great value. They saw the purpose of studying math for a future job.
Not that many of the students from an Apple Store trip would end up working there, but some have never had the opportunity to use the high quality hardware and software that Apple offers. The benefits of such a trip would be obvious to the students and their parents, as well as the teacher. Would you rather have them memorizing basic math facts for 180 days a year?
It's not about visiting the Apple Store. It's giving the kids access to knowledge and technology.
Get bloody real. This is nothing more than devout commercialism. Are you a shill for Apple's marketing department? Are they handing-out cards for free music from iTunes during the kiddy visits?
Would you rather have them memorizing basic math facts for 180 days a year?
Yes, and throw-in some science while you're at it.
...1) Public schools in most states wont be able to do this since the educational value will be pretty hard to prove. I know in my state its hard to get a trip to a museum in today's age...
Where the hell do kids go, if they can't even go to the museum on a field trip???