It's not the economy stupid:

July 23, 2002 12:10 PM

It's not the economy stupid: Right wing radio pundit Rush pins Apple's market share woes not on a nonexistant economic downturn (pay no attention to the plummeting chart of the DOW and NASDAQ) but instead on Steve Jobs' refusal to renounce his personal politics.
posted by nathan_teske (41 comments total)

And a note to Rush: computers are not matresses
posted by nathan_teske at 12:12 PM on July 23, 2002

renounce his politics AND advertise on Rush's show...

Rush almost certainly ran out of something to type, looked down at his PowerBook, and pooted forth that tripe. Can we renounce Rush and GW as Mac users?
posted by machaus at 12:15 PM on July 23, 2002

Yes, let's: I hereby excommunicate them from the Cult of Mac.
posted by nathan_teske at 12:17 PM on July 23, 2002

Yes, let's: I hereby excommunicate them from the Cult of Mac.
posted by nathan_teske at 12:18 PM on July 23, 2002

(Ooops. Damned Explorer refresh means "let's post this again" bug)
posted by nathan_teske at 12:18 PM on July 23, 2002

.Hahah, actually if you read the report, you'd see that it isn't in fact Job's politics that are causing apples problems, but the fact that they won't advertise on his show.

Rush is a Mac zealot in addition to being a conservative zealot and I'm sure he would love to get paid to promote apple, but I doubt it would really do them much good.
posted by delmoi at 12:19 PM on July 23, 2002

nathan_teske: Maybe you should actually read the dialog boxes that pop up on your computer.
posted by delmoi at 12:19 PM on July 23, 2002

People bought computers just so they could access Rush 24/7 when we started it up.

these are also the people you never, ever want to talk to if you're tech support. ever. ever.
posted by moz at 12:20 PM on July 23, 2002

The Macintosh System 10 will send Bill Gates back to being a dinosaur.

He calls it System 10 instead of OS X? Sorry, how little checking did he do before sending this off?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:22 PM on July 23, 2002

delmoi: There is no dialog box. Explorer on the Mac resubmits forms when you hit refresh --- it's a known bug, and I simply forgot I still had text in the comment box.
posted by nathan_teske at 12:26 PM on July 23, 2002

Does Apple advertise on any radio shows at all? I'm not talking about independent resellers, but the actual one true Apple. I don't think I've ever heard an Apple radio spot. Then again, there aren't any Apple stores near me.
posted by Tacodog at 12:27 PM on July 23, 2002

Maybe Rush is trying to tell Apple that they need to start marketing to people who don't think different.
posted by insomnyuk at 12:29 PM on July 23, 2002

That little rant is one part Jobs bashing and two parts pathetic groveling.
posted by xmutex at 12:30 PM on July 23, 2002

Maybe Rush is trying to tell Apple that they need to start marketing to people who don't think different.

Classic.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 12:34 PM on July 23, 2002

"The economy is not in a 'downturn.'"

"The economy is coming back"

Al Franken is still right.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:34 PM on July 23, 2002

Leaving aside the hilariously crass effort by Limbaugh to woo another advertiser, I think his central premise is probably true: Apple would sell a lot of Macs by advertising on Limbaugh's program and giving him more license to gush about them, the same way that Paul Harvey will gush about the Bose Wave Radio to his dying breath.
posted by rcade at 12:45 PM on July 23, 2002

You know, I hate to agree with Rush, but he raises an important point -- the stock market IS NOT the economy. It may be a good indicator, but that's not always the case -- especially if companies most in the news are failing for reasons other than purely economic ones.
posted by ph00dz at 1:03 PM on July 23, 2002

delmoi: chill out. It really is a bug on IE for the Mac, and there's no dialogue box. It's happened to me.
posted by blissbat at 1:09 PM on July 23, 2002

It's really quite fascinating to watch someone with such a lack of understanding (in general, or in this case about Apple Computer) talk as if the whole world is blind to the obvious facts that they can see.

And this is my favorite quote -

' For example, the Dittocam is on for three hours every day, and there is a Macintosh 22-inch cinema display monitor on display. It's costing them nothing. But they won't get anywhere near this program because Jobs is a big, Clinton-loving Democrat. "

Where the hell did that come from. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is Rush implying that Apple computer's financial troubles directly stem from their unwillingness to advertise during his show? And that unwillingness to advertise stems from Jobs being a Clinton-Loving democrat?

I think I just lost a bunch of brain cells.
posted by SweetJesus at 1:11 PM on July 23, 2002

Any way to check Rush's Ad revenues? My guess is they're lately running a little soft, based on this rant.
posted by BentPenguin at 1:13 PM on July 23, 2002

Found another quote

"Again: we have yet to have a recession in the 14 years of this program"

There go the rest of my brain cells...
posted by SweetJesus at 1:14 PM on July 23, 2002

If I were Limbaugh and I wanted Apple to advertise on my show, I tell Jobs "Hey, lots of Democrats and Clintonites listen to my program, because I'm entertaining and outrageous and I make some good points even as I confirm their most of the negative stereotypes people about conservative Republicans. Democrats and liberals listen to me in droves because I'm fun to hate!"
posted by Faze at 1:17 PM on July 23, 2002

Andrew Sullivan made the "switch". GW uses Macs. Rush uses Macs. Seems like Apple already has the conservative market cemented.
posted by evanizer at 1:22 PM on July 23, 2002

What's an "apple"?

Kidding!
posted by UncleFes at 1:25 PM on July 23, 2002

hey, is it just me, or has Rush been working out?
posted by whatnot at 1:27 PM on July 23, 2002

Wait. First, you tell me that Mac Users are more intelligent than Windows users, now you're saying that both GW and Rush use Macs?

Now I'm really confused.

(thanks. I'll be here all week)
posted by almostcool at 1:30 PM on July 23, 2002

whatnot:

Remember when he was going deaf? He couldn't hear the seductive call of the refrigerator. "Rush...Rush...There's still half a fried chicken in here...and pie."
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:46 PM on July 23, 2002

i don't understand how rush makes money.
posted by ggggarret at 2:00 PM on July 23, 2002

Brown says eat more pie.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:07 PM on July 23, 2002

Brown doesn't say that.
posted by Holden at 2:38 PM on July 23, 2002

Brown is the new black?
posted by i_cola at 2:56 PM on July 23, 2002

Rush Limbaugh = Corporate Whore Wet Dream.

If you didn't already know that, than you're the one who's an idiot.

Not that it will get me to buy an Apple. PCs rule!

(BTW Apple, those idiotic "I use an Apple and I'm far smarter than you'll ever be!" personal ads ain't gonna work on anyone who knows anything about computers.)
posted by mark13 at 3:42 PM on July 23, 2002

GW uses Macs
"The files are in the computer?"*

*Zoolander reference.
posted by owillis at 4:28 PM on July 23, 2002

Snapple used to advertize on Limbaugh, they whent from 14 states to national during the time.
posted by delmoi at 5:07 PM on July 23, 2002

I think Snapple's success came more from Howard Stern's promotion of them (during the same period they were on Limbaugh I assume).
posted by owillis at 5:15 PM on July 23, 2002

mark13, the OS wars are over. We all decided that there are proper tools for every job. Sometimes these tools are OSs. Sometimes Mac is good, but in other instances it is actually bad! Life certainly is difficult without that black & white view isn't it?

BTW Apple, those idiotic "I use an Apple and I'm far smarter than you'll ever be!" personal ads ain't gonna work on anyone who knows anything about computers

Every switch ad I've seen more or less says, "I use an Apple because PCs are too hard." You can imply that they are actually more ignorant of using computers than your typical Windows user. That's purely subjective, but the message is clearly anti-elitist.
posted by skallas at 5:29 PM on July 23, 2002

BTW Apple, those idiotic "I use an Apple and I'm far smarter than you'll ever be!" personal ads ain't gonna work on anyone who knows anything about computers.

Liar.
posted by TurkeyMustard at 7:48 PM on July 23, 2002

Just from the standpoint of the 'typical' Apple user is more of an artist, aka liberal, an ad on Rush's show would bring a whole new audience. I've always wondered why Apple has celebs talking about their products, but never Rush. Like him or not, he's got a huge audience.
posted by jbunch at 9:16 PM on July 23, 2002

I think Snapple's success came more from Howard Stern's promotion of them (during the same period they were on Limbaugh I assume).

Limbaugh still had more listeners, and always has. Why, then, would Stern's promotion have more impact than Limbaugh's?
posted by Dreama at 3:44 AM on July 24, 2002

Why, then, would Stern's promotion have more impact than Limbaugh's?

Because even Stern has more credibility than Rush?
posted by nofundy at 6:45 AM on July 24, 2002

b/c howard stern had big breasted, bikini clad women pour the snapple on their chests and dance around... a much more effective advertising technique than seeing a fat white man licking the rim of the bottle. plus i always saw snapple as appealing to people as an alternative drink, kinda kooky and hippie - not really the rush crowd... i would think he would do better advertising tea or something.
posted by ggggarret at 8:38 AM on July 24, 2002