The whole story is here:
[www.nationalcenter.org]


"Apple Store: Family Unfriendly?

The Apple Computer "Apple Store" webpage says 'Apple is committed to providing assistance to its customers with special needs,' but don't believe a word of it -- at least, not if you're short.

That was the experience my soon-to-be-six son had at the Annapolis Apple Store Saturday, prompting me to pop on the Internet after the kids were tucked in to see if the way my son was treated is Apple policy or if the employee who afflicted my son was just a -- pun alert -- bad apple. A bad seed. Rotten to the core.

In our case, my son -- the apple of my eye -- was all but told he was unwelcome to check out any of the laptops at the Annapolis location -- not because he was misbehaving or no laptops were available, but because he is too short (he's small for his age) to see the top of the keyboard on the high tables the Apple store uses, and a store clerk absolutely forbade him from using a stool. Even an Apple stool placed on the floor of the store by the management for the use of customers.

Stools, you see, are only for "geniuses" -- even if there aren't any geniuses around wanting a stool, and even if the boy's mommy promises to give the stool to a genius the instant one walks in. (Why the emphasis on geniuses, anyway? Do smart people have weak feet? My feet seem fine. Hmmm....)

So the score stood at Apple Store 1, Little Boy 0. But why would an Apple Store keep a well-behaved little boy off a computer? What did Apple gain?

Our visit to the Annapolis Apple Store was occasioned by the fact that Husband David and I have agreed to buy the kids a new computer (OK, a used computer, but new to them). The one they have been using is so old I've had trouble finding software for it, even on eBay. It retails on used Mac websites for all of $5, so at this point, I think I've milked just about every pixel out of it I am going to.

My thinking is that a used Mac Mini, paired with the cheapest monitor I can find, will fit the bill. My son is hoping to convince me to spring for a laptop. As part of his lobbying campaign, he'd been urging me since Wednesday to take him to the Annapolis Apple Store (which is about a half-hour drive from our house) on Saturday. I agreed, in part because I am a bit of a geek myself, and in part because, if the price is right, the space-saving attributes of a laptop are appealing. I'm just not sure if they are durable enough, and I'd also like to be sure he really means it when he says he'd prefer it to a desktop, because I don't want any Buyer's Remorse."

etc, etc.


Do five year old's really get to choose the computer model they want? If you get every last pixel out of your last computer do you really plan on spending more than a new laptop to teach a five year old a lesson by buying him Apple stock and going to the shareholders meeting for him to ask the leader why he can't use a laptop at the Apple Stores? Or is it just out of spite and for publicity? Especially if you work at The National Center for Public Policy Research? If you don't hide behind big brother do you really jump at checking out the law for technicalities to get your revenge or do you think the kid is really spoiled and the mom is blind?


Just wondering your take on the article.

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Formerly known as Dennis R

The guys an idiot, they wouldn't kiss his five year old son's butt, so he gets mad.
Apple don't want kids sitting on the stools meant for the Genius Bar. And yes, stools are dangerous for kids.
His son does not qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Waaaaaaaaaah!

BGnR

Well, I have an opinion on the mother. As a matter of fact, several rather unflattering things come to mind, one of them being why, if she has no intention of buying the kid a new computer, did she take him to the equivalent of a computer candy store? To torture him? The little guy was probably staring into space because he was so humiliated about the way his mother behaved.

I'm sorry I read this.

Rusty, It was the mom and I'm glad you agree with me. I thought it was just ridiculous.

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Formerly known as Dennis R

Our Apple store has those bozo-nose-chairs (round/spherical blobs) that the kids love. But, I think s/he has a valid point. I think if they just walked up to the bithy worker, pulled a gun and shot them in the head, the NEXT Apple employee would be more accommodating.

Sounds like a typical psychotically overzealous parent. She fawns over her child and feels that everybody else in the world should have to do the same, or she will sue them. Not surprising that these children grow up thinking that the world owes them big time.

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This message has been brought to you by the Threadkiller™

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I've been very self-conscious about not staying on a machine more than a minute or two, even if it looks like no one else wants to use it. Apparently, I could have stayed for hours.

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he had waited three days for the trip, and he only got two minutes on the stool.

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Stools, you see, are only for "geniuses" -- even if there aren't any geniuses around wanting a stool, and even if the boy's mommy promises to give the stool to a genius the instant one walks in. (Why the emphasis on geniuses, anyway? Do smart people have weak feet? My feet seem fine. Hmmm....)

I think that she thinks that she has written a satirical piece, and has no intention of suing anyone, but rather to "skewer" the Apple cult, and the "lefties" who run Apple, and make a few points about litigation and the ADA.

But it is so poorly written that instead of some witty spoof of modern life, it comes off like a bitter diatribe about something really stupid.

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So, basically, the mother is pissed off because they wouldn't provide a stool for the kid to beat on the display models to see if they stand up to a five year old's potential abuse, or she thought whatever the kid could do on the "old" computer they all ready had, somehow or other the new keyboards and mice are dfferent ?
Every mall store is supposed to have a ChuckieCheese mentality ?
I sorta feel for the poor kid.
Sounds like mom never grew up.

"The Apple Computer "Apple Store" webpage says 'Apple is committed to providing assistance to its customers with special needs,' but don't believe a word of it -- at least, not if you're short."

you've got to be kidding me....

I deal with these parents in special ed all the time...they are the *worst*. High-fucntioning, but so completely out of touch with reality that they demand the craziest crap...way worse than the absent parent to deal with...

kiva

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from her blog page:

"Amy Ridenour is a mother of three and the president of The National Center for Public Policy Research. Her husband David is vice president of the National Center. His comments, like those of other National Center staff members, directors, associates and fellows, often appear in this blog."

scary...

then again, maybe the son does suffer from a disability...the mother clearly has a mental disorder...


<br />
I think that she thinks that she has written a satirical piece, and has no intention of suing anyone, but rather to "skewer" the Apple cult, and the "lefties" who run Apple, and make a few points about litigation and the ADA.
<br />

<br />
But it is so poorly written that instead of some witty spoof of modern life, it comes off like a bitter diatribe about something really stupid.<br />
<br />

I sure hope you're right...but I don't think so...

kiva

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2006 09:18PM by Kiva.

"Amy Ridenour is a mother of three and the president of The National Center for Public Policy Research. Her husband David is vice president of the National Center"

An education, career and title doesn't preclude mom from being a spoiled brat with kids.

Not all kids beat up on computers. Some are raised not too. I have a 4 yr old daughter that uses my powerbook. She plays some simple games, and likes to type numbers in spreadsheets. Her trackpad skills amaze me, and she never abuses it. It would not be tolerated. So I am with Dennis, he should have accommodate them.

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dm - md123

I think I ran into this family at the grocery store recently.

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From Source Watch:

While NCPPR is keen to scrutinise the fundraising and advocacy of organisations it disagrees with it has come in for criticism itself. In 1998, the San Francisco Examiner reporter Diana Walsh reviewed the rise of direct mail campaigns using scare tactics to raise funds from senior citizens. Walsh reported that in one four month period, 86 year old senior citizen, Faye Shelby, received 685 letters from 78 organizations. 160 of the fundraising pitches were from NCPPR.

Amy Moritz Ridenour told the Examiner that anyone receiving more than a dozen solicitations in a month probably was on mailing lists the National Center "rented" from other organizations, which she said were outside her control. When lists are rented, a group pays to use the list but for proprietary reasons isn't allowed to look at individual names or cross reference for duplications on their own lists. Ridenour also said an emotional pitch was vital to raising funds. "People seem to respond better to emotion than they do with letters that have lots and lots of facts. You have to give something that is light enough that people will be willing to read it upon receipt. . . . If they don't read it right at that moment, all the studies show they never will."

Not sure about other Apple Stores, but the Century City store has a kids section with tables and "chairs" (the big rubber ball type) and various machines there for them to test drive.

To quote from above, just another "psychotically overzealous parent" to be sure.

Nothing wrong with being a psychotically overzealous parent, just don't expect the rest of the world to part the seas for you and yours..

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Strength without compassion is brutality. Compassion without strength is weakness.

We must train our minds to desire what the situation demands.

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Dennis R
Rusty, It was the mom and I'm glad you agree with me. I thought it was just ridiculous.

I use the word "Guys" as a male/female catch-all because some gals get all huffy when I use the word "Gal".

BGnR