Fun_People Archive
28 Feb
Apple Corporation response to Voyager CD controversy

Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:19:04 PST
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Apple Corporation response to Voyager CD controversy

[Well, this certainly clarifies that issue... er, I think  -psl]

Forwarded-by: peter dobkin hall <PHALL@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu>
From: Larry G Gerber <gerbelg@mail.auburn.edu>

Not much humor in this, but, since the original message about Apple censorship
went out over fun-people and was cross-posted (by me) to the historians'
nets -- which generated considerable outrage and communications to the Firm
--, I thought Fun_folks might be innarested. . . .

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Subscribers who have been following the controversy over Apple
Corporation's distribution of the Who Built America CD-Rom may be
interested in this posting from Apple.  LG.

Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 23:25:58 -0600

 To Whom it May Concern:

 Reports that Apple Computer plans to stop bundling the CD-ROM "Who
 Built America?" with computers sold to K12 education customers have
 contained inaccuracies and raise concerns that we believe need to be
 addressed.

 Beginning in December, Apple started shipping versions of the
 Macintosh LC 575 to K-12 schools bundled with 16 software and
 multimedia reference titles in two offerings called the Elementary
 Reference Bundle and the Secondary Reference Bundle. The purpose of
 these product offerings is to provide educators and students in
 elementary, middle and high school classrooms and libraries with a
 rich assortment of general use history, art, reference, science,
 language, and career planning CD-ROM titles.

 Within just a few weeks, several K-12 customers contacted Apple
 concerned that the way some subject matter is presented on "Who Built
 America" was not appropriate for classroom use.

 It is extremely rare for Apple to receive this level of immediate and
 critical feedback on a product, and has spurred significant public
 discussion and internal evaluation. Because our reference bundles are
 intended as tools for use in any classroom grades K-12, customer
 feedback is considered important in deciding classroom and age
 appropriateness of all the materials. As part of our ongoing product
 evaluation process, we intend to solicit input from our K-12 education
 customers, our Education Advisory Council, other curriculum experts,
 professional organizations in the education community, and educators
 on staff.

 Contrary to published reports, Apple continues to distribute this CD
 in the versions of our Elementary and Secondary Reference Bundles that
 we offer. Our decision to bundle or not to bundle this CD in the next
 version is in the process of being finalized. Decisions to bundle
 various software with our educational computers are based on education
 market direction; customer feedback; and user satisfaction --this is
 not a matter of censorship.

 Mike Lorion, Director
 Apple USA K-12 Education Division Marketing

© 1995 Peter Langston