Henrico County's $50 iBook Sale Turns Into a 'Mob Scene'
by , 3:15 PM EDT, August 16th, 2005
Unsurprisingly, Henrico County's plan to sell 1,000 excess iBooks for US$50 each drew a large crowd to the Richmond International Raceway in Virginia on Tuesday. The area's NBC affiliate reported that several people were trampled, with a few requiring medical care, although no one was seriously injured or killed.
The sale was open only to Henrico County residents, some of whom left their places in line to help others in distress. An official interviewed by the NBC affiliate said that he hadn't expected such a large turnout, which turned into what was described by a reporter as "a mob scene" when the doors opened at 7 AM and thousands of people rushed toward them. Only a few plainclothes police officers were on hand at the beginning of the sale, but police wearing riot gear soon showed up and stayed for the remainder of the event.
The 12-inch iBooks were part of a contract worth US$24.2 million and consisting of 23,000 iBooks; it was due to end this summer. In April of this year, Apple was outbid by some $4 million by Dell -- $20 less for each Windows-based laptop -- and Henrico County schools are in the process of transitioning away from Macs. Apple, however, still has a four-year contract with Henrico County for its middle school students. That deal will expire in June 2006.
CloseViewName:Guest Tue Aug 16, 2005 3:29 pmSubject: ipods
they all have PCs at home and an ipod, now here's a chance for them all to get a mac to work better with the ipod (and perhaps test a mac for cheap before bying a new one)
If they weren't going to charge more (which they should have, even if they WERE beat-up machines) then they should have done a mail lottery, or something like that, and only have people show up who already have a proof-of-purchase with them or something.
CloseViewName:Guest Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:32 pmSubject:
White people know better than to riot for a $50 computer. Better to get a job and BUY a new one than wait with a bunch of animals to get a second hand system that is pretty much good for nothing.
Look at the photos, it's the blacks that are hootin and hollerin. I'm not surprised. Watts, Chicago, Cincinati, Richmond...
It is a shame people were injured. The event was poorly planned, poorly implemented and the outcome was predictable.
It's curiously ironic though that 4 year old computers from Apple STILL demand that much public attention, but the residents obviously know that the TCO of the machines is much better than the new contract they are locked into with Dell.
We the people may have acted like fools, but not nearly as foolish as "they" the leaders.
CloseViewName:jimothyPosts: 567Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Tue Aug 16, 2005 5:12 pmSubject: Stupid
About as much thought went into having this sale as did the decision not to renew. They could have sold these on eBay, avoided the riots, and got a lot more money for the tax payers of Henrico County.
If you ever wondered what it might have been like to be present at the great land rush of the 1890's, all you had to do was be at the $50 iBook sale at RIR today.
Arriving with my neighbor's son in hopes of getting 2 iBooks at 6:45AM, we were quickly disappointed to discover a line of unwashed humanity 2-3 abreast and a quarter mile long.Many of these wretches of humanity arrived in the darkness of night, camping out in violation of the county's rules for the sale.
Giving up right then and there on the hopes of getting an iBook, we decided to hang out by the delicous newsbabes to see what would happen at 7AM.
Sure enough, at 7AM the gates opened and the stampede began.
With the newsbabes singing a chorus of "mass chaos" I offer my tally of the day's events:
- 1 teen trampled with broken ankle 50 pts
- grandma trampled with skinned knees 100 pts
- baby's momma trampled 75 pts
- baby carriage trampled multiplier 200 pts
- mom's lateral of baby to dad bonus 500 pts
If you look at the pix here: http://tinyurl.com/8teq5, you see the desperate humanity rushing the gates of the us embassy just before the fall of vietnam...
CloseViewName:MOSiX ManPosts: 550Joined: 20 Jun 2001 Tue Aug 16, 2005 5:45 pmSubject:
"Black folk always gotta be pushin'. Damn y'all. Ain't no gold in dem dere compootas."
"White people know better than to riot for a $50 computer. Better to get a job and BUY a new one than wait with a bunch of animals to get a second hand system that is pretty much good for nothing.
Look at the photos, it's the blacks that are hootin and hollerin. I'm not surprised. Watts, Chicago, Cincinati, Richmond..."
WTF?!?!
Are you morons too busy pulling your pillow-cases over your head, to get a clue and grow the hell up?!
It is ignorant, little minds, like yours, that keep the world from becoming a much better place. Take a hike, @ss-h0les! I think I hear your ugly, buck-toothed mommas calling for you.
The local government in Henrico is to blame for the horrible results of the iBook sale. They knew there was a large demand, they had been talking about it for the entire summer here in Richmond, and yet they insisted on selling "first come first served." Any half wit would have set up an alternative sales method, but from the quote at CNN we see that only morons are in charge in Henrico.
"It's rather strange that we would have such a tremendous response for the purchase of a laptop computer -- and laptop computers that probably have less-than- desirable attributes," said Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico County. "But I think that people tend to get caught up in the excitement of the event -- it almost has an entertainment value."
I hope that this person is terminated before he can provide any more "entertainment value."
CloseViewName:vmarinelliPosts: 3Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Tue Aug 16, 2005 7:00 pmSubject:
Okay, in response to the racist ass posting above... get a clue! First, are you even from here? (This is a city in which Blacks are in the majority. So - take a wild guess as to who the majority of persons pushing and shoving in ANY given context are going to be? Dumbass!) Second, have you heard of employment discrimination and such resulting in disproportionate poverty of African Americans in this country, and hence, a lack of electronic resources (making a $50 laptop a really helpful thing that could help a poor family)? Third, there were PLENTY of white people who were being just as disruptive, not to mention a preponderance of white people cutting into the line, just like the Far West End -- read "one of Henrico's richest neighborhoods" -- white lady I posted about in my blog entry (see Link) - and in the process, basically acting like they had lots of entitlement. In other words, they didn't HAVE to push and shove - their white skin privilege did that for them.
"It's rather strange that we would have such a tremendous response for the purchase of a laptop computer -- and laptop computers that probably have less-than- desirable attributes," said Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico County. "But I think that people tend to get caught up in the excitement of the event -- it almost has an entertainment value."
I hope that this person is terminated before he can provide any more "entertainment value."
Okay, this will make you laugh: on our local news tonight, in the graphics caption at the bottom of the screen when they were interviewing Paul Proto, Channel 12 News had an accidental typo (or - hmmm - maybe not so accidental...) -- instead of "General Services Director," it said "General Services Firector." I.e., "Fire the Director!"
What!! TMO allowing racist remarks on the site!! I was under the impression that mac users were the more civilized and "refined" of the bunch!. So what if people went crazy for 50 $ iBooks. Bad shape or not, Im hispanic and I would have problably done the same thing to get a piece of that Apple pie! No pun intended! MosiX man , ,thanks for injecting some sanity into the posts...and for those racist posters, why did you sign in as "guest"? I smell...P$$$Y up in heah!!!!!! ( I bet not even R.C. is that uncivilized!!)
This is what society has become; "Hurt thy neighbor so one's self can prosper". I thought Henrico County residents had better moral and social values; Guess not. Even some of the laptops are already appearing on Ebay. I have been a Henrico County resident my entire life (40 years) and never have I felt so embarrassed in allowing the world to know us like this. I did not participate in this tragedy, but I sure feel ashamed as if I did.
CloseViewName:Guest Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:50 pmSubject:
Mr. Hispanic, check your local newscast EVERY night in EVERY city across America and see who's doing what to whom. We never hear from losers like yourself when minotities commit crimes against whites or even each other. Whites speak the truth and get called racists, minorities speak their version of the truth and are "fightin' oppression". BIGOTS come in all colors and races. Got it?
I live about 7 miles from the incident and have seen and heard all the TV and radio about it. This incident happened because of bad organization. They should've handed out 1000 tickets to the first people in line then told the others to go home. Instead they had 5500 people waiting for 1000 ibooks and opened the gates and people rushed to the main building to be first in line. The people were not to blame, black, white or whatever. It was a "bull rush" but that was the only option they were given once the big gates were opened.
Imagime how bad the crowd would have been if the County had gone with its original decision to sell the iMacs to ANYONE, regardless of residence! White people were preparing to fly in from all over the U.S. to buy one and sell it on EBay.
Luckily I got there at 2:15am and was in my car and I couldn't even get through the gates because people from the actual standing line and spectators ran in from both sides. There were other cars that did just plow through the people. Definitely frustrating to wait for a long time but we were on TV which was funny and we will have a story to tell for a long time about the iBook Riot of '05. Its also scary to think of what would have happened had the sale been open up to those from outside of Henrico. Finally, I definitely gotta say that Henrico police and Henrico surplus sales people made probably the worst decisions they could have in all of this. For you that were not there, I can tell you that there was absolutely no communication or direction from any of these authorities to the waiting public including no signs or blocked off areas for waiting. It was just stand in a line or stay in your car (legitimate) or mill around the front entrance where you would eventually get shooed away by one of the 8 or less officers at the front gate. After the first 4 or so went through it was complete chaos and we were definitely left in the dust except for my friend who jumped shipped and eventually stayed in a shoulder to shoulder mass for 3 hours untill he was about to faint and then went home. All and all a disastrous experience for everyone involved. If there is another sale I will definitely be there but with a camcorder to capture the madness.
-Survivor of iBook Extravaganza Madness 2005
Guest wrote: White people know better than to riot for a $50 computer. Better to get a job and BUY a new one than wait with a bunch of animals to get a second hand system that is pretty much good for nothing.
Look at the photos, it's the blacks that are hootin and hollerin. I'm not surprised. Watts, Chicago, Cincinati, Richmond...
CloseViewName:les apttPosts: 221Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:05 amSubject:
I believe what happened was not so much $50.00 Macs, but $50.00 computers. And very usable ones at that. We tend to forget that to many American families even a low-end Dell or a Mini is out of reach. The lack of security smacks of pure hubris.
Bair Hossai deserves a good deal on an ibook after being one of the few that acted decently. Front of the line, didn't get an ibook because he was helping a elderly lady that got trampled.
Its sad to see that racism is still pervasive in all facets of American Society... even the "Creative Class" of Apple aficionado's. How one could look at those pictures from the ibook sale and draw such a sick conclusion is evidence of the type of sick minds that are causing so much chaos in the world today... from terrorist in London to the Genocide in Sudan... its all the same.
This is the second time I've seen such a posting on TMO. Shame on TMO for not monitoring its site and allowing such racist propaganda.
On a lighter note, I wonder if any of the leaders in the Richmond schools are reviewing their decision to buy Dells now that they see the value/demand for Apple computers... after all, has anyone heard of a similar interest in used PC's? I lived near a military base and they'd try to sell hundered's of used PC every year, the majority of which went unsold... so they'd mostly end up giving them away to churchs, ymca, etc. or just trashing them. Surely, the Henrico School District should now be able to see that they could easily recoup the $20 cost saving per Dell computer over Apple by reselling the units at market prices after 4 years. They should have considered the residual value of the computers when they were making a decision about which units to buy. I wonder has anyone brought this up in the local media... or maybe Apple can use this as a selling point.
Oh well, as long as Apple continues to increase the value of my portfolio, I'm happy !
Oh yea, thanks VM, Mosix, & Aleks... for not allowing that idoit's comment to go unchecked. -KL (a Black Man)
CloseViewName:Guest Wed Aug 17, 2005 10:50 amSubject:
My brotha, my brotha. White people will soon be the MINORITY in this country. I, for one, will be complaining loudly every time someone tramples on my RIGHTS as a MINORITY. We'll see how fair the treatment is when white folk are the MINORITY. All i know is I better get my free apartment, free food, preferential hiring, good job, security,etc. After all, it's only fair.
I don’t think [some] of these people knew what they were buy. I had two people in my office come to me with two of those iBooks this AM and asked me “where’s Windows? I told them they had bought an Apple computer then they asked what the difference was. I explained it to them and encouraged them to use the iBook I think they will be happy with it.
The lure of $50 laptops is just too much for some people to bother to research. Henrico has monthly auctions on Parham Rd in Richmond that never attracts much of a crowd. Henrico should have simply placed these units in with those and let them go just like the other equipment on a bid basis. I believe they would have made more money per unit and a lot less fanfare.
I'm hispanic as well (like it really matters because we're all people in the end) and it almost hurts to see all of this racism. Seriously.
Well, I don't think racism will ever go away. Why? People aren't perfect, there will ALWAYS be ignorance. When there's ignorance, there's bigotry, and you know where I'm going with this. So, the lesson of the day is this...
There will ALWAYS be a level of ignorance, therefore there will ALWAYS be a level of racism.
We as humans need to learn that we are ALL the same under this skin we're wearing.
to VM, this is not a black majority city, maybe Richmond is but this is not Richmond, this is Henrico.
Your points are somewhat valid, but it was so obvious this was going to happen. I had a friend that showed up but of course turned his car around and left when he saw the riot ensue.
CloseViewName:Guest Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:41 pmSubject:
You idiots. Why is it always racism? Everytime a white person says something about a black person, or about illegal immigration, or about an arab, right away it's racism. That word is thrown about these days like a Nerf football. Apparently, a white person is not allowed to have an opinion for fear of infringing on another's rights. Screw that. I'm sick of black entitlement, i'm sick of illegal immigrants dictating domestic policy, i'm sick of muslims crying about discrimination while failing to discriminate against mass murderers. Political correctness sucks. I call it like I see it. A bunch of coloreds going crazy to buy a few cheap computers at the expense of the law and their fellow citizens. It's happened before, it'll happen again. These people BURN their own neighborhoods to the ground for God's sake! Wake up ignorant people. Reclaim your common sense.
I am not in the kkk nor am i a white power weirdo. Just a rational thinker.
Hey guest, so thanks for telling us about the new White Power club, Rational Thinkers......wow! Im telling all my white buddies at work. Oh wait a minute, where I work It's all whites, blacks, hispanics, asians, hey theres even a guy from Iraq! And we all seem to get along just fine! I guess WE are the rational thinkers, oh well, you'll have to go back to shaving your head and raising your fist, and yelling..............HAIL HI$#@LER!!!!!
I was at the ibook sale and am going to be a tenth grade student at a Godwin High School in Henrico County. Most of the computers were in decent shape and although they would probably require repairs down the road were definitely useable, especially to a lot of the people in the eastern side of the county which is a bit poorer than the other side of the county. For the most part the event was played up by the media and 95% of the time it was just endless waiting in line. There was a bit of pushing and shoving but thankfully no serious injuries.
Also I'm pretty dissapointed that my school board has made the decision to replace our beloved ibooks with dells. Especially when if they went with Macintosh we would have gotten g4's . I'm also a Macintosh fanatic and am posting from a g4 combodrive right now. I also know that at least half the school's population understand that the dells will be plagued with viruses, but we are at the same time excited that we are getting the dells because it will be much easier to crack into them and install games. Come this school year each day will be a daily Starcraft LAN party.
. I'm also a Macintosh fanatic and am posting from a g4 combodrive right now. I also know that at least half the school's population understand that the dells will be plagued with viruses, but we are at the same time excited that we are getting the dells because it will be much easier to crack into them and install games. Come this school year each day will be a daily Starcraft LAN party.