{"id":2327,"date":"2014-11-03T08:07:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T13:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/?p=2327"},"modified":"2015-01-05T13:53:04","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T18:53:04","slug":"in-honor-of-tim-cooks-coming-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/03\/in-honor-of-tim-cooks-coming-out\/","title":{"rendered":"In honor of Tim Cook&#8217;s coming out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 1994 Apple agreed to bundle $500k worth of the <em>Who Built America<\/em> CD-rom with all computers purchased by schools and libraries. In January of 1995 we got a note from Apple saying they were discontinuing distribution in response to complaints from schools in Oklahoma and California about the CD-Rom&#8217;s open portrayal of homosexuality and abortion,. We wrote a press release accusing Apple of censorship. The release was picked up by <em>Time<\/em> and <em>The Wall St. Journal<\/em> among others. Apple stonewalled until something wonderful happened. They reversed their decision and resumed distribution. The reason for the change of heart \u2014 internal dissension. Apple employees all over the world, but particularly in Europe, were deeply disappointed by Apple&#8217;s cave-in to homophobic dissent and made it known throughout the company.<\/p>\n<p>This is a 2-minute promo video. Remember, when you look at it, that the piece was created 23 years ago when 800&#215;600 was the maximum resolution and quicktime windows were the size of post-it notes.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/110753458?byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"2\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The following is a statement by the American Social History Project, the authors of <em>Who Built America<\/em> (originally published by Knopf) and now available as a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.macmillanhighered.com\/catalog\/newcatalog.aspx?disc=History&amp;course=U.S.+History&amp;isbn=0312446918\">text book<\/a> from Macmillan.<\/p>\n<p>IS THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY ONLY OPEN TO &#8220;EDUCATIONALLY<br \/>\nAPPROPRIATE&#8221; HISTORY?<\/p>\n<p>As members of the board of directors of the American Social<br \/>\nHistory Project (ASHP) we want to bring to your attention the<br \/>\nrecent attempt by Apple Computer to censor the Project&#8217;s WHO<br \/>\nBUILT AMERICA? FROM THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF 1876 TO THE<br \/>\nGREAT WAR OF 1914 (WBA), a CD-ROM conceived and written by Roy<br \/>\nRosenzweig, Steve Brier and Joshua Brown, and published by the<br \/>\nVoyager Company in 1993.<\/p>\n<p>In January 1995, after distributing more than 12,000 copies<br \/>\nof WBA in the previous month as part of its &#8220;Apple Educational<br \/>\nSeries: Elementary and Secondary Reference&#8221; bundle installed in<br \/>\ncomputers sold to schools, Apple informed the Voyager Company<br \/>\nabout unspecified complaints regarding material in the disk<br \/>\ndiscussing homosexuality, birth control, and abortion between<br \/>\n1876 and 1914. Voyager refused Apple&#8217;s request to make the CD-<br \/>\nROM &#8220;educationally appropriate&#8221; by removing all references to<br \/>\nthese subjects. The material that Apple wanted censored<br \/>\nrepresents a small number of historical documents and oral-<br \/>\nhistory interviews, the equivalent of 40 pages and 15 minutes of<br \/>\nsound out of more than 5,000 pages of text and four and a half<br \/>\nhours of sound. The inclusion of the history of gay Americans<br \/>\nand birth control is part of a comprehensive social history of<br \/>\nthe period that covers a wide range of experiences and<br \/>\nperspectives. On January 31, 1995, Apple notified the Voyager<br \/>\nCompany that it would no longer distribute WBA to schools.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Apple&#8217;s decision occurred only three weeks after<br \/>\nthe American Historical Association awarded WBA the biennial<br \/>\nJames Harvey Robinson Prize as &#8220;the most outstanding contribution<br \/>\nto the teaching and learning of history in any field for public<br \/>\nor educational purposes.&#8221; In addition, since its publication in<br \/>\n1993, WBA has been praised in major newspapers and in computer<br \/>\ntrade and scholarly publications for its innovative application<br \/>\nof multimedia to education and rigorous scholarship. For<br \/>\nexample, Walter S. Mossberg wrote in the WALL STREET JOURNAL:<br \/>\n&#8220;Once in a while . . . a truly exciting, high-quality electronic<br \/>\nbook turns up to reveal the real potential of electronic<br \/>\nlearning. My latest nomination to this CD-ROM Hall of Fame<br \/>\nis . . . WHO BUILT AMERICA?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Apple&#8217;s new restrictions threaten the intellectual and<br \/>\neducational efficacy of electronic information, from interactive<br \/>\nprograms to the Internet, an arena that has been heralded for<br \/>\nproviding greater opportunities for accessibility, expression,<br \/>\nand diversity.<\/p>\n<p>In response to publicity being given to this case in various<br \/>\nmedia, Apple has apparently backed away from its initial stance<br \/>\nand now maintains it is re-evaluating the status of WHO BUILT<br \/>\nAMERICA? In that light and in the light of the company&#8217;s<br \/>\nprevious reputation for respecting human and civil rights,<br \/>\ncomments from scholars and educators might have an important<br \/>\neffect on Apple&#8217;s decision. We urge you to write Apple CEO<br \/>\nMichael Spindler to resist pressure from those who want to censor<br \/>\nthe past (e-mail: spindler@applelink.apple.com; address: Apple<br \/>\nComputer, Inc., 20525 Mariani Avenue, Cupertino, California<br \/>\n95014).<\/p>\n<p>Please send a copy of your correspondence to any of the<br \/>\nthree authors: Roy Rosenzweig (rrosenzw@gmu.edu), Steve Brier<br \/>\n(sbbhc@cunyvm.cuny.edu), or Josh Brown (jbrhc@cunyvm.cuny.edu).<\/p>\n<p>The Voyager Company can be reached via Braden Michaels,<br \/>\nVoyager, 578 Broadway, Suite 406, New York, N.Y. 10012, tel: 212-<br \/>\n431-5199, fax: 212-431-5799, e-mail: michaels@voyagerco.com.<\/p>\n<p>Signed<\/p>\n<p>Ira Berlin, Department of History, University of Maryland<br \/>\nLoni Ding, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of<br \/>\nCalifornia, Berkeley<br \/>\nEric Foner, Department of History, Columbia University<br \/>\nCarol Groneman, Department of History, John Jay College, CUNY<br \/>\nLeon F. Litwack, Department of History, University of California,<br \/>\nBerkeley<br \/>\nPatricia Oldham, Social Science Faculty, Hostos Community<br \/>\nCollege, CUNY<br \/>\nSilvio Torres-Saillant, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at the<br \/>\nCity College of New York<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>CHRONOLOGY AND INFORMATION ABOUT WHO BUILT AMERICA? PROVIDED BY<br \/>\nTHE VOYAGER COMPANY:<\/p>\n<p>* September-October 1994: Apple approaches Voyager about the<br \/>\npossibility of purchasing copies of WHO BUILT AMERICA? to give to<br \/>\nschools (K-12) buying certain Apple computers. Voyager and Apple<br \/>\nagree to terms.<br \/>\n* December 1994: Apple bundles more than 12,000 copies of WBA<br \/>\nwith computers in the first month of a year-long program.<br \/>\n* January 1995: Apple calls Voyager to say that it has received<br \/>\ncomplaints about WBA because of the CD-ROM&#8217;s discussion of<br \/>\nhomosexuality, abortion, and birth control at the turn of the<br \/>\ncentury. Apple asks Voyager to make available a version with<br \/>\nthese subjects edited out. Voyager refuses but offers to send<br \/>\nschools that don&#8217;t like WBA any CD-ROM from the Voyager catalog<br \/>\n(school&#8217;s choice). Voyager also proposes that WBA be bundled<br \/>\nonly with computers for high-schools, colleges, and libraries.<br \/>\nApple rejects both of these suggestions.<br \/>\n* January 31, 1995: Apple informs Voyager that it will no longer<br \/>\ninclude WBA in the K-12 bundle, and asks Voyager to name a<br \/>\nreplacement title. Apple makes clear that any replacement must<br \/>\nnot mention homosexuality, abortion, or birth control.<\/p>\n<p>ABOUT WHO BUILT AMERICA?<\/p>\n<p>WHO BUILT AMERICA? is a new &#8220;electronic book&#8221; on CD-ROM.<br \/>\nConceived and written by Roy Rosenzweig, Steve Brier and Josh<br \/>\nBrown (visual editor) and published by the Voyager Company in<br \/>\ncollaboration with the American Social History Project, it<br \/>\nincludes more than four and a half hours of audio (oral history,<br \/>\nactuality sound, and music), 45 minutes of archival film, more<br \/>\nthan 5,000 pages of historical documents, more than 700 pictures<br \/>\nas well as dozens of graphs, maps, and many other features.<br \/>\nAmong the special features of the &#8220;book&#8221; are:<\/p>\n<p>FILM: More than twenty film clips, including the early silent<br \/>\nfilm classic, &#8220;The Great Train Robbery,&#8221; immigrants arriving at<br \/>\nEllis Island, candidates campaigning for the presidency in 1912,<br \/>\nwomen suffragists marching down Fifth Avenue, and more.<\/p>\n<p>ORAL HISTORY: More than thirty interviews with immigrants,<br \/>\nsharecroppers, Native Americans, coal miners, and others. Hear<br \/>\nsurvivors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and eyewitnesses to the<br \/>\n1906 Atlanta Race Riot.<\/p>\n<p>MUSIC: More than two dozen songs from the period, including<br \/>\nprotest and labor songs, black spirituals and work songs, hits<br \/>\nfrom Tin Pan Alley, country music, and brass band tunes.<\/p>\n<p>ARCHIVAL AUDIO: Rare recordings of Booker T. Washington, Andrew<br \/>\nCarnegie, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft,<br \/>\nand others as well as humor from early vaudeville stars.<\/p>\n<p>DOCUMENTS: Thousands of pages of primary documents, including<br \/>\nletters home from immigrants, congressional testimony, newspaper<br \/>\naccounts, court decisions, famous essays, fiction, poetry, and<br \/>\nsociological studies.<\/p>\n<p>IMAGES: Hundreds of exquisitely reproduced pictures include<br \/>\ncartoons and advertisements from newspapers, magazine<br \/>\nillustrations, paintings, and rare documentary photographs,<br \/>\nincluding the work of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1994 Apple agreed to bundle $500k worth of the Who Built America CD-rom with all computers purchased by schools and libraries. In January of 1995 we got a note from Apple saying they were discontinuing distribution in response to complaints from schools in Oklahoma and California about the CD-Rom&#8217;s open portrayal of homosexuality and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2327"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2580,"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327\/revisions\/2580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futureofthebook.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}