“Following the tragic news of the death of Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams, Apple has created a ‘Remembering Robin Williams’ dedicated section of the iTunes Store housing many of the actor’s popular movies and stand up comedy routines,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors.
“Along with offering movies organized into categories like ‘Essentials,’ ‘Comedy,’ and ‘Drama,’ the Robin Williams iTunes Store section includes a photo of the actor along with a short paragraph on his decades-long career and his involvement in Comic Relief USA, a charity that’s raised upwards of $50 million for homeless assistance,” Clover reports. “Robin Williams’ performance in Dead Poets Society is of special importance to Apple as his character, John Keating, delivered the famous ‘What will your verse be?’ speech that inspired its ‘Your Verse’ line of iPad advertisements. Williams also provided the voice over for one of the commercials, which began airing back in January.”
Clover reports, “Yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted about Williams’ death, calling him an ‘incomparable talent and a great human being.'”
Heartbroken by the news of Robin Williams' passing. He was an incomparable talent and a great human being. Rest in peace.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) August 12, 2014
Read more in the full article here.
Heartbreaking news. Genius talent, crazy in a great way, kind, big heart and loyal. I can’t think of anyone that didn’t love Robin Williams. I hope he is at peace wherever he is and knows just how much the world loves him. Very nice tribute from Tim Cook. He too is a special person.
Apparently Williams struggled with depression, drug addiction and alcohol at various times in his life and just recently spent time in rehab. Having lost my last living Uncle who had issues with depression just last year, the news carried a little extra sting for me.
At least he is free of whatever demons drove him to this tragic act and is at peace.
Rest In Peace Robin. X
Sad 🙁
He made my family laugh since Mork and Mindy.
Williams entertained many. We may never know what psychological issues he struggled to overcome. Sadly, this is another example of why to stay away from drugs and alcohol. This is not an isolated incident, just a famous well-publicized incident. Most tragic is that outward appearances and basic facts indicate that Williams was really very lucky, raised in an upper-class home, always had support of family and friends, career success, and wealth. How sad that he chose to self-medicate himself with drugs and alcohol rather than seek professional psychiatric help.
Not to draw too big a line, but before ‘purchasing’ the trust of a professional, keep a few things in mind about depression-
Would you take driving lessons from an instructor that had never driven, yet studied it ad naseum and ‘knew’ every maneuver possible?
From a ‘chef’ that had never cooked but knew what he liked to eat?
Would you take music lessons from a musician that had never played an instrument but loved great music?
I don’t want to knock psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, analrapist or whomever, but if they don’t have a deep understanding of depression by association, then they could possibly do more damage than good. It is juggling a chemical imbalance on a razor’s edge while drunk and blindfold that I am sorry to say I have had all too much experience in dealing with.
Just like a sneeze can be a sign of a full-on allergy attack in waiting, or a picture or song can trigger a thousand memories, or some porn can awaken needs that haven’t been realized, depression can start as a normal state of sadness over a relatively small event and become exponentially larger and more terrifying because of the imbalance of chemicals in the brain, whether prescribed, illegal or natural, and they can set off like a brush fire in August.
Those that are aware of this know the darkness, the abyss, the plunge into despair that becomes deeper and darker the longer left alone or when dealt with in the wrong manner. That’s what happened to Robin Williams, and millions of other Americans heard the news like I did and thought ‘Well, he almost made it’.
You battle this just as you do alcoholism or any other affliction of the mind and that is one day at a time. The problem is, you only have to lose this battle one afternoon for it to be permanent.
So yes, seek help if you need it, but make sure they are qualified or you may end up worse off than before. It damn near killed me…..
He battled his addiction but was sober for over 20 years. He also voluntarily admitted himself into rehab multiple times. He also had psychological professions helping him at his requests. Wise up. Seek the truth before dismissing somebody with an incurable illness.
Lauren Bacall just passed.
Bad week.
“You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve?”
Art is long & Life is short… Thank you Apple for using the Art of Whitman’s poetry + Robin Williams’ narration of it from The Dead Poets Society movie in you very poignant commercial. Today it is more powerful than ever…
RIP RW. We will miss you.
Dear Robin:
Your humor meant so much to me, and I will spend the remainder of my life learning to understanding why.
In Peace.
CHA-CHING Time to make some more money
Yea, this iTunes “tribute” leaves me cold too. Would be nice if Apple were contributing all the monies made to one or several of Robin’s supported charities. I’d feel a lot better about Apple’s behavior here.
Hey, any event like this is a commercial move whether intentionally or unintentionally.
That’s life, businesses make money out of death.
Just look at Elvis for that when he died.
Walter issacson made a small fortune over Steve jobs death with his book.
Capitalism encourages making a buck off of someone’s misfortune. I don’t care if it’s Apple, it’s a cash grab.
Yep. It’s a cash grab.
Any celebrity dieing makes money for someone somewhere – that’s life! – or should I say death.
Death is a billion dollar business in the US.