So...is it a 40gb iPod Classic, or a 160gb iPod Classic?

@Underscore_Lysdexia:

Oh, 40gb MORE memory

My bad, misread the article

Kudos to Apple though and congratulations to Aaron!

@Underscore_Lysdexia: The article says "a new 160gb iPod Classic".

@Underscore_Lysdexia: 120 Gig plus 40 gig = 160 gig yay!

It's good to see some people still support the troops.

I have something in my eye...

@GreatGerm: I've been slicing onions - I swear!

How many ipods are out there? What makes an ipod a classic?

@angryneo: I don't know a single person who doesn't support the troops, other than the enemy. Disagreeing with the war =/= not supporting the troops.

How sweet! I have such a soft spot for Marines :oD

I'm surprised that Apple store managers have the power to hand out free iPods to people that never did business with them. I would think this would only be reserved for corporate. Good on you Apple Colorado!

@Falcon5768: That's harsh and unwarranted. There are plenty of people who misplace their anger over the war and blame the people being sent over to fight. I'm not talking about people who have legitimate reasons for being against the war, I'm talking about people who demonize the troops by calling them baby killers and all sorts of other horrible things.

Way to kill the mood guys.

@TinkishDelight: I'm pretty sure Apple Colorado got ahold of someone in corporate first. Apple does do nice things for people - one iPod is pittance in comparison to a customer's loyalty and near-universal love from the internets for their good deed.

@TinkishDelight: Well the points have already been hit. Personally I have a lot of disdain for the war in Iraq and the reason behind it, BUT I have the utmost respect for the armed men that fought and in some cases gave their lives in it. These men didn't make the decision to invade Iraq but when the decision was made, they chose to support and fight for their country and they should be commended for that.

@pecan 3.14159265: But i've very very rarely ever seen anyone do that. And they get promptly ignored as well.

The way angryneo framed his comment, his intent was clearly to imply that people who are against the war also hate the troops. Which very clearly is not true.

Falcon's response was not the most civil one, but considering the original comment, it was certainly not unwarranted, and not very harsh either.

@taney71: It is the name of the line. The original iPod line was retroactively named the "classic" as opposed to "nano" "shuffle" "touch" etc etc.

Well done Apple, and Aaron, thank you for your service.

@taney71: There's the Shuffle, the Nano, the Touch and the Classic. The Classic is just the name of the current line of full-size iPod. We're currently on the 6th generation of the full-size iPods.

[en.wikipedia.org]

@pecan 3.14159265: I'm pretty sure Falcon5768 had every right to be pissed off by angryneo and his stupid assumptions.

Too many people make the assumption that anyone with a liberal way of thinking automatically think that our troops don't deserve much of anything for defending this country, but its quite the opposite... those who are against the war want our troops to come home so we don't keep wasting lives on something very few people understand.

And while there is a group of those on the left who choose to think our troops are murderers of women and children (some are, but again this is a group of sick people who have no morals), this is a small group, even smaller then those conservatives who still insist that Obama isn't their President because they don't believe he's a US citizen. Oh and don't forget those who believe the US is covering up a huge conspiracy about 9/11 and Area 51 was the location where a real life alien abduction was performed!

Truth be told, I don't want some guy to group a lot of people into a minority because he himself is ill informed and thinks that being antiwar is the same as hating our troops!

@oblivious87: I only took issue with Falcon's "go to hell" comment because one can explain his or her opinion properly without reducing to personal attack.

@MostlyHarmless: I felt that implication as well, but perhaps I'm sensitive because I'm a hate-the-war-love-the-soldier type of liberal.

Riddle me this: I was accused of not supporting the troops while I was dating a soldier during his deployment to Iraq. Mhm. Right.

@pecan 3.14159265: True dat.

@TinkishDelight: No kidding. I think people are reading too much into that original comment.

I like to read stories like this and I support our troops, but I guess I'd better be damn careful how I express it.

@katstermonster: Most liberals are of the same mold when it comes to troops and wars. Except for those really far out ones who think all soldiers are evil murderers. Every group has its fringes.

Also, dating a guy when he is deployed to Iraq. Talk about a long distance relationship.

Hey knuckleheads!
I was in The War in 2003. My comment was merely expressing gratitude to those who support the troops; not taking sides on the war. You read TOO far into my comment. Nice job.

While I'm glad he got a nice Ipod from Apple, as an Army, officer my first thought when I read the first story is "WTF was he doing with an Ipod in a Humvee in the first place?" I would not be very understanding with one of my Soldiers if I caught one of them with an Ipod on patrol.

That was a friend on mine. I forwarded the post that I read on here to my buddy who is a manger of the apple store. He thought the marine deserved a new ipod. So he located him and sent it.

@Falcon5768: WTF? Where did I even say that people who don't support the war don't support the troops. You have every right to be annoyed, but angryneo has every right to have the perception the majority of people do not support the troops. He's probably wrong (I say probably because I have no statistics to say definitively that he's wrong), but it doesn't mean he doesn't get to have an opinion.

@QuesoHusker: Haha I thought the same thing - heck, even having an iPod on in the motorpool or around moving vehicles would be an ass-chewing by a 1SG or CSM.

@Falcon5768: Actually, it is more like a group attack, not a personal attack. Almost the opposite of it, in fact.

@angryneo:

This thread is exactly what's wrong with the internet and really text messages in general. Someone types something and others, since they don't understand the general tone or meaning of the comment, fly off the handle and over-dramatize the whole thing. Angryneo posted another comment below that clarified that he was trying to show appreciation for the support as an war vet himself. Maybe he could have expressed that better, but is a slightly ambiguous comment really enough to start whipping out the personal insults?

@pecan 3.14159265: "There are plenty of people who misplace their anger over the war and blame the people being sent over to fight."

You said it in your first comment, there are not "plenty of people" Maybe a FRINGE amount, most likely the same amount on the conservative side who ALSO think the same of the troops (that wackjob funeral protesting church ring a bell?)

Any time you use words like plenty, many you are basically quantifying a large number, when the facts are (and you can certainly look this up so saying you cant find statistics to prove it is also disingenuous) that just about ALL americans support the troops EVEN if they dont support the war.

In fact many who dont support the war will even TELL you they support the troops in the fact they want them back home instead of fighting for nothing gained, like Iraq.

And no Angryneo has no right to have such a perception, because the fact EXIST that prove such a perception false. Thats like saying Glen Beck has the right to think net neutrality is a plot to ban free speech (yes he IS saying that) Just because you SAY something or THINK something doesn't mean its true and doesnt mean you have the right to blather on as if you know something.

@Falcon5768: Yeah, see, now you went from righteously indignant to downright assholeish. I was as annoyed as you were, but unlike you, I have the ability to use logic and intelligence to express my opinion. The "god to hell" was uncalled for, especially since you and I were both basing our outrage on what angryneo was IMPLYING, but not saying.

And being obnoxious to Pecan Pi? Really? Not okay.

@MostlyHarmless: Yeeeeeah that was....rough. Getting dumped with no warning when he was home on leave? Also rough. It's okay, he just got engaged to some broad he's been dating for about 6 months (I was tweeting about this), and my best friend and I have a pool going. I say he'll be divorced within a year after the wedding, she said he'll dump her during the engagement.

@angryneo: You can reply to the commenter, too. Click on the little cirling arrow on the bottom right of the comment in question, so they see your response.

@pecan 3.14159265: Come on. This isn't the Vietnam War. "Baby killers" is no longer de rigeur among the anti-war set.

@veg-o-matic: Um, I've heard the phrase used by fringe liberals, so....yes. Especially with all the negative publicity surrounding the (very few) rapes/rampages that have happened over the course of the wars.

@katstermonster: Exactly: "fringe." The term may be used by extremists, but is certainly not widespread, as it once was.

@veg-o-matic: I don't think Pecan Pi was trying to say that it's widespread. She's clarified that since.

@Falcon5768: I made it clear that while my opinion was that the "majority" of people do indeed support the troops, I have no numbers to back this up. I was offering an opinion based on anecdotal evidence. Certainly the statistics are out there. However, I declined to be as adament about it as you are simply because I also know that without the statistics on hand, I can't definitively say it is fact. It would be misuse of the very meaning of what "fact" is. It is accepted that my particular opinion, in context, is accurate - however, I don't wish for it to be labeled as a fact without the proper evidence cited.

People have a right to express opinions and perceptions. Thoughts can't be controlled. It doesn't make it an educated opinion, or even a thought that is respected by others - but people can have it. You're right, just because you say or think something doesn't mean it's true - but you definitely have the right to have that opinion because opinions do not equal facts. You don't seem to be differentiating. What Glenn Beck says is what he may very well think - but it doesn't make him accurate in what he is saying.

@Falcon5768: "Just because you SAY something or THINK something doesn't mean its true and doesnt mean you have the right to blather on as if you know something."

Actually, you do.

@QuesoHusker: That's a Marine for you.

Thanks Aaron for your service! Please, come home safe!

@veg-o-matic: It was never actually widespread, just somewhat more common.

@pb5000: Keep in mind, it was an Apple store manager, not Apple themselves.

@angryneo:

The best way to support the troops is to bring them home safely and as expeditiously as possible.

@CoJeff: Hey, good job there.

@QuesoHusker: you haven't been doing very many patrols lately, have you sir? it's the norm around here for us to have an ipod/zune/mp3 player hooked into the internal comms of our strykers to listen to music while rolling through sector. we've never had any problem hearing the radio, maintaining situational awareness, or doing our jobs. you try driving around sector for 8-10 hours every day with nothing to keep you awake. it sucks.

The picture's genius, by the way. I bet Elf Practice is a nightmare now, though.

Goes to show, Apple loves America.
Microsoft? Not so much, considering the number of laptops Dell or Acer has messed up (hey, their ads tell us Microsoft = entire computer, so they gotta take the bad with the good).