UK Olympic athletes banned from wearing Beats headphones

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by JSV

… Part of the blame (if blame there is) rests on the athletes who worn Beats.

You can only blame those that are warned and did it again. First time they probably just thought "dam" these are a great deal for free and did not think of any ramifications because they’re athletes not lawyers.

Originally Posted by JSV

…Forget about ethics, fair-play or "sportsmanship". There is none of this in business.(edit, I'm wrong about that, ethics, fair-play and sportsmanship do happen in business, but only if doing so is more profitable than not).

As seen in the "The Corporation" documentary, if we would describe the psychological traits of a corporation , it would be a psychopath. A corporation will never hesitate to break the laws or bending the rules if there is a profit to be made by doing so. If they are caught breaking the law, they will pay a fine of X dollars, but if, by breaking the law, they could earn a Y profit that is higher than X, then, breaking the law is a perfectly justified business decision. That's the true face of capitalism, kids. If you like capitalism, then don't bitch and moan about what Beats did in the Olympics, because it would be hypocrisy.

Bull shit, these are the companies that need to be slapped down by you and I. Sure a lot of companies can slip thru the cracks but if we don’t do something about issues that we feel are wrong, they’ll just continue to do it until they monopolize the market. What next they kill people because it’s more profitable? Yea I know it’s been done, even in the USA. If we the people don’t do something about unethical or illegal actions either by boycotting products or through some legal action then they’ll continue business as usual. BTW capitalism doesn’t have to be bad & evil like you say … but I will agree with you many aspects of it are bad/evil because we've allowed it to continue and the fact that they are run by unethical persons, which IMHO is unacceptable. I don't buy apple products because I don't like their closed ecosystem, sure it hasn't made a dent in their growth and monopolization of some market segments they compete in, but hell I sleep better at night

Originally Posted by JSV

Maybe Phelps is not listening to anything and is just paid a ridiculously huge amount of money for wearing these SOL Republic.

I think the latter is more realistic and not huge amounts but fair compensation. And speaking of him, he’s well aware of what he did or he wouldn’t have used tape over the logo for his last event. Like we didn’t know what headphones he’s using or like it wouldn’t stimulate even more interest for people looking into what brand he used because of the logo being covered …

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Wow!!! That's lower than I would have expected Apple to go,...

I agree with you and I would find it hard to believe this came from Cupertino. This could be some decision made at a regional/international level, who knows ... Note that these were limited give away pins rather than selling for profit, the actual olympic rings or any other trade marked logos/items were not infringed upon but yea it's strange.

Here's another thought, I noticed that Coca-Cola is a sponsor and I assume if someone want's a soda they can only buy Coke on the olympic grounds. Can you imagine pepsi setting up booths giving away free pepsi to everyone going to the games before they actually enter the grounds. This could be similar to what beats did but on a grander scale and probably would cost them peanuts to do ... While the guards at the gate might ask the spectators to toss the drink, I'm sure it would still get pepsi loads of free publicity.

[CrowdAds]

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

Apple playing the beats game http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnclar...olympic-brand/

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Wow!!! That's lower than I would have expected Apple to go,...

I'm not surprised at all.

[Tapeworm]

Apparently the IOC has changed their mind regarding the Beats headphones:

http://music.yahoo.com/news/dr-dre-b...GVyeQ--;_ylv=3

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Tapeworm

Apparently the IOC has changed their mind regarding the Beats headphones:

The link you provided brings up "Oops! Sorry, the page you requested either doesn't exist or isn't available right now!"

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

The link you provided brings up "Oops! Sorry, the page you requested either doesn't exist or isn't available right now!"

Corrected. Thanks.

[skip252]

There's no change of mind. If you read the original article it was about a reminder from the British Olympic Committee. The article you linked states the IOC position that it's up to each national committee to deal with their members

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said officials were aware of Dr. Dre's offer to athletes from about 20 nations but stressed it was up to each national Olympic team to ensure athletes protected the sponsors.

If there was a change in the BOC position that would be significant. The IOC hasn't budged.

What I found revealing was this part of the article

The Dr Dre campaign emerged as dozens of athletes launched a Twitter protest against the IOC's Rule 40, which forbids competitors from mentioning their own sponsors during an Olympics and can lead to disqualification if breached.

U.S. sprinter Manteo Mitchell summed up the view of many Olympians when he tweeted: "I am PROUD to represent my country ... But at the end of the day ... THIS IS MY JOB!!!!"

The days of any pretense of the Olympics being an amateur competition are long over. The athlete's beef isn't about interfering with their ability to compete. Their concern is more about interfering with their ability to make additional income from their job related activities. That job is training for and competing in the Olympics and other athletic events.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Tapeworm

Apparently the IOC has changed their mind regarding the Beats headphones ...

Should be an interesting response from panasonic if they give one. If I was in their shoes I'd be plenty mad, especially after paying $100 million for the 4 years of global rights to sponsor the Olympics. On another note, for that kind of money, I would think they want demand and deserve exclusivity at the events. What athletes do and use on the own time is immaterial ...

[Mikerman]

Originally Posted by Jack4L

Well that's the thing, your effectively using an external apparatus to hone your performance. I think that's kind of against the spirit of the competition, but more so its just that I think given the situation its disrespectful. "Oh no, gotta block out all these cheering people!"

I don't think it's for blocking people out as much as for focusing. And science has shown, it really can help in sports. I think that some athletes just do it more naturally than others. Personally, I really don't see it as against the spirit of the games--I mean, male swimmers shave their body hair to gain speed.

[steinburger1109]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

I don't think it's for blocking people out as much as for focusing. And science has shown, it really can help in sports. I think that some athletes just do it more naturally than others. Personally, I really don't see it as against the spirit of the games--I mean, male swimmers shave their body hair to gain speed.

I can see it both ways. Whenever I competed throughout my life, I was never the guy wearing headphones right before my competition, but I know a lot of people can't really perform without.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

... I mean, male swimmers shave their body hair to gain speed.

How does this have anything to do with listening to music for focus

[Mikerman]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

How does this have anything to do with listening to music for focus

It's the idea of, doing anything to save an extra few hundredth's of a second--including listening to music before a match, to zone out the world and focus in and visualize . . . .

[JSV]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

It's the idea of, doing anything to save an extra few hundredth's of a second--including listening to music before a match, to zone out the world and focus in and visualize . . . .

If there was a drug that would help an athlete to focus, it would probably be forbidden... Why listening to music for focusing is OK then?

I quite have this feeling that mankind is drifting in a downward spiral when I see more and more people who must wear earphones/headphones all the time: on a bicycle, driving their car, at work, when shopping, etc.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by JSV

If there was a drug that would help an athlete to focus, it would probably be forbidden... Why listening to music for focusing is OK then?

I quite have this feeling that mankind is drifting in a downward spiral when I see more and more people who must wear earphones/headphones all the time: on a bicycle, driving their car, at work, when shopping, etc.

I always wear a lightweight portable on-ear headphone in the grocery store, walking through the mall, etc. If I was riding a bike or driving, I wouldn't though.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

It's the idea of, doing anything to save an extra few hundredth's of a second--including listening to music before a match, to zone out the world and focus in and visualize . . . .

Back in 1972 Mark Spitz won seven gold medals and never shaved his mustache. IMO this seems more psychological than real and does differ from listening to tunes even though I'll agree they both aim to cut down time. Although it could be just a placebo effect similar to all the products that audiophiles claim to make a difference

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

Back in 1972 Mark Spitz won seven gold medals and never shaved his mustache. IMO this seems more psychological than real and does differ from listening to tunes even though I'll agree they're both aim to cut down time.

He didn't shave his armpits either, apparently....you may be right about the psychological aspect.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

He didn't shave his armpits eithe .... *IMG*

Good find, ROFLMAO!

[The DarkSide]

Yuk,...

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

--I mean, male swimmers shave their body hair to gain speed.

Originally Posted by WalkGood

How does this have anything to do with listening to music for focus

A lot of guys have hair in their ears. Removing said hair not only enhances the listening experience and helps the athlete's focus, but also cuts down on drag in the water.

[Mikerman]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

Back in 1972 Mark Spitz won seven gold medals and never shaved his mustache. IMO this seems more psychological than real and does differ from listening to tunes even though I'll agree they both aim to cut down time. Although it could be just a placebo effect similar to all the products that audiophiles claim to make a difference

It could be a placebo effect for the athletes--but as we know, that can have a very real effect. I recently saw a NOVA special (I think it was) on placebos, and was surprised to hear that doctors routinely gave patients placebo pills in the past--they were seen as a powerful remedy (and often did have positive effect).

Having said that, I wouldn't discount what even the smallest changes might do. I recall in the last Olympics (or was it the one before) that the U.S. swimmers started using a Nike body suit (I think it was Nike) that was engineered to mimic fish scales--this added to the aerodynamics. (And I also recall Michael Phelps giving a suit to a competing swimmer from another country, who couldn't afford to buy his own high-tech suit--talk about the Olympics spirit (I still get choked up about this). Hey, maybe Michael should buy all the other swimmers Panasonic headphones!)

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

... maybe Michael should buy all the other swimmers Panasonic headphones!)

I'm sure he made enough mula $$$ from the sol republic guys