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Jobs: Apple has "moral responsibility" to block iPhone porn; jabs Android (again)

By | April 20, 2010, 2:30am PDT

Summary: Steve Jobs makes no apologies for rejecting pornography in the iPhone app store, singles out Android as the platform for adult content.

Steve Jobs has already said once, in an e-mail reply to a customer, that rejecting an iPhone app submitted by a (now) Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist named Mark Fiore was a mistake. (And is being fixed.) But in another Steve Jobs e-mail sent to another customer, the Apple CEO makes no apologies for blocking porn apps on the iPhone.

Techcrunch has posted an e-mail exchange between Jobs and customer Matthew Browing, noting that Jobs has lately been on a roll of sorts when it comes to answering customer’s e-mails. In an e-mail sent to Jobs, Browing - an admitted convert to Apple products after the iPhone 3G came out - said he was starting to have a “philosophical issue with your company” and told Jobs that Apple’s role isn’t moral police but rather maker of cool consumer gadgets. He wrote:

It appears that more and more Apple is determining for it’s consumers what content they should be able to receive… I’m all for keeping porn out of kids hands. Heck – I’m all for ensuring that I don’t have to see it unless I want to. But… that’s what parental controls are for. Put these types of apps into categories and allow them to be blocked by their parents should they want to.

To which Jobs replied: “…we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone.” (I fixed a typo for him.)

So there you have it. If you have a particular fetish for… well, that’s your business… on a mobile device, then you should probably re-think the iPhone. And this is the second time Jobs has pointed out the availability of porn for the Android devices. The first was during a press Q&A after the announcement of iPhone OS 4.0.

Here’s the thing: Jobs is absolutely right. Clearly opposed to pornography, Jobs surely realizes he can’t make it go away completely. But he doesn’t have to contribute to the spreading of it - especially in a place where children often shop using a technology that many parents still don’t understand well enough to police. (As a parent, I can appreciate where he’s coming from.) Jobs has taken a position for his company and he is sticking by it. There’s no shame in that. In fact, he’s earned my respect for it.

I still have some concerns about Apple’s control over content as it relates to journalism and news outlets - but that’s a different debate.

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Topics

Job, Android, Apple Inc., Sam Diaz, Recruitment & Staffing, Workforce Management

Sam has been a technology and business blogger for more than 18 years.

Disclosure

Sam Diaz

Sam Diaz has nothing to disclose.

Biography

Sam Diaz

Sam has been a technology and business blogger, reporter and editor at ZDNet, the Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News and Fresno Bee for more than 18 years. He's a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and a graduate of California State University, Fresno.

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Beta vs VHS
Mannaman 7th Sep
This is a lie. I was a video hardware salesman at the time and the reason Beta failed was lying salesmen (of which I wasn't but I marveled that MOST were). Customers would query, "Which is better?"

The salesmen, making higher profits on VHS, which was also selling for less, would answer something like, "I can't tell a difference (a LIE) but VHS has six hours and Beta only has four and a half, so which one is better?"
View in thread
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Jobs Is A Control Freak
sismoc 20th Apr 2010
This is just another example of his psychotic desire to rule the world.

As long as Jobs lives I will never give Apple a single penny of my hard earned money.
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and a moronic old fart, too...
BillDem 20th Apr 2010
The past few years have shown decision after decision where Jobs was out of touch with the modern world. He left MMS off the iPhone for 2 years. He left cameras off the iPad. Now, he thinks he's qualified to be judge and jury on what defines "porn." He thinks he should get to dictate the moral compass for every person of every religious or belief system who uses Apple products. Is Ford going to start dictating whether we can drive their cars to strip clubs next? Is Tropicana going to sue us if we mix their orange juice with vodka? Jobs is narcissistic beyond belief, with no recent intelligent behavior to back it up. He should be put out to pasture.
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IRONIC: Who's the control freak?
wjanoch 20th Apr 2010
Jobs may control the iphone's content, but that's his ... um ... Job. What
right do you have to tell him how he should run his company?
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How is it his job?
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
How is it his job to control how I use a tool I buy? If I buy a hedge trimmer, it's none of the maker's business if I decide to use to to decapitate the neighbor's cat.

If I build a home, it is none of my business if the people who bought the home choose to have orgies every Friday night and post the videos on Youtube.

Once I BUY a computer, what I do with it is my business, not the government's, not Jobs.

This astroturf terror of kids getting their hands on porn is merely an excuse to control people and try to create the type of utopian society that JOBS wants us to have. That kind of thinking is far too common in this increasingly socialistic world.

I am NOT my brother's keeper, nor is Jobs' mine.

As a parent, RAISE YOUR OWN BLASTED KIDS! Stop trying to infringe on the rest of the world because you couldn't keep it in your pants and are too lazy to do the work of raising the results.
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It's certainly...
oncall 20th Apr 2010
Not Job's job, or Apple's job, to provide you with porn, go get your own. In no way did or does Apple advertise that their devices are for viewing porn (though they could be used for such) nor do they force you not to use their devices to watch porn. What you use your iPhone or iPad for is your business, just don't expect Apple to provide you with things the company has CLEARLY stated they will not be providing. Speaking of acting like an adult how's about making an informed purchase?
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You can do what you want with the iPhone
shadfurman 20th Apr 2010
The App store is a service. Your complaint is akin
to complaining that McDonalds doesn't have
strippers. You can jailbreak your phone and put
any app you want on there.

Now I am against Apple trying so hard to prevent
people from jailbreaking their phones. If they
want to void their warranties thats their right.
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Excuse me
willshell 20th Apr 2010
Excuse me... Once you buy a computer, it IS the government's business to know how you use it. If you use it to embezzle money or distribute child pornography, the government will be knocking on your front door. Please be responsible with your words - you are not totally autonomous: you are subject to laws and regulations like everyone else.
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censorship not justified ??? technology should enable free flow of info!!
davidf01 20th Apr 2010
apple's core values are about building pro tools that enable people to design
information as they desire.

The zen of the mac is that the tools don't get in the way of your work.

Apple's new-found success with consumer products seems to have turned this
ethos on it's head! Apple now seems to be obsessed with limiting what you can
not do with their tools, rather than what you can.

Steve Jobs -in an obessional persuit of vindication for his ouster in the 80's - is
destroying tge very brand he was instrumental in originally creating in the 70's.

This new regime of thought control is a deep insult to apple's loyal customers
who carried the "think different" torch in the dark days.

And there doesn't seem any limit to where this Bowlderization is headed: it's not
just naked bodies that are being excised: the Dali Lama, no less, is also
censored from the iTunes store in china! The perverse irony that Jobs is
supposed to be a Buddhist doesn't seem to present any qualms for him to
cravey submit to a microsoft-worthy level of appeasement to a communist
dictatorship!).

censorship is the antithesis of a civilized, open society; where beliefs are
formed & testied by individual experience not just social tradition; where
knowing how to formulate the right question is just as important as repeating
the right answer; where the right to critiicize & dissent is enabled -not impeded-
by the tools & conventions at man's disposal.

Information - like the human spirit - yearns to be free. Our machine are
supposed to liberate us not shackle us.

the time is soon approaching where even the most devoted apple enthusiasts -
like me- will realize (sadly but inevitably) that the time has come for Steve Jobs
leave before the damage he does outweighs the good he does.
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Totally agree with you...
Jediguardian Updated - 21st Apr 2010
...except the government is maybe the one to have a say about what you do with the computer... If you publish or download kiddie porn, well... that's where I draw the line, you get the picture.

Steve Jobs wasn't elected as a law maker, or moral policeman for the whole planet. He's a salesman and once we buy his stuff we can do with it as we like. I worked hard for the money to buy an iPhone, but Stevo thinks it's a licensed product and he's the owner...WRONG! It's mine, I jailbreak it, put porn in it, the Dalai Lama, the Pulitzer winning cartoonist he banned from the Apple Store and every go-dd-amn thing I like. That's my right. PARENTS: Take care of your kids, the TV, the teenage baby sitter, the state or stupid Steve Jobs won't do the job for you... Don't come crying when they are 15 crack addicts!

If porn is so bad... why is that PLAYBOY APP still exist in the Apple store?
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It is still all about choice
wls 20th Apr 2010
Until government finally gains monopoly control of every sector of U.S. business (as is the current direction), we still have a choice. Maybe Steve Jobs IS a control freak. In this case, I'm glad he is. But if someone doesn't like that, then they can get a Droid. Works for me, and it works for any society where there is still a choice of products and services. Now, after 8 years of the current presidential administration, that may not be the case. But, for now, let free market Apple be and do what they want.
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A common theme amongst the Anti Apple crowd.
Tigertank Updated - 20th Apr 2010
Is their despise of the free market. They can't stand the idea that a
business can decide to sell what it wants to sell. It's also odd that so
many need porn so desperately on their mobile phone that they want
companies that don't sell and have never sold porn to be forced into
selling porn in their own stores.

This is just another example of his psychotic desire to rule the
world.

Yes, one G-rated App at a time. Muhuhahahaha!!!
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A common theme amongst the APPLE FANBOY crowd
poch333 20th Apr 2010
Is to blindly embrace everything apple does like
brainless zombies. It's just a corporate entity
people! If the product is good, go and buy it. No
need to kiss the CEO's feet.
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You must blindly embrace everything apple does
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
Otherwise you might encourage another Timothy McVeigh!
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Brainless, is attacking an opinion you agree with.
Tigertank 20th Apr 2010
A common theme amongst the APPLE FANBOY crowd---Is to blindly
embrace everything apple does like
brainless zombies.

So you have no meaningful critique about the substance of what I wrote
and can't make a counter argument? But you still attacked. Sounds like
you're the brainless zombie, mate.

It's just a corporate entity
people! If the product is good, go and buy it.

That is Exactly the point I was making. It's a free market. If you
don't like the product Apple makes, than buy another- Don't whine about
how you're entitled to have Apple provide you with porn. Seems like you
agree with Steve Jobs but still attacked because you hate Apple.
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Do You Remember Beta vs VHS ?
coopejx@... 20th Apr 2010
Sony knew they had a superior product in their Beta. They would have won their marketing war except for one mistake - they refused to allow any porn to be licensed on the Beta platform. Result: the porn marketers were forced to move to VHS. The mass market followed to VHS. Beta lost market share until their product sales were negligible. Is Jobs repeating the same mistake ?
  • Flagged
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That is a dead paradigm
Tigertank 20th Apr 2010
People said the same in the Bluray vs. HD-DVD debate and porn played
zero role. Porn is completely in the domain of the internet now. all of
which is accessible through the iPhone anyway.

Furthermore, people have been buying millions of iphones and over a
billion Apps so far with no porn so you can't say it has hurt anyone.
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nt
Tom-Tech 21st Apr 2010
"Porn is completely in the domain of the internet now. all of
which is accessible through the iPhone anyway."

Problem for iPhone users though is that most smut sites display their videos in Flash, so aren't accessible by iPhone.

Personally, I prefer to view my porn on a big screen in the comfort of my own home, rather than on a tiny screen on the bus to work, but maybe I'm just a prude?
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It wasn't just pr0n
jabster17 20th Apr 2010
There were other factors in Beta vs. VHS:

1) The quality difference was negligible,
especially on (for example) an old tube
Motorola console vs. a brand new solid state
Trinitron.

2) You could get a VHS machine for $300 while
Beta was going for twice that. It wasn't so
much VHS vs. Beta, but VHS vs. doing without.

3) Beta was slower at getting out tapes that
had a 2-hour or longer runtime, which would let
you tape a movie off of TV. VHS's longer
runtimes would also make it easier to tape
sporting events. And once Beta came out with
slower recording speeds, Beta's vaunted quality
difference really began to diminish at those
slower speeds.

4) Sony wasn't as aggressive at licensing Beta
as JVC was with VHS. The only Beta licensees
of note were Zenith (which sold rebadged Sony
machines) and Sanyo. Sound familiar?

5) The rental market really cast its vote to
VHS with the wider number of available tapes
and installed base of machines, making VHS's
numbers advantage snowball.
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Not quite the same...
Johpr13@... 21st Apr 2010
At that time the only easy way to bringing porn into your home was with magazines. When porn went to VHS the flood gates were open because you could get a porn VHS tape as easy as buying a magazine and watch it 24/7 in the privacy of your home. Also Sony didn't market the Betamax like they should have.
But today porn can be downloaded or accessed through any computer, making it easy to get 24/7 wherever you are. I'm not anti-porn in any way, but I do kind of respect Jobs for saying his iphone will not be a tool for porn. Whether this will really effect the sales of the iPhone remains to be seen, but as other have said here, we are all free to purchase another phone if we feel that strongly against what Jobs is doing. He's not saying we can't have porn, just not on his phone.
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Common themes among the internet argument crowd
DappledSunlight 22nd Apr 2010
I can't help but notice that these themes are common among the people
who like to argue on the internet.
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You're being purposefully obtuse
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
If he can say how I use the device he sells me, then he's not selling it to me, he's letting me use it for a price. This evil got its start with software licensing, and resulted in atrocities such as the DMCA and RIAA.

Porn is not the issue. Not being able to do whatever I want with a product I purchased IS. Jobs is NOT my parent.

A common theme among the Pro-Apple crowd is their despite for individual liberty. They can't stand the idea that a consumer is the best judge of what to do with the product he buys.

Does Jobs have a "right" to tell people what kind of software they write for his device? No!
Does he have the right to try to make a product that will only run the kinds of apps he wants it to run? Absolutely!

And I have a perfect right to purchase his competitors products. But, just because he has the right to produce totalitarian crap, and just because I have the right to buy something else, doesn't mean I give up the right to criticize him for his totalitarian views.

I've never liked that nut or his products. He's a liar and a thief.
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No, I'm purposefully being sarcastic.
Tigertank 20th Apr 2010
If he can say how I use the device he sells me, then he's not selling it
to me, he's letting me use it for a price. This evil got its start with
software licensing, and resulted in atrocities such as the DMCA and
RIAA.

That is the obtuse statement. And misleading. You don't have the
rights to the device. (unless Apple sold you the rights.) But you are
not really arguing about how you use it, but that it doesn't have the
functionality you wish it had. Apple does not and has never sold Porn
at the App store. They have never advertised porn nor mislead
anybody into thinking that there was Porn you could buy there. They
have their own reasons for that (probably about brand association
etc.) and you may or may not agree, but it is their product, their store
and their right. If you don't agree than don't buy the product. This is
so bloody simple.

Porn is not the issue. Not being able to do whatever I want with a
product I purchased IS. Jobs is NOT my parent.

"Not being able to do whatever I want with a product I purchased" is
also not the issue. Complaining that a device doesn't do what you
would rather have it do (even though you knew this when you
purchased it) is the issue. I don't know WHO your parents are but
they certainly spoiled you rotten. You really have a serious entitlement
complex. Don't like it- BUY SOMETHING ELSE. BTW, for many I think
porn IS the issue. A year ago when an objectionable game about
shaking the baby slipped through the App store approval process, the
usual Anti-Apple crowd was all over the story about how crass and
distasteful the App was. Today, I see the same names feigning
disgust that Apple has an approval process at all.

A common theme among the Pro-Apple crowd is their despite for
individual liberty. They can't stand the idea that a consumer is the
best judge of what to do with the product he buys.

I can't speak for anyone but myself. But Individual liberty is one of my
supreme virtues. And I highly doubt other Mac users hate individual
liberty. But you seem to be confusing individual liberty with individual
responsibility. Like you, I exercise my individual freedom when I
choose to purchase the product of my choice. But unlike like you, I
take the responsibility to educate and make the decision myself
instead of crying that I am entitled that every company sell me every
product with every feature custom built to my own philosophical
whims.

And I have a perfect right to purchase his competitors products. But,
just because he has the right to produce totalitarian crap, and just
because I have the right to buy something else, doesn't mean I give up
the right to criticize him for his totalitarian views.

So you agree with Apple that they have a right sell what they want to
sell, but then criticize them for selling what they want to sell. Is this
the gist? Otherwise you are just listing your own feature preferences
and complaining that you can't get them from Apple. Too bad.



I've never liked that nut or his products. He's a liar and a thief.

I think this has more to do with your objections than anything else.
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BS
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
Entitlement complex my ass.

I started working, learning to be a bricklayer 3 weeks before I turned 12. Don't talk to me about entitlement.

But I AM free. When I pay for something, it is MY MONEY that is buying it. And if I BUY something IT IS MINE. PERIOD.

Of course Apple has the right to sell whatever they want; but they do not have the right to dictate what I do with MY PROPERTY.

If that's "entitlement", then I have an entitlement mentality.

Now, where in the purchase agreement does it say that you are just LEASING the device?

The issue isn't whether the device does what I want it to; the issue is Jobs' attempt to control a product once he has already sold it. Nor is it a matter of buying a product that does everything I want. I'm not interested in porn; but that's not Jobs' call, it's mine.

Yes, I assert that Apple has a right to sell whatever crap they want to sell. I have a right to criticize them. Which part of this don't you get?

As for my objections to Jobs, I learned a long time ago that if I were to only purchase products from honest, decent people I'd end up naked and starving.

I repeat yet again, the issue isn't that the iPad does or doesn't do what I want it to do. The issue is this piece of garbage trying to sell a product and then telling people how they can use it. Why release an SDK (for $100) if you're going to dictate what software can go on the machine (I'm still trying to figure out the objection to a C64 emulator)? The best way to control what software goes on the machine is to write the software all in-house. Of course then you can't steal the creativity of others.

Of course, Apple didn't invent this policy, either. They've taken a lesson from Nintendo.
Who should have not been allowed to do business in the U.S. in the first place.
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ooooooo I struck a nerve
Tigertank Updated - 20th Apr 2010
OK I'll reduce the snark.

But I AM free. When I pay for something, it is MY MONEY that is
buying it.
And if I BUY something IT IS MINE. PERIOD. Of course Apple has the
right to
sell whatever they want; but they do not have the right to dictate what
I do
with MY PROPERTY.

I think the problem here is the vague language being used in this
debate. The
issue is about Apple's specific decision to not sell porn at it's own
stores.
Then you start talking about Apple taking away your rights to do
whatever you
want on your iphone. There is the disconnect.

If you want to watch porn on the iphone than watch it on the internet.
Or
download it yourself onto the phone or jailbreak it and use
unsupported Apps
(running the risk of bricking) or do what ever you want. But if there
no official
Porn apps to buy at Apple's store and you need those than buy
another
device. That is your choice and decision.
And that's the free market.

The issue isn't whether the device does what I want it to; the issue
is Jobs'
attempt to control a product once he has already sold it. Nor is it a
matter of
buying a product that does everything I want. I'm not interested in
porn; but
that's not Jobs' call, it's mine."

And more of the same. Again, you are expanding a specific event into
a
philosophical vagary that is hard to define let alone address. i.e.
statements
like: "attempt to control a product once he has sold it" How is this
related to
their decision not to pedal porn.
OK, so either way, it sounds like you would rather buy another phone
that
plays all the porn you want. Whether or not you want porn. So what is
stopping you? I've said this several times already. Apple sells a
product that
is not for everyone. They even go as far as to tell you this and suggest
you
buy another product if you don't like it. But you are completely
ignoring this
fact and continue to insist that they provide porn; on a device you will
never
use.
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It's not about porn...
Jediguardian 21st Apr 2010
it's about censorship! The "Think Different" is "Think like US, or you are stupid looser, not cool"
I hate when people, companies or organizations tell me what to think or what to do... I respect others and their rights, but I can't stand that a greedy company like Apple tell me what is good or not for me. The parents shoud be the barrier between adult material and their beloved kids.
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Typical
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
Just another left-wing socialist doing what they do.
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If it weren't for apple we'd all be using flip phones
rolandrich 20th Apr 2010
You guys are haters. Apple is an engineering
company that make compeditors go how did
they do that. There also family oriented who
wants kids stumbling on Smut apps. On Safari
I'm sure there are hundreds of mobile sites out
there. If your pissed at Jobs cause you can't
look at a boob app may need therapy
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Funny
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
My first cell phone was a candybar phone.
I've never had a flip phone.

My current phone is a PPC6700, with a slide-out keyboard. I've been drooling over a Droid, which also has a slide-out keyboard. iPhone... no slide-out keyboard.

So what if they are "family oriented"? All that means is they are using another marketing gimmick to appeal to a selfish and lazy segment of the population that has no problem regulating the rest of us because they had sex one night.

It's a lot late to try imposing limits on the rest of society simply because for 3 generations parents haven't been doing their job. It's not my job to raise your brat. It's not my responsibility to protect your kid from porn, or STDs, or bad business decisions. That's your headache, if you're a parent.

A failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis on my part. A lack of desire to control your child on your part does not constitute an obligation on my part to conform to limitations you choose to impose.

Perhaps someday we'll once again re-institute the policies that children are not a part of the adult world (and maybe, dream of dreams, that children are to be seen and not heard!). This would mean that children are not entitled to CELLULAR PHONES or handheld COMPUTERS. These are not Gameboys, and yet I see child after child after child with a phone glued to his ear, or in his illiterate hands typo-ing away.
Every educational funding program pushes the idea of putting computers in the hands of embryos (God forbid they should learn how to think before being given access to a knowledge processor).

Before chastising your betters, perhaps you should become at least somewhat literate?
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amazing comment...
Aussie_linux_user 20th Apr 2010
"A failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis on my part. A lack of desire to control your child on your part does not constitute an obligation on my part to conform to limitations you choose to impose."

I'd love to use this as an argument against the great firewall of china.. woops I meant Australia
.... sorry for not waiting.. .. done already
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Well... I love Flip Phones.
Jediguardian Updated - 21st Apr 2010
... and the iPhone is a crippled device. It doesn't have Flash video capacity, lots of developers get banned from the app store and all that is a Gestapo tactic to have control of the free flow of information... Information is power.
I'm not buying any more Apple crap. I'm done with its Nazi CEO.
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Totally agree...
Jediguardian Updated - 21st Apr 2010
He reminds me of Mark Zuckerberg... they wanna tell us what to think, how and when. What is acceptable and what's not. Well, they can go to hell.
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Absolutely
royalstream Updated - 26th Apr 2010
No porn, no flash player, no silverlight support,
just their own scheisse and using their ridiculous
Objective-C development platform.

He's lucky to have a company as big as Apple
because if Apple were a small company, it would be
ruined already.
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Ok... So what Jobs is really saying here...
Wolfie2K3 20th Apr 2010
...is that we, the unwashed masses have no moral compass and we are too pathetic to ever decide what is right and wrong - so he is going to make that decision for us.

Yup.. It's official. Apple is fitting the description of a cult more and more every day.

Hey... Here's an idea for an app. One that uses the GPS to locate your position on earth and calculate the direction to Cupertino, CA so all the good little Mac and iP/P/P sycophants can line up their prayer mats in the right direction. Maybe one day real soon, Jobs will dictate the women who work at Apple start wearing burqas..

I'll pass.. Thanks anyhow.
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And another thing...
Wolfie2K3 20th Apr 2010
How long before the Apple Geniuses need to start wearing priestly robes while on duty in the local temples (Apple stores)?
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Whats up with the Islamic
khazeem 20th Apr 2010
references to something you find insulting or wrong? You could not find a better way of expressing your discontent towards Apple for this move other than to throw your favorite bad guys in it - Muslims. For your information, Muslim women love being Muslim women. Don't let the few that are under the influence of Feminism fool you. You racist bigot!
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Okay, substitute 'Drinking the Kool-Aid'
Palmetto 20th Apr 2010
How would you have phrased it to describe those who treat Apple and Jobs like the first is a religion and the second its prophet?

We can use 'drinking the Kool-Aid'; Jim Jones' followers aren't able to complain.
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I don't know...
khazeem Updated - 20th Apr 2010
but its not about complaining. Its about a Country full of misinformed and misguided people towards a particular religion that really is no place for joking.

The people that want to call Apple lovers "sheep" or "cool aid drinkers" are no better than the ones they criticize. I mean, loving a thing don't make you a "slave" to that thing or stupid, you know! Just like loving "nothing" does not make you more "independent" or smarter.

Appearing to stand for nothing at all is really a cowards way through life, and to criticize those that do stand for something makes you even worse.

HOWEVER... it is not the role of business to make such moral decisions. But if Apple has a dedicated following then that's all on them. If "they" like it, "I" love it!
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Major philosophical disagreement
Palmetto 20th Apr 2010
"Its about a Country full of misinformed and misguided people towards a particular religion that really is no place for joking."


--EVERYTHING-- is subject to joking; no topic is immune or taboo. The more restrictive the subject, the funnier the jokes are.
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And if you can't cut it....
Yam Digger 20th Apr 2010
"Its about a Country full of misinformed and misguided people towards a particular religion that really is no place for joking."

--EVERYTHING-- is subject to joking; no topic is immune or taboo. The more restrictive the subject, the funnier the jokes are."



...And if your religious sensitivities can't tolerate that, you have no business living in a free, Western society.
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Free???
khazeem 20th Apr 2010
Look, lets back off this topic right now and get back to Apple because America is hardly a "free society". Have you been to a law library lately? There is no need for that many laws in a "free society". They criminalize anything and everything that "THEY" don't like.

And its funny that I have become the focus here and not the bigot that was out of line in the first place. Hmmm. Its not about me being sensitive. I can take a joke with the best of them. But I know when someone is hiding bigotry behind a joke, and in my presence that will not be tolerated. And no one should tolerate it.
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RE: Free???
gcomputeronet@... 20th Apr 2010
"free society" might be a stretch, but we have freedom to say about anything and that includes letting bigots be bigots. If we don't allow them their bigotry, then we also will end up not being allowed our freedom to practice our religion. If you can't tolerate people believing other religions and stating that your religion is pointless, then you are in for a life of difficulty in the US.

So relax, or don't.
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Ok.. you got me..
khazeem 20th Apr 2010
I have to agree with that one to some degree. However, there is a differences between simply "joking" and "slandering" due to a lack of understanding. Is it kind of funny to see the Muslim women in Burkahs? It could be. Can it make for a great punch line.... sure it can. But to "slander" the religion as a whole for the cultural habits of a few is not a joke. And to make it seem as though Muslim women are only Muslims by force or stupidity is indeed "slanderous". And that is no joke.

Lets get back to Apple. Lol.
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Upon further review,
Palmetto 20th Apr 2010
I missed Wolfie2K's 'burkah' remark the first time through. Yeah, that was out of line.
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Did it ever occur to you
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
That some of us don't like Islam because we *do* know about the religion?

Yes, America is not as free as we should be, because too many have come to adopt the authoritarian view of government that is endemic to Moslem societies.

When I see Moslems parading around with Osama bin Laden's head on a pole, then I'll consider changing my mind about it. Until then, Moslems are the enemy of my culture and my nation.
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Respect of the fellow man...
GSavage777 20th Apr 2010
Is lost on the American people. Seems that most people like to insult others.
They are not even ashamed or shy about it.
It's interesting too, the phrase I hear so often.
"I'm mad, because they dissed me". Dissed is short for disrespected. A lot of
fights are started this way. Being an American, shouldn't be thought of as a
license to be rude to other people, in the name of "humor".
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Respect is needed
gcomputeronet@... 20th Apr 2010
I agree, though some people are insulted too easily. If I slurp my soup I insult some and respect others, so what is right? Other people's ignorance should not cause me pain. Let that slide and show them respect so they can see it modeled.
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Respect
hiraghm@... 20th Apr 2010
is EARNED... not OWED.

Dissed is not short for "disrespect". It is a made-up verb invented by illiterates trying to sound intelligent and cool.

I don't recall reading in the 1st Amendment limitations on free speech based upon offending or insulting others. The invented exception regarding "fire in a crowded theater" is a rather immediate, and extremely limited exception (which shouldn't exist).

People should be allowed to say whatever they like, and deal with the consequence.

But this world has unfortunately frowned upon consequences and prefers prevention. The former may be ugly, but it leads to greater freedom.

How ironic that there are people in a thread complaining about Jobs' totalitarian view about a product he's been paid for, who are arguing in favor of controlling what other people say.

As much distaste as I have for Moslems, it's not a mote compared to my distaste for socialists.
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Standing up for something
maxtov@... 20th Apr 2010

How about freedom - ever heard of that concept?
And standing for freedom? Rings a bell?
As for the Apple policy - let them have it. In turn, I will not subsidy their efforts with my money
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At least someone gets it.
Palmetto 20th Apr 2010
Apple's free to sell what they want, or to not sell what they don't want. Consumers are free to spend their money on other companies' products. It's that simple.
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iCripples
blueskip 20th Apr 2010
That's the correct term for lovers of Apple products. I should know, I coined it.

iCripple = lover of crippled products and software (usually made by Apple)

I should make some t-shirts depicting a bunch of mentally handicapped zombies that are mamed crying out for "Gadgets...Gadgets!!! Must..have..crippled..gadgets!!! STEVE!! STEVE!!!"
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Beta vs VHS
Mannaman 7th Sep
This is a lie. I was a video hardware salesman at the time and the reason Beta failed was lying salesmen (of which I wasn't but I marveled that MOST were). Customers would query, "Which is better?"

The salesmen, making higher profits on VHS, which was also selling for less, would answer something like, "I can't tell a difference (a LIE) but VHS has six hours and Beta only has four and a half, so which one is better?"

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