I understand that Apple is looking at protecting their image and having the ability to avoid litigation. But these type of actions will be counter productive and extremely dangerous in the future.
I fully expect that the World History textbook of my future (hopefully) grandchild will point to the downfall of all civilization proceeding from Apple declining to sell self-defined overtly sexual apps in the iTunes store. Extremely dangerous? Though I do respect your opinion to label it as such, I just find it a bit overblown.
Today, This type of mass banning will create litigation from a developer if an App gets singled out as being "overtly sexual" and it turns out to be educational in nature (I.e. Biology, Anatomy, Medical, etc.) because someone complained and Apple "needs to protect the children!"
And those complainers would be stupid. Though they would have the right to complain. Litigation? I doubt it. Developers could make their case in the approval process, couldn't they?
Unfortunately, history has taught us that these types of censorship issues has led to the "Few" dictating what is good for the "many" Atrocities have been committed in the name of "protecting the children". While Apple is not a government, a large Multi-National Corporation can exert a great deal of pressure as much as a Government can without the rules we have for Governments.
Well, not every government plays by the same rules, at least as I look at various countries around the globe. I respect your right to hold an opinion, but I feel you are taking huge leaps when you equate this to atrocities.
IF Apple wants to address these complaints, they could make a change in the App store and segregate the "Adult" apps to those accounts that have a verified Credit card attached to them. Or ad the SSN to the account as part of the verification.
I agree, they should have a better system. I have no desire to give Apple, or any other retailer, my SSN, though. If Apple set up a system like that, I would not purchase from them. Which is also my recommendation for people who do not like their recent decision. It may hurt to give up your iPhone, but it would send a great message to Apple if people put their values before their money. After all, Apple is about making money.
Most children have allowances in the iTunes store which are setup by their parents or manage purchases through gift cards. Either way, these accounts don't have a credit card attached to them If a parent is stupid enough to give their kid their credit card to purchase anything they want, then the parent is responsible for anything that the child does.
IN the end, parents are responsible for what their children do, no company or government should be the parent to a child.
I agree, parents are responsible. That's why I don't let me kids wonder around alone in the video store, because in the country I am in, they display soft porn alongside regular movies. My kids are still little and when they are looking for Finding Nemo I don't want them to see Bi-tanic. And I monitor my kids activities when they are on the computer. Some people then say I am repressive. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. (Perhaps this is how Apple feels.) If Apple wants to sell these apps again, they should set up an adult section, as well as a graphic violence section. Let the user decide what is displayed.
I hate being political on this issue, but Apple is getting themselves into these type of discussion by censoring.
No worries. It's the nature of this particular thread. Bottom line, I still don't see this as censoring. Other people do. We all can agree to disagree. If Apple came to me and told me I could not sell these products in my store, then it would be censoring. But what they sell in their own store is their choice. Yes, it is a closed system, but it is not the only system. In the US, I would not go to Nordstrom and demand they sell the same cheap Levis sold at Walmart. Nordstrom has the freedom to chose what they sell. If I don't like it, I spend my money elsewhere. There are a million places to get overtly sexual materials, why is everyone upset over one store deciding to not sell it? Yes, the approval process may be ambiguous, but Shiller's quote did state "in a well-accepted format." Maybe if developers went back and increased the quality of their product, it would get accepted. That is not censoring, it is telling people that they don't want to sell crap in their store. (But they do, don't they! Which is why I think the boasting about all the apps is a crock. How many of these are really useful? It's like the same Windows taunts about all the software available for that platform. Crapware is crapware, regardless of the platform.) But if Apple is trying to clarify its branding, then that is their choice. If their decision results in you taking your business elsewhere, that will affect their bottom-line, at which point they will need to think again.
Thanks for engaging in the discussion.
I guess I didn't understand your quip, sorry.