Phil Schiller Acknowledges New App Store Sexual Content Ban and Exceptions

[Stella]

you have the choice a different smartphone

Not so good option for people who bought one and didn't realize Apple would start removing applications on their whim.

( People don't necessarily have to want to buy these apps - but object to having applications removed like this. )


I see direct parrells between Nintendo and Apple. Apple have seen the success of Nintendo due to its 'family friendly' image ( albeit, you can still blow up and kill people!) and are now copying Nintendo trying to emulate the success.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

F*** you Apple. I'm done with the iPhone, as soon as AT&T releases a decent Android device, I'm done.

Now that might be the most original thing I've read in this thread today. Leave the iPhone but keep ATT. That's got to be a world first.

 

[yg17]

Now that might be the most original thing I've read in this post today. Leave the iPhone but keep ATT. That's got to be a world first.

I have no problems with AT&T, why should I leave? Maybe some people here bitch and moan about AT&T because they don't have 3G coverage in Bum****istan North Dakota, but why should I leave and go to another carrier that might not be as good where I live?

 

[ppnkg]

Apple as moral police? I think it's becoming essential that the ipad fails...and with it an entire model that will potentially allow apple to fully control what users will or will not be able to see/do etc

 

[SteveSparks]

Americans and their strange double standards :

I went to a movie on an american army base in Germany a few years ago and people went to see Black Hawk Down with three year old kids, because in the other movie that was on there was a nipple shown on screen...

I personally would rather have my kids wanking at age 13 than playing with actual guns. But hey, that's just me.. I did the first thing and turned out quite fine... I have great muscletone in my right arm.

Dude, its our culture. I might disagree with your prospective but they both can be right for our porspective cultures. I am personally getting tired of people from Eroupe thinking they have it better, when I know we have it better.

 

[SteveSparks]

Apple as moral police? I think it's becoming essential that the ipad fails...and with it an entire model that will potentially allow apple to fully control what users will or will not be able to see/do etc

Think about it. This would make it more likely to be a success since Apple is demonstrating to Schools they are willing to control the content to meet a specific set of standards.

 

[Maui]

Censorship

Using your definition of censorship, you are censoring me unless you let me write your posts for you.

 

[CactusHawk]

Hasn't everyone always known and accepted (to a degree) that Apple control what goes in the App Store and that their acceptance criteria is organic?

Apple have customers' expectations of the App Store to manage, and like everything those expectations will not be shared by everyone, but Apple still needs to make a decision based on what they perceive is going to be best for Apple and its shareholders.

Don't think Apple decided "Yuk, we don't want this filth in the App Store especially where children might be able to see it", they thought "We don't want our customer base to associate us with this kind of material or it will impact on our brand reputation". As for the continued association with the "softer" material (Playboy, FHM), it's just the same as in newsagents (are they called that in the US?), where these are publications that people are used to seeing there and don't generally tarnish the name of the major newsagent chains that sell them, whereas if that newsagent suddenly started filling a good percentage of their shelves with "Big Jugs Monthly" then the public perception of that newsagent would likely change away from being a friendly family store.

So, it's a business decision, the result of which just happens to be the same as censorship. That doesn't mean it is censorship though. Sure, it's a decision that people will argue against but I think it's one of those "you can keep all of the people happy some of the time..." scenarios. Just look at the opposing postings in this thread and you can see that it was no easy decision.

But we do want them to associate us with beating and killing...in a game

 

[yg17]

( People don't necessarily have to want to buy these apps - but object to having applications removed like this. )

+1

I don't have any of these apps, I don't want any of these apps. I object to the censorship and hypocrisy displayed by Apple, and this is just the beginning. Are the violent games going next, once some pissed off parents start bitching to Apple that their 11 year old, who probably shouldn't even have an iPhone in the first place and certainly doesn't have a credit card to tie to their iTunes account, purchased CoD?

 

[ppnkg]

why does apple remove boob apps but leave all the gun apps in the store? is flesh worse than force?

of course it is! they're american, remember?

 

[yg17]

of course it is! they're american, remember?

In American media, shooting someone is OK as long as both the shooter and the victim are fully clothed.

 

[jaw04005]

Seems like more of a problem with App Store rankings than anything else. During the last few months, these “sex apps” have slowly crept up to the top of the App Store’s paid and free categories, exposing them to more people.

A more practical solution would have been to introduce a new ratings category (18+? Adult content?), relabeled them and exclude that new category from the overall App Store rankings.

"It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see," Mr. Schiller said.

Nice generalization there. Damn women ruin everything.

 

[SteveSparks]

Furthermore, Wikipedia claims censorship is "...the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the government or media organizations as determined by a censor."

Apple is clearly a media company in this instance.

Do you agree you an go else where to read the same material?
Do you agree Apple Owns the App Store and should have 100% control over the content?
What happens if the government said they had to restore the Apps?
Do you think the government should tell Apple what they can and can not have in the stores?
Do you agree that you can vote with your pocket book and not buy a new iPhone or iPad?

 

[diabolic]

The real problem with the material in the App Store is that the people putting the material were mis-catagorizing the applications and exposing people who did not want to see the material.

This is exactly the problem. If the age restrictions/parental controls actually were 100% reliable, this wouldn't need to happen. They should have a separate adult area of the app store that can be turned off.

Apple knows there are large number of kids under 10 using the iPod Touch. I think they could do a better job categorizing and organizing the app store to limit the content available to kids, but I think they ultimately should be allowed to control what software goes on their devices even if the decisions are arbitrary.

 

[kdarling]

they are controlling the app store. which is good and it belongs to them so they should control it.

The "good" or "should" is debatable, but they certainly can control it.

its the reason apples app store isn't running as rampant with crapps like the android market.

You can't mock other stores, when Apple just publicly admitted that they had been selling 5,000 - 10,000 "crap" sexual apps.

 

[SteveSparks]

+1

I don't have any of these apps, I don't want any of these apps. I object to the censorship and hypocrisy displayed by Apple, and this is just the beginning. Are the violent games going next, once some pissed off parents start bitching to Apple that their 11 year old, who probably shouldn't even have an iPhone in the first place and certainly doesn't have a credit card to tie to their iTunes account, purchased CoD?

But a 11 year old can go Purchase a Gift card and with a gift card you can register for and iTunes account in the app store and not need a credit card.

 

[yg17]

This is appropriate:

 

[gfiz]

Not so good option for people who bought one and didn't realize Apple would start removing applications on their whim.

( People don't necessarily have to want to buy these apps - but object to having applications removed like this. )


I see direct parrells between Nintendo and Apple. Apple have seen the success of Nintendo due to its 'family friendly' image ( albeit, you can still blow up and kill people!) and are now copying Nintendo trying to emulate the success.

While I don't disagree that the whole censorship by Apple idea is ludicrous, it doesn't remove the fact that you had and have a choice. Saying you didn't know Apple could remove apps is naive at best. Certainly you know that 1000's of apps are being added every week. Certainly you know that there's an approval process and some apps don't get accepted. And certainly you must have been able to draw the conclusion that Apple has complete control over the app store and can remove any they see fit, when you bought your iPhone. If those apps didn't exist when you bought your phone, were subsequently added, and then removed, would that make any difference?

Bottom line, this is a commercial endeavor on Apple's part. Contrary to what some would have you believe and how books/movies portray Jobs/Apple...it's not a religious or metaphysical experience...it's business. And you either have one of two simple choices. Continue supporting the iPhone and the store and the methods that they manage it by...or you don't.

 

[batchtaster]

You can't mock other stores, when Apple just publicly admitted that they had been selling 5,000 - 10,000 "crap" sexual apps.

And now they're doing something about it. Which Google are not. Hence the mocking.

 

[yg17]

But a 11 year old can go Purchase a Gift card and with a gift card you can register for and iTunes account in the app store and not need a credit card.

How the hell is an 11 year old getting to the store to buy a gift card? Driving?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I see your general point on nudity and whatever. But if the goal of Apple is to make this a better society, than would it not have been a better idea to remove some apps that show people shooting eachother than a few pictures of asian chicks in bikinis?

The goal of Apple is NOT to make a utopia; it's to make a s***load of cash. That is the goal of every for-profit business. I have to wonder about the intelligence of people who think Apple is some sort of Benevolent Society. Apple is a publicly held company. What it does is primarily to enhance its business growth and enrich its stockholders.

 

[ph0rk]

well Playboy and the SI swimsuit apps are all correctly marked as 17+ unlike some of the other apps out there. I saw some marked 12+ that seriously should have been higher.



so i lift mom's CC and I know her date of birth. problem solved.

That is your mother's problem, not the vendor's. Why would it ever be an online vendor's problem in that case?

 

[CactusHawk]

The rating and filtering may not be working as efficiently enough, so Apple manually stepped in to remove destructive materials, and the adults who need those destructive materials to make their lives more exciting are complaining.

I guess most of the whiners aren't parents. You will understand once you've became parents, whiners. Or for the better, don't become parents at all. I will feel sorry for your kids.




Too many whiners. What the heck is wrong with this country?

I'm a parent, I’m whining, and I have never bought any of the iWiggle/iGirlz apps.

As stated it is the principle not the app.

I, as a parent, control what my son does...I don’t leave it up to Apple. Apple does not need to “parent” me.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I'm wondering how long it will until Apple decide to control OSX Apps? ( due to complaints that kids are downloading objectionable apps - and parents not doing their job in monitoring little Jonny and Suzie )

In a similar forum, someone said an OSX application controlled environment would be good. They obviously didn't think about the consequences far enough. For example:

"No duplication of core OSX functionality - there goes Path Finder and a boat load of other apps."

People respond "But Apple won't control OSX apps - its a desktop OS. "
I say "So what - mobile OSX is just another computing platform... yet Apple choose to control that. "

IMO - this is a Slippery slope - how until Apple decide to remove another category of applications.

I think if apple could get away with it they would lock down OSX like the iPhone as well.
I think the only reason the iPhone OS is lock down and controlled so tightly is Apple did it from the beginning so it could get away with it but I see as time goes on they might try to do it. Big time about the time optical drives start getting phased out on computers. We are getting closer and closer to the point were we will not need optical drives any more on our computers. and before some one says it will never happen I would like to point out that the same thing was once said about floppy drives and now the only reason people put them on computers any more is for sentimental reasons.

Apple could solve a lot of the complaints about do this things by allowing 3rd party app stores. Apple's being the official one and the one most people would turn to. The one on iTunes have to go threw the approval process. RIM has something set up like that for the blackberry App world. The ones in App world have to be approved by RIM other app stores can put what ever they want in them.

 

[TheGeekNextDoor]

It seems everyone is forgetting that the developers actually went to the effort to code an application, get it approved, and made plans for other applications. Now Apple comes along and yanks your whole revenue stream out from under them. Imagine if you were a developer that had found success, quit his/her job, and then had Apple prevent them from making the money the way they had been in the app store for the past couple of months/year.

It stinks. Put better controls on what is deemed Adult much the same way Tivo does. It just isn't that hard! I love my iPhone, but I would hate to write an app for one only to have Apple change its mind a little later and pull it from the store for whatever reason they wanted. These devices border on being computers, but really need to be thought of as portable Nintendo Wiis that can make phone calls. When you look at it in that light, what Apple is doing makes sense.

The biggest problem is that it isn't just "adult" apps that always get the random boot. Other non-adult apps that are minding their own business (GV Mobile) get upended from the store without warning as well.

I look forward to android and other devices putting more pressure on Apple to make them play a little more nicely.