You Want Porn, Buy Android Phone: Steve Jobs

Apple has been in troubled waters ever since the App Store review bench has been banning and allowing myriad style of Apps. Mark Browing, an Apple customer got a reply from Apple CEO Steve Jobs saying that folks who want porn can buy an Android phone, reported TechCrunch. Obviously this snide comment comes due to the tense war-like situation between Google and Apple. This came up after Apple banned Mark Fiore, a Pulitzer prize winning satire cartoonist's application on the grounds that the app ridiculed public figures. However, Fiore was asked to resubmit the app and the App would be reviewed again.

Mark Fiore is a famous independent satire cartoonist for San Francisco Chronicle had submitted his NewToons application to App Store back in December. An email citing reasons why Apple didn't approve this app read:

"(it) contains content that ridicules public figures and is in violation of Section 3.3.14 from the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement which states: Applications may be rejected if they contain content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory."

This email was reprinted by Laura McGanna at Neiman Journalism Lab.

Obviously Apple had stepped on the wrong side. Banning Fiore's app certainly caused big unrest in the news and media publication community and Apple didn't want to cause more damage. Hence it thought of considering the application, but only after certain cartoons were removed from it.

A concerned Apple customer Mark Browing wrote an email to Steve Jobs:

Steve,

I was converted to Apple products with the announcement of the iPhone 3G. (My friends have been trying to convince me for years.) Since then I've purchased 4 iPhones, 2 computers, several routers, and miscellaneous other items. Unfortunately, I'm really starting to have a philosophical issue with your company. It appears that more and more Apple is determining for it's consumers what content they should be able to receive. For instance, the blocking of Mark Fiore's comic app (due to being political satire) or blocking of what Apple considers to be porn.

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.

Apple's role isn't moral police - Apple's role is to design and produce really cool gadgets that do what the consumer wants them to do.

Thanks for listening

-Matthew

Browing is yet another person like several others who believe that Apple shouldn't put on the moral police coat and provide appropriate control features instead. However, this was Jobs reply to Browning.

Fiore's app will be in the store shortly. That was a mistake. However, we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and Android phone.

Just to clarify, the 'and' before Android phone is a typo and it's supposed to be 'an'. Google's Android platform has been ridiculed for potential porn source by Apple CEO. However, Apple fails to see the fact that the more Android gets bragged, more developers get interested in the platform. However, though Apple tries to take a strong moral stance, it continues to sell elite pornography content providing PlayBoy app. Fickle's fight isn't going to fetch us anything but yeah, better apps with appropriate parental controls would.