Apple's Censorship: Bad for Customers, Worse For The Bottom Line

DailyFinance:

For as long as Apple (AAPL) has had its best-selling iPhones and iPads on the market they've taken an aggressive stance on what type of content is appropriate for the devices. As CEO Steve Jobs put it offhandedly, the gadgets offer customers "freedom from porn" -- whether they asked for it or not.

But Apple's inconsistent behavior with respect to what applications get rejected or approved, and its haphazard capitulation only when there's a public outcry, has created some mixed messages. And for a company that prides itself on quality control and a consistent product, the approach Apple is taking with app content isn't just hypocritical, it's bad for the bottom line.

Read the whole story: DailyFinance

Comments

[spyguy68]

11:38 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple is shooting itself in the foot by trying to monopolize the apps market.

- Eventually someone will seize the "golden goose" opportunity and take Apple to court on anti-trust. Apples own arbitrary record with the apps store will cause it lots of headaches (80% rejection rate for apps submitted, no competitive apps, etc.). Apple is arbitrary because they want total control (Job's mantra) but realizes that sets them up for expensive court cases. Yes, Apple has deep pockets, but too many law suits could empty those pocket just as surely as a single large suit.

- As the article noted, Android devices will soon be as big a market (or bigger) than apple iOS devices. Big markets draw the best apps developers and given the very high barriers to success in the iOS market (thanks to Apple) versus Android, which would apps makers choose. It will be the open Win VS closed Mac all over again and we all know who won that match-up.

- While apple has tried to prevent it with technical blocks and aggressive lawyers, it is very likely that a competitor to the iPhone store will eventually happen and when it does, most developers will move to the market that gives them the best access to customers with the least interference. Once that happens, Apple will either have to be more open or lose developers. Right now developers deal with apple, reluctantly, because they are the only shop in town

[Bleaker]

06:07 PM on 06/16/2010

Having seen the images in question, it was probably not so much the kissing as the naked-and-kissing. I don't see what the big deal is with that, but it's not my app store.

Of course, with my contract drawing to a close, I'll also be abandoning the iPhone because I don't want or need a nanny. And also because AT&T's performance has been...lacking.

[vippy]

06:00 AM on 06/17/2010

AT&T runs commercials bragging about unlimited everything and then they are saying they have to cut the bandwidth. Too bad Apple is only with AT&T. I want one of those iPads though.

[tuff guy]

06:26 PM on 06/17/2010

finally, someone who's putting their money where their mouth is...

[Skeptical Cicada]

04:31 PM on 06/16/2010

I don't need that homophobic bigot Steve Jobs pixillating panels from an Oscar Wilde app because they depict two men kissing.

A simple display of affection between me and my same-sex partner of 15 years is not PORNOGRAPHY, and I defy that homophobic bigot Steve Jobs to say otherwise directly to my face. What he needs is a strong punch in the holier-than-thou mouth.

[tuff guy]

06:25 PM on 06/17/2010

waaaaah! buy and android.

[Cheesedog]

12:46 AM on 06/19/2010

Have you ever seen any of the kids that work at Pixar? Just sayin'...

[NHPat]

04:21 PM on 06/16/2010

Maybe I'm crazy, but Apple's bottom line looks pretty good to me. I'd cheerfully invest in them.

[hypnotoad72]

06:57 PM on 06/16/2010

Until Jobs cashes in or does something so big that other investors would cash out before you got a chance to do the same... In short, investing is a gamble. Why gamble unless there's a law that demands one has to put money in a savings account? (And who would willingly do so?) And as we've seen with BP and their stock tanking, the repercussions - and forged scapegoats - are final proof, like anybody needs it, that the stock market is the worst place to put money.

[NHBill]

07:32 PM on 06/16/2010

i bought it at $29 because I liked my new iPod.

[NHPat]

08:29 PM on 06/16/2010

Investment, like most of life offers rewards based on risks taken. If I'm willing to take the risk, I may reap the reward. In any case, as long as I don't ask you to take care of my losses - it's my money, so it would be up to me to decide how much risk Apple stock would pose, and how much I'd be willing to invest.

[Jon Nadelberg]

04:09 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple just sold so many iphone 4 models that their order system couldn't handle it. I don't think they're that worried just yet.

[SoCalNick]

06:39 PM on 06/16/2010

NOT TRUE!!

You made that up.

The system BROKE and security FAILED.. it was NOT because they sold so many.

Man you people are worse than Beck fans sometimes WOW!!

[NHBill]

07:30 PM on 06/16/2010

600,000 in one day.
yeah it overwhelmed the system.
Read about it here in Fortune Mag
.http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/16/apple-took-600000-pre-orders-on-day-1/

[tuff guy]

06:24 PM on 06/17/2010

you're both wrong. at&t had trouble on their site, selling iphones. do you guys even read?

[mutton]

03:59 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple has a right to control what appears on their devices?? Does LG have a right to censor what appears on their televisions? What an idiotic statement.

[NHPat]

04:22 PM on 06/16/2010

You can use the Apple devices to browse the internet and find any pathetic sordid site you want. But they can, and do, restrict the apps you can use on their devices.

[Skeptical Cicada]

04:35 PM on 06/16/2010

You mean "pathetic and sordid," like an Oscar Wilde website that shows two men kissing? Fk you.

[hypnotoad72]

06:59 PM on 06/16/2010

Like saying "We won't allow apps that duplicate functionality of other apps". Then comes the big slap in the face of Apple selling Opera for the iPhone, which not only duplicates all the functionality in Safari, it's Apple basically saying "despite our rule-making and being our own referees, by allowing Opera, we are also suggesting Safari isn't good enough at the same time as suggesting we won't follow our own rules".

[tuff guy]

06:22 PM on 06/17/2010

does lg have a store from where you purchase it's content? if it did, i'd bet there wouldn't be porn on it.

[skippyB]

02:28 PM on 06/16/2010

I just went to the Daily Finance link and found it cluttered with no fewer than FIVE Flash ads - No wonder they're anti - Apple. I love my privacy and I love a battery with a longer life. Is it the porn, or is the waste of energy they're discouraging? Is it the revenue from the porn ads they want, or is it just the freedom to watch porn.

I guess when you're not getting any in real life, you don't need the privacy anyway.......

[amdezurik]

04:55 PM on 06/16/2010

if you think HTML5 will change any of that you are simply delusional

[hypnotoad72]

07:10 PM on 06/16/2010

Anything that plays video will drain the battery. We call this phenomenon, 'an inevitable fact of life'.

Incidentally,

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/web-video-showdown-flash-vs-quicktime-vs-windows-media/13176

Oh dear. Somebody made a little boo-boo in claiming Flash eats battery life. Maybe it does on Macs, but:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/does_html5_really_beat_flash_surprising_results_of_new_tests.php

they are not the first people who say the root cause of Flash performance issues also has to do with Apple not working with Adobe the way other OS vendors do. In short, Apple's claims are by and large being disproven, showing that on the platform 90% of the world uses, the battery and CPU claims are nowhere near as bad as stated. And QuickTime (Apple's own video player) showing some bad results.

And what will turn HTML5-based ads off? In the new upcoming standard (it's not an official standard yet), you can bet real money that big corporations are going to make it standard to prevent ads from being disabled. Never mind the splintering of one standard amongst different platforms, which has existed since day 1, will still continue. Solutions like Java and Flash will not be going away any time soon.

[Helzapoppin]

01:59 PM on 06/16/2010

Once I pay for a product, I should have the freedom to put anything on it I like. I neither want nor need a corporate Nanny. By restricting content to their app store only, and further restricting what apps are made available, Apple is headed toward serious anti-trust trouble.

[NHBill]

04:08 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple only controls what it sells in it's store.
The browser is open to the entire interntet just like any other computer!
If you had a store whould you sell porn?

[Skeptical Cicada]

04:18 PM on 06/16/2010

If you had a store would you be a homophobic bigot and block images of two men kissing, like Apple did?

[Helzapoppin]

07:10 PM on 06/16/2010

You can only make apps if you follow Apple's strict controls, and then those apps are only available from the app store. The browser is irrelevant.

[tuff guy]

06:20 PM on 06/17/2010

buy a google phone.

[Cheesedog]

12:52 AM on 06/19/2010

Naw.

[tuff guy]

01:45 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple: 600,000 iPhone 4 Pre-Orders On First Day
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-600000-iphone-4-pre-orders-2010-6#ixzz0r2UfIxuB

apple is DOOMED! buddy, you're a dinosaur.

[Horatio]

04:50 PM on 06/16/2010

But how many of those are upgrades vs. new customers?

[Cheesedog]

12:52 AM on 06/19/2010

What difference does it make?

[noorman11]

01:30 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple also owns Pixar. It's refreshing to see a company take a small moral stand on something and make it policy. So what if it costs them a few sales? -I'm not convinced it does. Mother's and fathers everywhere are grateful.

[shirlyujest]

01:34 PM on 06/16/2010

Sorry? Mothers and fathers are grateful? Why aren't mothers and fathers just keeping an eye on what little johnny and janey are doing? However, it's not their job, nor apples' either, by the way, to say what others can and cannot have access to. That is censorship in the worst form. Actually, kind of like the evang*l*sts saying I can have a synagogue but I have to practice chr*st*anity inside of it.

[NHBill]

04:09 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple only controls what it sells in it's store.
The browser is open to the entire internet just like any other computer!
If you had a store whould you sell porn?

[FDRbyGodDemocrat]

03:50 PM on 06/16/2010

Censoring dictionaries due to "dirty words" is not taking a moral stand. It is a backwards step in the educational process, and no mother and father should be grateful for that.

[lightningbolt]

01:13 PM on 06/16/2010

Censoring apps is pointless when an iPhone user can simply use the uncensored browser to watch porn. Apple is just turning customers away.

[Cheesedog]

02:06 PM on 06/16/2010

I think Apple just doesn't want porn in their store.
Y'don't see any copies of "Deep Throat" at Wal-Mart, do ya?
People are free to use whatever media they see fit on their iPhone or iPad, but Apple ain't gonna sell it to ya. So what?

[lightningbolt]

03:19 PM on 06/16/2010

Apple could have an adult section in the app store where you are required to verify your age with a credit card. Imagine how much money they could make!