In the bizarro world in which we might live, this late-night exchange between Gawker/Valleywag's Ryan Tate and Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, where we're promised a world free of porn, hardly even surprises any more.
Well, except that Jobs engages and responds far longer than I'd have figured he would. Since it's long and provided in graphic form, we'll just paraphrase the highlights and you can hit the read link for the whole screen-capped exchange:
Tate: Would Dylan think the iPad was a revolution, freedom?
Jobs:Yep, freedom from data theft, from battery trashing, from porn.
Tate: Why not let Wired do a cross-compiled Flash app. Porn is fine! My wife would agree!
Jobs: Wired is doing a Cocoa app. You'll care about porn when you have kids.
Tate: Why should Wired have to do Cocoa. Time is doing a $#!tty PDF port. And Apple would f**k Gawker on app approval. At least [Google] is fair about what gets indexed.
Tate: PS: I'm not a porn fiend.
Jobs: No one has to make an iPad app but it appears Wired wants to. It'll be better in the end because it's native. Why are you so bitter? You don't have to buy or develop or publish on iPads.
Tate: I'm disappointed to see its all the same revenge power bull$#!t.
Tate: PS: I don't like Apple's pet police force literally kicking in my co-workers' doors. [Reference to Jason Chen of Gizmodo).
Jobs: You are so misinformed. You believe erroneous blogger reports. We're just doing what we can to make (and preserve) the user experience. You can disagree but our motives are pure. And what have you done that's so great?
Note once again, of course, you can get all the porn you want on the iPad via the Safari web browser. So, yeah, don't buy an iPad or just buy one and launch the browser. Bazinga.
Check out the full exchange via the link below.
[Gawker]
Reader comments
Steve Jobs: iPad promises freedom from porn
I totally support Doog.
You see, there's a chance Jobs can do it. You see, Sj has declared war on Flash (read war on the most popular porn movie format) and he's gonna win. YouTube, Vimeo and others have already switched to h.264 and got their apps for ipad approved.
More arguments here: Jobs vs Porn
Funny how Steve is trying to pass this off as "freedom". Somebody buy him a dictionary.
I'm exiting the Steve Jobs crazy train. "Freedom from (blank)" are the words of tyrants.
Was reading an article Steve did in Success magazine and he said if you make something with everyones ideas in mind of what it should be or do by the time it comes out the people will want something else. He is exactly right. Haters.
I don't own many Apple products but I look at all sites concerning technology including this one. I have to say Jobs is the man, I wish more companies would take a stand on something instead of thinking dollar signs all the time. He is right the app store should be family friendly.
What else is new? Apple is for basic people...
Can we please stop giving the idiot douchebags at Gawker so much attention?
Yeah, Apple does a lot of things wrong. But I'm sure someone who isn't a colossal jerk could expose them just as well.
Real journalists identify themselves up front, not in a snarky PS at the end of a long discussion.
Number One - This is Apple's Platform and they have the right to protect it. Number Two - You have the right to use another product if you're so concerned about Apple and Jobs being so controlling. Number Three - You've got the right to Porn Crap of you'd like. I don't need that Garbage sticking in my kids face on a wonderful product where you shouldn't need to be concerned about your kids safety. Everyone has their own opinions, but Apple built their products and features and company and have a right to manage it how they see fit. I appreciate Apple having controls on what they created. If they listen to what every person complained about like any company, they'd be running in circles. I really appreciate Apple Controlling what goes in the app store, and it's not going to please everyone. I also really appreciate them getting the porn Crap off and hope they have the fortitude to keep it off. I want my children to enjoy an iPod and iPad, and not have to worry about porn. And don't go off in the usual lame arguments: you can't protect your kids from everything, use the parent controls, religious fanatic, blaa blaa blaa. Like I said, if you don't like Apple's Philosophy and Practices, get another product. Cheesh.
I just went to another blog and it was totally opposite of this one, it's probable a age thing. I would tend to think this site caters to the younger and jailbreaker-basher crowd. I know it doesn't fit the catagory for everyone but I bet I'm mostly right.
I'm older and jailbroke but I definitely love the iPhone. I like Apple products a lot, I don't complain or bash I just jailbreak. I can understand Apple not giving all features to the generall public, it would be a tech support nightmare.
If Steve Jobs didn't want any 'porn' apps on the app store, then why approve them in the first place, and continued to profit from the sales of such apps?
Another thing, I think that the use of the word 'porn' doesn't apply to these apps. Point out to me any apps that is/was in the app store that displayed it all - nipples, genitalia, as well as the occasional money shot, video, etc.
Everyone just wants to bash Steve Jobs, it's the thing to do now. I don't know of one company that let's you control everything. Apple just wants the normal user to have a good experience with the iPhone, jailbreak the iPhone if your more than a normal user and enjoy the phone. It's just the in thing for some of you to hate Apple, come on Apple has some hard choices and they can't satisfy everyone. Jailbreak and enjoy or just get another phone brand.
You can pretend that google is so cool with their system Android but the fact is they had to come to market with more freedoms than the iPhone. IPhone was pretty much number one and no one could touch it, google had no choice but to give freedom if they wanted to go anywhere in this market. They had no choice!!!!! Android is a good system but really when it comes down to it, you get 50 different handsets that can't update to the latest OS because of restrictions, oh that's a new concept. So if you think you should get what you want all of the time, your going to have a long hard road all of your life. Yes people should fight for things they want but most of you are just bashers not fighters.
@zero credability fair enough. I understand the logic and reasoning... still think everyone can "live in harmony" so to speak, but as it's been pointed out it's Apple's app store. There's always web apps...
And thanks for the clarification on that other thing. :)
What is wrong with people these days? Apparently no one has morals anymore. Why must you watch porn so much? It's because you're addicted. Yes. Addicted. If you become so defensive because someone controls their products and chooses not to cater to your nasty habits, then you have a problem. As one said, get a girlfriend and become intimate. Have sex with her, not your right or left hand. To the other person; having intimate sex with a partner and watching random strangers on video having sex is not the same thing, so don't compare. Yes, I've watched porn when I was young but I moved on. If you're in your twenty somethings and up and still watch porn, you have a problem. Go see a shrink, because porn is addictive, just like a drug. I thank Steve, this world is becoming so morally corrupt it's sad. And I'm not even a super religious fanatic, so don't go off on that tangent.
@joost
the wanking thing was a general comment not specifically aimed at you ;)
@Gwydion
That's not a problem if it's true. That works to Jobs' advantage because either he successfully brands Android as some shady nerd thing or they start saying that the Android Market is free of porn as well, which goes against Android's branding of being open.
@joost.
i think it depends whether you look at the app store as a mall where you can buy anything or as a boutique. apple see it as the latter. we don't NEED porn in the appstore and it should be a place where people of all ages can shop. many people had suggested that the age restriction settings on the phone should handle this, and whilst i certainly agree this would maybe help in some ways; even with the age restrictions on .. you can still see the porn apps in the appstore but just not buy them. this equates to having the smut in the newsagent on the same level as everything else and therefore still not appropriate for children. this could be recoded to work but really all this effort for porn ? and not even very good porn let be honest. also it has been pointed out that there were lots of complaints from women about the levels of smut in the store and when you take women and children into the mix , that is the majority of people who don't want it.
Good for Steve. Tate's just revealed his agenda and doesn't like the implied criticism of Steve Jobs. We don't need porn apps. Porn is easy enough to stumble upon and heaven know our spam folders are filled with it. Use a browser, if you need porn, Tate!
@zero credability you're missing the point I was trying to make, and I probably didn't articulate it well enough. It's not about allowing porn apps or not, it's about the restrictions placed on how people are allowed to use the phone. I think enough people have said it better than I have.
And for the record, as you brought it up, no I don't have apps of that nature on mine or do I plan to. Things in that part of my life are quite fine without the need for those type of apps, thankyouverymuch. :)
This debate is getting freaking old. It's Apple's platform. If this is truly a mistake they will pay for it. And I am through with Gawker controlled media. How do I email Jobs and thank him for his hardwork?
@Joost
it's not his job to protect people from porn. BUT apple has got a brand image just like BMW. its doesn't want to associate its image with selling porn. go and buy something that fits your needs if wanking is such a major part you life that you need a dedicated app.
Jobs is a right prude isn't he. Think he was touhed by his minister?
Mr. Anonymous' devil advocacy posts (oops, pun not intended) are appreciated and I don't like the censorship that does go on in the AppStore either.
That said, I'm kind of glad that I'm not having to constantly encounter porn apps going through the "Top Ten" lists. And mind you, they did used to be there, en masse, before Steve-oh cleaned house. I do also enjoy porn every now and then, but I just don't want to have porn apps littering the AppStore and perhaps ads for them in non-porn-content apps.
At any rate, the Tate/Jobs exchange is a great read. :D
...so what do you think, Ron Jeremy, escape from porn...good or bad?
@Shrike The problem is that Android Market Store doesn't have porn
I am afraid Steve hasn't seen this :-(
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Adult-Studio-Pink-Visual-Launche...
i know this is an iPad Topic but try and see if it works for the iPad...
the best web-based porn app on the iPhone is iFap:
Open Safari>> google the words "iFap iPhone">> should be the 1st link, save it to homescreen as iFap>> your good to go, beat away lol JK
I'm not buying one. First it's porn, next could be facebook and twitter when Steve decides social is sleazy. Maybe delete all the bad words from Wikipedia and dictionaries as well, so our kids wouldn't be exposed to that?
I mean why should I let someone else decide what can and can't be seen?
I lived behind the Iron Curtain. There you were killed for saying 'wrong' things or reading 'wrong' content. So nice to be free of this.
@Random
I definitely understand your point there, but when you buy an iPod Touch, you don't purchase full rights to the App Store also. Yes, I can understand some adults' points here in saying; "I don't need Jobs playing daddy for me, I know how to restrict my own content". But when it comes down to it, who gets more publicity, the guy that freely downloads porn everyday without restrictions, or the mom who's pissed that her children had access to it from Apple's App Store?
In a perfect world, we can all enjoy or sexual desires without harming someone else, but we don't. We have strickler Jobs and the App Store.
Any press for Jobs equals more products sold. Winner: Jobs.
Umm, this is simply Jobs doing some anti marketing for android. He knows what his market is and who his customers are. He knows what customers he wants: mainstream America, the nuclear family with husband, wife, two kids and a pet. Not geeks, not bloggers, not media, etc.
By putting a message out there that Android has porn in its store, he's trying to brand Android negatively towards his mainstream market. I think is is this simple.
The App Store is a essentially a Walmart Supercenter and its ilk. As store selling to the broad mainstream of customers, it's simply bad business to sell porn, machine guns, ie, unsavory specialty stuff. It's simply stupid for them to support porn or a red light district.
The argument really should be giving users the ability to sideload apps not from the App Store. Tate made a stupid mistake in even taking the bait about porn. On the other hand, Apple is more than happy to forgo users who value sideloading and other "freedoms." So the begging doesn't really help.
Now if Apple didn't have such high customer satisfaction, maybe there would be traction. But Apple seems to have a better overall understand of people's behaviors than bloggers. So it maybe never.
Who cares if he won't allow adult apps, in a min all the porn sites will be iPhone/iPad compatible, they go where the money at
Jobs in a nutshell:
"Restrictions are freedom."
Downright Orwellian
Lol " your kids will thank me when they research that I Have cured the world of porn " lol.
I think steve jobs just doesn't want people to associate his precious previsioned products running iPhone OS with porn.
@Joost
"Yea, they can say they’ll remain impartial but stuff like that tends to stick and can color future articles."
Yea........
That ship has sailed since the Gray Powell incident.
@JK
I don't think the issue really is porn in particular, but how much arbitrary control Apple has over the device that a person paid money for. I happen to have an Android phone (that I do not have porn apps installed on), as well as an iPod touch. To go along with your analogy, it is one thing for Walmart, Best Buy, etc, to not sell porn. It is another issue when Walmart, or Best Buy do not allow you to shop at any other store.
"Its their product and their right to restrict content." I was under the impression that once I paid for my iPod Touch, that it became mine; not that I was taking an extended lease from Apple.
Haha gnarly
We all know how Jobs and Apple work. The big feature for iPad 2 will be Porn. I can see the Keynote now, continuing with our long line of innovations like MMS, C&P, Multitasking.... Apple is proud to bring Porn to mobile computing.
isnt anyone aware of the porn websites set up for the iphone/ipod?? lol..
You know... getting off the porn tangent here, I wonder if Steve's decision to publicly spar with the media is wise? Although I'm not always a fan of his missives, Jobs is very open and I like that. I'm curious, however, if going after people that could potentially give him really bad press is a good idea or not.
The line “By the way, what have you done that’s so great? Do you create anything, or just criticize others work and belittle their motivations?" is a nasty insult to the media that reviews Apple products. Yea, they can say they'll remain impartial but stuff like that tends to stick and can color future articles.
My favorite porn star is Jasmine Byrne and I just watched her take a dbl DP on porn hub... In safari... On my... iPad. I support Apple's decision concerning porn apps I their AppStore. This is a dumb issue to get up in arms about.
@sigh
PROTIP: When I insult somebody's grammar, try not to type "any" when you mean "an." Extra credit for not using an implied subject in the second part, as in "(you will get) extra credit for..."
@CupertinoSweat
PROTIP: When you call somebody any idiot, it helps to be able to construct a complete sentence. Extra credit for subject/verb matching.
What is the email address that Jobs keeps using to respond to all these emails?
He will forever be known as Ryan Taint
I guess all you Apple hipsters don't like porn!
Jobs is Buddhist. At least he's got morals. Those of you who are saying its okay probably dont have kids, or are just having a bad day and decided to come yell at a few people over here... ;)
Any arguing for porn apps is an idiot.
@Danny
Porn is a smokescreen Jobs is using to justify draconian restrictions. Porn is irrelevant, and Jobs knows it.
@Danny
On one hand you claim that porn, which involves sexual activity, is a disgusting fetish. Yet you also state that such people should get themselves a girl, which is to get into a relationship with such a person, which also involves sexual activity. What are you getting at? The essence of sexuality is disgusting? That we're all byproducts of such a terrible act?
Aslong as a have Safari who cares what Steve wants...a world without porn is a world of abstinence
@JK
You're spot on. To all the creeps angry at Steve Jobs for being responsible, get a life....or a girl. A number of porn viewing/gathering alternatives have been named, Apple isn't a dictator for limiting THEIR app store from make SEX APPS. Think about that. You guys want SEX APPS. You want an app for sex. Pitiful.
I've viewed porn before like probably 90%+ of men. Ok. But crying river because you can't have an app to also satisfy your disgusting fetishes goes to show how pitiful some are. And save the whole consenting adults crap, in that case, avoid Wal-Mart, Best Buy, your local university...etc.
It's still BS. The App Store already has the appropriate age settings needed to restrict specific app, as well as a variety of other settings, so there's no real need to reject such apps. If that didn't stop your child from accessing said explicit content, then you failed as a parent to your child, as you should have expected the possibility of your child coming across said content, whether looking for it on purpose or by chance.
Once again, Steve splatters the "wont somebody think of the children" babble to spackle over indefensible policy decisions.
Here's where it gets screwy. If you want to watch iTunes media
Such as video what other device can you choose besides an Apple
Device. We know Jobs' is a salesman, because he repeatedly says,
you don't need that feature until I say you do, i.e. video on
ipod, cameras on an ipod, multitasking, "no one reads books anymore"
etc.
Via Joost "It’s not Apple or Steve’s job to protect people from porn. If someone wants to use their iPod/phone/pad for that, that’s their informed choice.
You’re a hardware/software manufacturer Steve, not the Pope."
It IS APple and Steve's "AppStore", and much like how the owners of Wal-Mart can block porn from being sold in their store, Apple and Steve can block porn from their AppStore.
And much like how Nintendo and Sony have the right to lock down their devices from third party hacking (the PSP and DS), Apple also has the right to lock down their platform.
These devices are luxury items. if you want a phone that is not restricted, you are going to be out of luck, because this mythical 100% unrestricted device that supports whatever you want it to support does not exist.
@JK
Like you, if I had a 10 year old I'd rather not see him access it freely. I'm all for controls to make sure appropriate content is accessible by appropriate people. I'm just not fond of someone placing their morals on everybody, including consenting adults. One person's "user experience" is different from another.
It all comes back to control of information... but then again I guess you just don't have to buy an iPad if you disagree with Steve's (and therefore Apple's) stance on it.
Just my opinion.
Hello people he's apart of the illuminati.He sure will put porn on all apple stuff for young kids to watch you people.....................
@Joost and Freaknasty
Then what do you think about cable channels censoring TV then? Same concept with making an informed choice. Problem is you have children who dont know better and get exposed to this content and you DO have to restrict it.
I doubt youd want your 10 year old flipping the channel and seeing a porno, or them using your iphone/ipod and getting a porn app merely because its there and unrestricted.
I don't know why ppl are wanting porn apps, if you want porn on your iDevices sync some pics over, you want video then use a converter and get on with it, there you have it, porn on your iDevice and free.
Exactly Rene.
Jobs is NOT advocating web filtering, but native apps providing this content. There's a HUGE difference between the 2 concepts, and some people need to read the facts before making silly comments.
There's a HUGE legal liability difference between one actively seeking out porn on the web, and Apple SELLING the apps with this content to customers (or underage customers)
Safari grants full, free access to most porn sites on the web. You don't need an app for that.
So are you advocating a Safari porn filter JK? Would you be cool with that also?
It's not Apple or Steve's job to protect people from porn. If someone wants to use their iPod/phone/pad for that, that's their informed choice.
You're a hardware/software manufacturer Steve, not the Pope.
Apple has NO obligations to let porn onto its platform, period. Its their product and their right to restrict content; especially as said above when a good number of their users are underage and itd be illegal to "sell" them porn through apps.
Get over it, its their decision, dont like it? Go buy another product and leave TIPB
Show me the inherent right you have to use an ipad for porn? Dont like it DONT BUY ONE! Freedom of choice, go buy another product.
It's Apple's choice to limit adult content when a good number of their users are underage
i don't really care too much about the people involved in this catfight... but limiting one of the largest parts of the entire internet? people are going to be forced to buy a different product that allows them the freedom to search or view whatever they want.
So Jobs is making religious right arguments now? How disillusioning (not that I ever cared for the guy, but still).
gawker is an idiot
Stupid Gawker, they got hit for the stolen iphone and now theyre jsut bitter whining babies towards Apple. Pretty petty and sad theyre behaving this way.
Steve Jobs is a freaking porn obsessed wierdo.