Apple CEO Steve Jobs is once again hitting the send button and lighting the internet on fire, this time telling someone who would prefer parental controls over outright bans that if he wants porn, he can go Android. (Is that what the kids are calling it these days?)
The email from Matthew Browing, who also expressed concern over the initial rejection of Mark Fiore's political satire app:
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.
The response from Steve Jobs:
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.
Or, as the cliche goes, just launch Mobile Safari on their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad...
This isn't the first time Jobs has linked Android to porn; he did so during the iPhone OS 4 sneak preview event's Q&A session in response to a question about why Apple doesn't allow side-loading of apps:
You know, there’s a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go – so we’re not going to go there.
We're shocked and appalled to find this out, of course, and if that's the case, we wonder how our good buddy Phil from Android Central manages to get any reviews done...
Reader comments
Steve Jobs: want porn, go to Android
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It's like one of the earlier comments, as much as SJ has a right to do whatever the bloody well he wants, we too have a right to agree with him & rush out to buy an iPhone or disagree & NOT get one. Ultimately, the choice is ours.
Still, I don't get the rationale behind the "I want to have the freedom to chose whether I want porn or not" rantings. Either you choose porn or not, same as either you want an iPhone or not. No?
I agree mr jobs
My chick and I block each others safari and have browsers thru covenant eyes
This isn't just good for kids this is having a conscience
Keep it up dude
Easiest method by fay to get porn on mobile is Safari browser. Get a clue Steve.
As obvious, this e-mail probably came from a fat nerd that hardly ever gets action. Or worse, has never gotten action!
@ Jimmy T- LOL!
Have fun cumming all over your iPhone ;)
Keep the pervs out.
53 MrAnonymous Yes, actually Kimmy and I where wrong :)
THIS is his waterloo. Every new audiovisual medium must have some sort of pornographic use in order to become fully accepted by the mainstream. Super 8 had it, VHS/Beta had it, Cable TV had it, DVD had it, Internet has it. Why do you think Blu-Ray is irrelevant? You can get HQ porn on the internet.
If Jobs actively tries to ban porn on the iPad, he'll lose to Android in the long run.
Not that Apple could do anything wrong. Ever.
Somebody needs to tell Steve to get a clue. You can already view porn through the browser. What he should work on is parental controls.
@Gwydion
A quick google search proves you wrong.
@JimmyD Sony banned porn on Blu Ray, HD allowed it
"in other unrelated news, an unexpected 1 million android phones have sold today, no known details as of why. more news at 10"
Oh... why doesn't Steve want to block porn from other Apple products?
Wasn't porn the deciding factor in the HD vs Blu-Ray War?
HD refused to allow porn to be marketed on their discs but Blu-Ray knew how massive the porn market is.
Just sayin'...
@Johnsen
You made me LOL. I think I'm gonna hit up photoshop with a new porn ad idea bwahahaha
Go Stevie!!
@Jimbo - hogwash. Steve isn't hiding, doesn't hide, and shouldn't hide his determination to sell consumer electronic devices to the masses that are simple, fast, effective, and just happen to be web-enabled computers under the hood. If that can be done without Apple's level of app-control, I'd like to see someone do it.
In the meantime, this entire issue is essentially garbage, since outside of what you can pull down in Safari (and still can) there never WAS any porn in the app store. People who think scantily clad women are 'porn' have much bigger problems than Steve Jobs' control issues.
this time Jobs helps to promote android, lol, let's buy android
*** = c.u.m.
A Slap in the Face for Android and Google.
Android is now Porndroid. I knew this was some kind of pornstation
Steve could also say "You wanna cum? Cum on the Android" :D
Every single one of us is here because of a roll in the hay. Sorry if pee pees and wee wees are offensive to you, Jobs. Why don't you ask you're mommy and daddy where babies come from.
You probably pine for the days of prohibition too...
@Gino
The "big deal" is that Jobs is hiding behind a cover of anti-porn to justify sweeping levels of control that have nothing whatsover to do with pornography, and that level of control will eventually stunt the iPhone ecosystem.
Consider: If the App Store were to ban apps along the lines of the Supreme Court's definition "sexualized content without redeeming social importance," you would not hear any complaints from (most of) us. Porn would be banned 100% as effectively as it is now, without the collateral damage of satirists being banned or developers not knowing what is safe to develop.
But Steve won't do that, because it never has been about porn, it has been about control. It is the hypocrasy of draping that in a moralistic flag that so offends.
It's not like Steve is telling you that you can't watch porn on your iPhone through safari or through it's video iPod.. He's just implyng that porn apps won't be available at the app store. What's the big deal I don't get it? It's Steves app store, he can do whatever he wants.
Who's crying for a porn app anyway when there's so many free porn websites nowadays?
You can't visit porn websites on Safari anyway, they're all 'Flash based'! :P
Want porn apps for your iPhone ?
I got two words for u !!!!!!
JAILBREAK IPHONE !!!!!!
U will get all the porn u can get !!
or get airvideo and stream it from your pc or mac. works great with regular video but I haven't tried watching porn yet.........wink wink
The original response Steve made at the 4.0 preview was in response to a question about allowing unsigned apps (e.g. jailbreaking). That clearly showed Steve has absolutely NO idea why people jailbreak their phones or the content that people use it for.
It's also a case of Steve using an extreme example to defend Apple's position. e.g. we don't want pornography, which is why we also block a crap-load of other apps for spurious reasons.
@Gwydion
Yet some of these "porn" apps on Android, at least the one I have actually clicked on, are nothing but the same.
Not to mention, side loading true porn apps are equivalent to jail break apps that have porn or uploading porn videos to your iPhone. So what point is Jobs really trying to make? It truly is hypocrisy.
34 Jerry-O
I will think about what is porn when my train passes besides the nudist beach located in my town :P
@Gwydion
Thats the problem... no one cares what you think is porn... it is all about what SJ thinks is porn. What about nude paintings from the renaissance... is that porn? Dont even bothering to answer becuse it is SJ's decision... thats the problem with censorship... where to draw the line... it is a slipper slope to trea on.
@Gwydion
Nor would I, but Apple has rejected cheesecake apps from smaller outfits on morality grounds while allowing those as well as the girls of Hooters calendar app.
Such hypocrasy underlines it is has nothing to do with morals; it is about money and control, yet bumper sticker slogans like 'moral obligation' are quickly lapped up by legions of sycophants.
Dont need porn apps, thats what the browser if for.
27 iDavey
I wouldn't consider Playboy or Sports Illustrated swimsuit collection porn apps
I don't carry any pron on my iPhone but you could easily convert a DVD to mp4 and carry your whole collection. I really don't see the point here... Another person mentioned streaming, which is another option. With the mobile browser catching up fast, its a matter of time until the pron industry figures out how to stuff videos via the browser bypassing the app store model. Don't think having no pron app is going to stop some people......
iTunes and iPhone have parental controls. I'm yet to put this feature to good use.
Typos in a Jobs quote? Embarrasing. I'm sure Steve didn't hit send on an email with "buy and android phone" in it.
@appdev
I wasn't talking about freedom of speech. I was talking about freedom to use your phone in way you want. I don't need someone to tell me what is good and what is bad. I have my own mind.
And I don't have any "porn app" installed, don't see the point of having this on my phone. But still, I like the feeling that if I want it, I can get it. Not for porn, everything.
Block porn, block wifi apps, block flash, even this Fiore's app...what is next?
So if I'm not mistaken, didn't Jobs choose to leave some porn related apps on the App Store because they're from high profile companies?
I hate seeing the porn apps in the Market myself, but as the sender said, that's what parents are for.
But further more, it's okay to have violence, cursing, and various other inappropriate things...but porn is the worst things to kids. Oh yes, it is!
All my pron is on my pc, I just stream it with air video if I need to get a fix, I can barely keep risque pictures on my phone, too many people like to go exploring.
Photo transfer app is a great app, it should be reviewed.
Go buy and Android? Ummm, check your grammar Charman ZeJobs.
Absurd...this is Jobs pulling out the "Won't somebody think of the children" red herring to justify his absurd controls.
If you want to ban porn, fine - put language in your agreement covering pornography and obscenity, case closed. But to have policy language that allows reviewers to ban satirists, and to hide behind some sort of anti-porn crusade, that is just flat-out lying.
"It's about the freedom to do so if we want." ... This has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Freedom of speech protects you from harm or imprisonment from the government if you say things the government doesn't like. Last time I checked, Apple was not the government (although imagine how differently our country's finances would look if it were). They can choose to not sell porn to their consumers. It is a marketing strategy which, up to this point, has not hurt their bottom line. To me, the place Apple is going to get themselves in trouble isn't with screening content but blocking competitors such as other advertisers. That just may get them an invite to sit in the hot seat with the FCC.
want porn, go to iMac lol...
Don't ask a geek god porn and expect it. Not essential in his world. That's all?
@Joe McG:
Politicians do it all the time to encourage guilt. "If you don't like me, vote for the other guy."
Lee Iacocca's ad campaign "If you can find a better car, buy it" was also a huge success. GM's CEO is using a similar quote today.
The Almighty God=Steve Jobs...who knew!
I know this is Steve Jobs, and who am I to question one of the great marketing minds of our time, but is it really wise to encourage customers to choose the competitor? All he had to say was "porn on the iPhone is not acceptable to us and we won't allow it". There's no doubt that there's at least some portion of iPhone owners that would want to see porn on their iPhone. Whether you are going to allow it in the App store or not, encouraging these people to buy Android is counterproductive.
What would Apple shareholders have to say about him writing that?
hahahahaha, well said Steve
I understand but really porn app? On a small screen and all that's Sad lol
What is considered porn in USA?
Hey thanks for the news alert Steve! I'm on my way to get me some kandi!
it is not about who wants to buy or not.
it is about freedom to do so if you want.
With all the free porn available why would you want to pay for an app, I'm sure wives would love to see that on te credit card bill.
Good for you, Steve! That's one reason (among many) I buy Apple. Picture yourself on a plane with the iPad's wide angle viewing. Whatever you're into, your whole row could be......
Must be all those poor lonely gamers who need porn. Put down the iPhones and iPads and go get yourself some real action. :roll:
Block everything!
Tell us what to think and do.
Android has a porn store.. Really? I must investigate this further :)
Lol Steve jobs has too much free time why respond to pervs, do you really need porn on the go? Get a gf and stop dancing with yourself :)
Careful what you wish or steve-o
i agree, you don't have to sell porn everywhere, it's their decision, like it's your decision to buy an apple product.
And can they also block ads please? I hate ads.
I think it is perfectly ok. Just like it is perfectly ok that my local supermarket doesn't sell any p**n mags or movies. I actually prefer it that way.
Now if they could also ban depiction of violence I would be even happier :-)
So it's time to buy Android phone :)
right on el jobso lol!