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Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

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Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#11

Post by onetimeuse001 »

gavinlynch wrote: post #9
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #2

People that keep writing articles like this should not buy Apple. Apple is going to do what they're going to do. Either accept it or buy Android. Those are your options. But let's be serious, Apple risks "consumer trust"? Not in any way that is likely to be measurable.

>> "Still, it's a new kind of gatekeeper, and it holds the keys to a platform used by millions of people around the world. While not as horrifyingly Orwellian as it could be, the fact that the biggest company in U.S. history makes decisions about which content is too "objectionable" for its customers is unsettling." I am forever bewildered by consumers that have this sense of entitlement around a company and "demand"…

It's their company. They can do whatever they want. If you don't like it, that's great. Dissenting opinions are a foundation of this great country. But Apple also deserves the right to not care what you think, and not care if you go somewhere else. The majority of consumers have no problem with it.

Too bad Bill Gates isn't looking for a lawyer or advocate now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#12

Post by gavinlynch »

onetimeuse001 wrote: post #11
gavinlynch wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Still, it's a new kind of gatekeeper, and it holds the keys to a platform used by millions of people around the world. While not as horrifyingly Orwellian as it could be, the fact that the biggest company in U.S. history makes decisions about which content is too "objectionable" for its customers is unsettling." I am forever bewildered by consumers that have this sense of entitlement around a company and "demand"…

It's their company. They can do whatever they want. If you don't like it, that's great. Dissenting opinions are a foundation of this great country. But Apple also deserves the right to not care what you think, and not care if you go somewhere else. The majority of consumers have no problem with it. Too bad Bill Gates isn't looking for a lawyer or advocate now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft

Are you suggesting Apple is a monopoly?

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#13

Post by bookwormAT »

josteink wrote: post #7

Apple censoring apps in its own proprietary app-store isn't really a big deal to society as a whole. Apple censoring what other devices are allowed to exist outside their production-lines and what competing products customers are allowed to choose is.

I disagree: Apple convinced developers that censorship is cool, and that is at least as dangerous as the broken patent system.

Upcoming versions of both OS X and Windows take large steps in the same direction already. We all enjoyed a free software market for most of our lives. Now Android seems to be the only "personal computing" platform with a future.

And who knows when Samsung or Google are going to shut down that door on Android as well? It wouldn't hurt them, since neither consumers nor developers seem to care about independent software distribution anymore.

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#14

Post by bugmenot »

onetimeuse001 wrote: post #11
gavinlynch wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Still, it's a new kind of gatekeeper, and it holds the keys to a platform used by millions of people around the world. While not as horrifyingly Orwellian as it could be, the fact that the biggest company in U.S. history makes decisions about which content is too "objectionable" for its customers is unsettling." I am forever bewildered by consumers that have this sense of entitlement around a company and "demand"…

It's their company. They can do whatever they want. If you don't like it, that's great. Dissenting opinions are a foundation of this great country. But Apple also deserves the right to not care what you think, and not care if you go somewhere else. The majority of consumers have no problem with it. Too bad Bill Gates isn't looking for a lawyer or advocate now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft

Apple doesn't have a monopoly or anywhere close to it.

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#15

Post by sp332 »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #2

People that keep writing articles like this should not buy Apple. Apple is going to do what they're going to do. Either accept it or buy Android. Those are your options. But let's be serious, Apple risks "consumer trust"? Not in any way that is likely to be measurable.

Apple is going to do what they're going to do. Either accept it or buy Android.

That's not the only option. We don't allow property owners to randomly abuse other people as long as they're on their property. We don't tell those people, "well if you don't like it, just go somewhere else." We have laws that apply no matter who the owner is, to prevent abuse.

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#16

Post by crgt »

I wonder what would happen if Apple allowed consumers to pay for the ability to sideload apps. It seems like this might address the concerns of the vocal minority of techies that truly care about this sort of thing, while still maintaining the sanctity of the walled garden for the masses. If you know what you're doing, signing up for the $99 dev program already effectively allows you to load whatever apps you want on your device. If Apple made this process a bit simpler and more accessible they might get a PR win & a (small?) incremental revenue stream. I don't expect that they'll do it, but it would at least be a new approach..maybe something for MSFT to consider to differentiate themselves.

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#17

Post by rjd »

Totally disagree, its a major part of why I brought an iPhone over anything else (as a consumer). Anything hooked to me financially I want locked down, and with the near field stuff creeping in day by day I'd prefer things to be getting tighter and tighter, not looser and looser.

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#18

Post by epo »

josteink wrote: post #7

Apple censoring apps in its own proprietary app-store isn't really a big deal to society as a whole. Apple censoring what other devices are allowed to exist outside their production-lines and what competing products customers are allowed to choose is.

Blocking flagrant copying by a commercial competitor is not censorship.

Re: Apple At Its Worst: It's Time to Stop Censoring Apps

#20

Post by ryannielsen »

sp332 wrote: post #15
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #2

People that keep writing articles like this should not buy Apple. Apple is going to do what they're going to do. Either accept it or buy Android. Those are your options. But let's be serious, Apple risks "consumer trust"? Not in any way that is likely to be measurable.

Apple is going to do what they're going to do. Either accept it or buy Android. That's not the only option. We don't allow property owners to randomly abuse other people as long as they're on their property. We don't tell those people, "well if you don't like it, just go somewhere else." We have laws that apply no matter who the owner is, to prevent abuse.

Abuse? I think you may be stretching there…

A closer analogy is we do allow private property owners to decide what signs and other publicly visible items may be present on their property. Property owners are allowed to dictate who's allowed on premises. We also allow private organizations to decide who may join their organization. Stores are allowed to decide what products they retail. Private media are allowed to decide what they broadcast.

The App Store, for better or worse, is not a public good. I may not necessarily approve of some of Apple's decisions, but they have the right to make those decisions.

And no one's being abused. If you don't like it, leave. You're not being forced to support Apple in any way.

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