Steve Jobs “Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone”
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
The subtext is that Apple is willing to lose customers over not being in the porn business, and he's willing to state as much. Maybe this could be seen as denigrating if you suppose that they probably won't lose very many at all over it, suggesting the availability of porn apps on Android does not really add much value to the platform. But that seems a bit indirect.
You'll note he did not say "people who want porn are bad people" or "people who want Android phones are bad people" or "porn is the only thing Android is good for".
...how? He doesn't mention the Android Market. He surely knows the Android Market is not the only way to get applications -- in fact, TechCrunch even quotes him elsewhere as indicating that there is a "a porn store for Android". Not anything like "There is porn in the Android Market".
Remember, the context is him responding to a request about his product. Stating clearly that people who want what is being asked for should go elsewhere makes a lot more sense to me than it being some kind of vague underhanded marketing tactic. What else would you say if someone asks for something you're not interested in selling? Should he say "Oh well maybe we'll reconsider. Don't buy a product that does what you want."? Wouldn't that be dishonest? I mean, if this is lying so subtle that you have to explain it I really don't think it's meant to deceive.
The whole thing is just silly and shows how little it really takes to get HN into a frenzy these days.
So given all that, you have to wonder why does he even bother to mention Android at all, especially considering that the Android Market prohibits porn just like the Apple App store. You've got to be incredibly naive, or deliberately disingenuous to claim it doesn't sound like a deliberate attempt to slander his competition. Kind of like the old political routine of asking your opponent when he stopped beating his wife. :-)
I'm sorry you feel that way, but I believe you're wrong in your interpretation. You won't hear anymore about it.
But I don't think that a large enough section of the general populace pays attention to Steve Jobs' every utterance to make this statement problematic in that regard. But it could be a pretty nasty way to run a reverse astroturfing campaign.
But due to the open nature of the iPhone a company created a "pornstore."
IMHO, the browser has been a pretty good porn marketplace for a long time - I don't see the need.
So why make a big deal of it? There is no way you can take the morale high-ground by disallowing porn. Tell me, are apples customers conservatives that walk around playing golf all day?
But seriously, the mentality that porn is dirty is misguided, especially alongside the death and destruction that are pushed in the gaming industry.
I have fun programming, and I program for work. I have fun at work. I enjoy what I do.
Anyways, it was meant as a joke. That porn is fun and real sex is not.
Nevermind. =/
Maybe Steve does the B&N test?
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1272433
Jobs emphasizes this by pointing out that Android (or, non-Apple) is the only option available for mobile software if you disagree with Apple's app store policies. Why not allow people to download/install apps outside the App Store? They do own the phone, right?
That's just a technicality.
They own the phone but for Apple it's more like a subscription: people will buy apps from Apple's AppStore, buy accessories that need Apple's approval (and where Apple gets a cut) and after maximum 3 years upgrade to the next Apple piece of hardware.
So the phone purchase isn't an atomic purchase, it's more like the first downpayment to "the Apple experience".
He is using the term as if it had some kind of objective definition, and that makes no sense at all.
Does the App Store in those countries sell those applications?
But what's really amazing about that guy is that he is apparently unable to understand the difference between a thing and an explanation of that thing. He has banned (or rather censored) a dictionary on the grounds that it included the words "fuck" and "shit" after all.
OK, it was fun writing that, but I actually don't believe it. He does understand that difference. He just thinks keeping the utmost distance from anything "dirty" regardless of the type of connection is beneficial to his franchise.
We'll just have to wait and see how this plays out in the market in the long run. Whilst waiting I'm going to buy an Android phone for hacking and other types of pleasure ;-)
Apple, understandably, don't want to be in the minefield arena of porn distribution via the App Store - it's a smoking gun in a sense.
This is just a closed product of the App store.
Though it appears Jobs also considers it a moral imperative; which is wrong.
(I wasn't commenting on that anyway tbh)
Edit; strictly speaking were putting words in his mouth there. He said android not android marketplace. And in that he is strictly accurate.
What utility would be added by making an 'App'?
It appears people are taking this statement the wrong way - Porn isn't allowed in the appstore, so his statement is bullshit. Of course we can install our own apps / porn on Android! That's one of the best parts.
But we (android community) get to dodge the THINK OF THE CHILDREN bullshit that Jobs is trying to stir up because it's not allowed in the default distribution method.
That is, he doesn't want to see something on the TV news about how high schoolers with iPhones are watching porn in the cafeteria.
1. Every business guy I've talked to loved the iPhone's power and what they could do without needing to lug a laptop around everywhere. So the iPhone has a definite business appeal, and keeping porn out helps keep that ambiance. 2. Clearly he is using the porn store for Android as a, "hey, Android is entertainment, iPhone is for professionals " type of message. 3. I think the other smart thing, which no one in Apple will talk about is the reduced bandwidth consumption they will have by not having porn! It is an inherently bandwidth hungry system (presuming online, not stored in a DB) to be encouraging videos and images. 3a) This allows them to leave out a strategically bad (PR/Marketing-wise) niche that would strain an already strained infrastructure. 3b) This strain on the infrastructure would affect those business types that they have good appeal with.
FWIW - I think people claiming that Apple is socially conservative is absurd. They have a former VP candidate for the Democratic party on their board. And I bet if people looked into it, they'd find a health balance of board political donations go to liberals.
The bandwidth consumpsion argument is also total bullshit. Do a quick google/bing search for "iphone porn". There are a lot of porn sites ready, willing, and able to stream porn videos to Mobile Safari.
Do you really think Apple wants porn apps in their Top 25 Grossing, Paid, and Free lists?
"I'm an app store developer, and if Apple opens the doors, let me tell you what will happen : First of all, there will be hardcore porn immediately. Boob apps will flood the store, because that's what makes money."
Bit of a tempest in a teapot really, since any user who could figure out how to download and install mikandi (or the equivalent) could also just search for any of the NUMEROUS porn web sites that work just fine on either Android or iPhone.
If the news media starts talking about Android phones as "porn" phones then the iPhone will be presented as the shiny white alternative to that.