Apple to developer: No, you pull MY finger
Apple apparently doesn't think fart jokes are very funny.
The developer of Pull My Finger, an iPhone application, told MacRumors that Apple decided to reject his application from the App Store because it was "of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community." Pull My Finger does pretty much what you would expect it to do, generating about five or six different sounds of flatulence from your iPhone depending on your preference.
Regardless of whether you think fart jokes are the linchpin of comedy (we're running roughly half and half right now in an informal internal poll), MacRumors poses the interesting question of what exactly it means for an iPhone application to have "utility."
Koi Pond, the top-selling iPhone application in the App Store, doesn't do much beyond letting you look at pretty waterscapes with colorful fish on your iPhone. And some of the applications on Josh Lowensohn's recent list of absurd iPhone applications aren't exactly searching for a cure for cancer or helping old ladies cross the street.
When Apple announced it would be vetting every application submitted for inclusion in the App Store, this was just the kind of question that entered many a mind: just how arbitrary would the company be in wielding that veto power? While the rejection of Pull My Finger isn't going to rattle people's cages the way that NetShare's execution did, it's still an interesting question that Apple hasn't exactly stepped forward to answer, though we've gotten a hint with the rejections of applications such as the "I am rich" application.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
Apple "owns" OS X and Macs, yet others develop software for them without official blessing from Cupertino. The key point is that with the iPhone, Apple controls the distribution channel to which "stuff" can be loaded on an iPhone. They get away with this sort of BS because they control the means in which apps get on board.
Personally, I would be embarrassed to the hilt if I were forced to sell such an inane application. Apple's exercising its power of corporate taste and identity in rejecting moron programs like this. If anyone who thought Psystar was the one bringing down the brand identity, they should take a look at this "flatulence" nonsense to see what REALLY would bring down a brand several notches. Idiot app for idiot people...evidently Apple thinks fools shouldn't bother with the iPhone.
But there may be people who want to buy it, and in a capitalist society, they should be able to.
And why would you worry about disk space on Apple's servers? Harddisk space is cheap nowadays.
It's nice to have Apple there to ensure no one is offended. :-/
If it was consistent, then I could accept it. Right now, it's a totally random situation. You never know what app will be allowed to stay or get the boot. You might as well... pull my finger.
Then I can only assume that you are also opposed to innovation? Otherwise, you would understand that the only way to get true innovation is to allow developers to create whatever they want, even if it turns out to be crap. That freedom breeds innovation.
What so innovative about a fart program?
The biggest problem with proprietary technology like Apple's (while fully recognizing its benefits as well) is this issue of control. I'm an Apple iPhone user right now because nobody has anything that can compare. When other mobile operating systems mature, I might consider something different. As always, technology and the free market shall save us.
Cry. Me. A. River.
Allows you to, actually.
You obviously are inside Steve's Reality Distortion Field.
Hey Joe, did you come up with the fanboy thing yourself? Of course you didn't. Be original why don't you. I could call you a Troll but that wouldn't be original.
BULL DUNG.
Apple isn't any different from Microsoft or IBM
btw, that app is ****
Does the app crash my iPhone? Does the app cause other apps to crash? Does the app use up battery life? Is the app secure?
These are the things Apple SHOULD be policing.
Whether an app is done in poor taste (Pull My Finger), too expensive (Iamrich) or offensive (ComicBook Reader) should NOT be part of the decision. I love the concept of an app store, I HATE the way Apple is running, or should I say ruining, it!!!
Maybe the Google app store will be better. It is supposed to be "open". Let's see how that goes.
It is either/or: when you start labeling private actions as "censorship" you will inevitably be led to the demand of use of government force to "correct" it, thus leading to actual censorship and victimization.
And of course, this is not the first time Apple's censors screwed up: Shortly after the iTunes store started, the prudes at Apple found some music titles too offensive. ******* Brew by Miles Davis became "B***ches Brew." (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/05/01/sugared_water_apple_censors_miles/)
Eventually, somebody at Apple who still had common sense stopped this nonsense.
CNET may censor my reply if I use inappropriate language, and I routinely censor what my children can access.
You do not have to be in government to be a censor
You're right Apple does have that right, but what the issue is that they are not publishing what those standards are or leaving a clear understanding of what those standards are. Apps have been approved then removed without an sort of explaination by Apple, leaving developers scracthing thier collective heads. Apple does have the right to pull apps at anytime but should let developers know why so adjustments could be made or revised versions could be programed to Apple's standards. Apple hasn't had the greatest track record with third party programers, policies like this do nothing to help.
cen·sor /?s?ns?r/
?noun
1. an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.
2. any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.
3. an adverse critic; faultfinder.
You are right, of course, that Apple is completely within its rights to establish whatever limits they want on their store. It's also our right to correctly label their policies as censorship, and to make our purchasing decisions accordingly.
The rest is just the MSFT shill crowd screaming and howling in pure ignorance, and doing so based on an assumption.
This has nothing to do with the content. Even the article makes this exceedingly simple and clear for people with reading comprehension difficulties. It's about the criteria that Apple uses to decide what will and will not be allowed in the Apps Store.
I'm rather surprised that you missed that rather obvious point. Perhaps your hatred for all things Microsoft has clouded your ability to see clearly. Microsoft has nothing to do with Apple's decisions on what will be in the Apps Store.
The ignorant person making assumptions here is the one named Penguinisto, I'm afraid.
Otherwise, maybe you can show us where Apple stated why they rejected the thing?
Pity that you can't, but instead decide to make an assumption and run with it.
- by hal Summers September 4, 2008 4:18 PM PDT
- GOOD FOR APPLE! They are just protecting their company image and distributing this crap will not do that. There was a ton of negative press on the I AM RICH app that Apple pulled; I can only imagine how much hot air they would get on this one.
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- by JoeF2 September 4, 2008 5:59 PM PDT
- On the contrary, bad for Apple.
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- by DrtyDogg September 4, 2008 8:39 PM PDT
- Most of the negative pressI saw about "I am rich" was about Apple pulling it, not about it being available.
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- by IowaNinersFan September 5, 2008 8:26 PM PDT
- If they want to continue to "protect their image", they should try and fix the 3G issue instead of worrying about fart jokes.
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (88 Comments)If you want fart sounds on your iPhone just create some MP3s and play them on the iTunes app. Then when you get out of Junior High you can move onto other things, like maybe being a FOX news anchor.
The bad press about the "I am rich" app was more about the morons who bought it.
And your non sequitur about becoming a Fox news anchor only shows that you must have flunked out of debate class.
Next time, try posting something on-topic.