Comments on: Apple to developer: No, you pull MY finger

Another rejected iPhone application raises the question of just how Apple decides which applications are useful, if juvenile, and which aren't.

[umbrae]

Why would I want to buy a phone where the manufacturer tells me what I can and cannot have on it? I guess censorship is hip these days...

[digiguy23]

Apple owns the iPhone, that's why

[b_baggins]

Too funny. I'll bet right now you have a cell phone that has certain features turned off that your provider will be more than happy to activate for you. For a fee.

[make_or_break]

Apple owns the iPhone, that's why

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.

[dysonl]

@b_baggins: Regardless of fees, at least, you can have the "features". With the iPhone, Apple decides what app you can buy and cannot buy. Anyway, Apple fanboys will be always Apple fanboys -- no matter how Apple limits their freedom, the fanboys will blindly cheer for Apple. How ironic that Apple released that infamous commercial in 1984 about liberation from the PC tyranny when in reality, Apple is the greatest tyran of them all.

[Mr. Dee]

I applaud Apple for this effort. We need a generation of Internet and application development that was not wasted by useless developers with time on their hands in basement out at nowhere. There is a difference between aesthetically pleasing, soothing and disgust. This pull my finger gimmick is nothing but disgust and annoyance using up precious disk space on Apples servers. If he wants to spread his pull finger crap, build a traditional website with Flash and go away.

[JoeF2]

You don't need to buy it...
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.

[JerichoJones]

Does Steve Jobs really have to comment as Mr. Dee? Or is Mr. Dee an uptight ass that wants to control what we can buy because he is offended by the content?

It's nice to have Apple there to ensure no one is offended. :-/

[cmstratton]

Who are you and Apple to say what is "crap?" The market is the only place where "crap" status can be determined. If people thinks it's crap, they won't buy it or download it (if it was offered for free). Just like the comic they recently rejected because it was too "gory," Apple should not put itself in a position to determine what is and is not appropriate for its customers.

[Vegaman_Dan]

While I understand your position, it isn't about what is being rejected or approved- it's the method or criteria that Apple is using to decide this. It isn't consistent and is very hit and miss. How many flashlight apps are there? How many apps that simply turn your screen red as an emergency signal? How many tip calculators? How many listings of jokes? How many public domain books that are being charged 99 cents for?

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.

[rumblestrut]

I'd buy it. My dad would get a gas out of it.

[matttx]

"We need a generation of Internet and application development that was not wasted by useless developers with time on their hands in basement out at nowhere."

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.

[srgtick]

Don't buy it then. Yes, disk space is really precious these days. Thanks for representing everyone's thoughts and feelings. We need someone like you to do that for us.

[make_or_break]

...Then I can only assume that you are also opposed to innovation?

What so innovative about a fart program?

[dysonl]

Nobody really needs chewing gum; it's pretty much useless. Why didn't the government stop chewing gum from being sold?

[David01110]

But...just because YOU see this as a waste, why should I not be able to download it to MY phone? Who made you and Steve Jobs the boss of what's a waste and what isn't? How is an application that displays fish swimming around the screen of more "utility" than this? Here in a nutshell is the biggest reason that I've not purchased an iPhone, and will, in all likelihood, purchase a Dream. Personally, I'm among the 50% that doesn't find fart jokes to be particularly funny, but, to paraphrase Voltaire, I'll defend to the death your right to make them.

[gopnick]

I'm an Apple fan, and I've got to say: this stinks to high heavens!

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.

[Norseman]

This would definitely be a hit with the Windows Mobile crowd.

[Motyoj]

So what you're saying is that Windows people enjoy sophomoric humor?

[danskpeber]

I guarentee you it would be a hit with the Apple fanboys as well, difference is there's no choice to find that out.

[yelocab]

I think if the iTunes store is filled with Apps of limited value like this, it will make it harder to find really useful apps. Look at all the shareware out there. There are many that do relatively the same thing, so it makes it difficult to determine which is the best for your needs (and which ones are not viruses, etc.). If the iTunes store was flooded with useless apps and possibly viruses, Apple would feel a real backlash--especially if the viruses shut down someone's phone . At this point, Apple is just playing it safe with a relatively new feature.

[M C]

It probably took the dev all of 5 minutes to write that app.

Cry. Me. A. River.

[catch23]

That is right. You paid a large amount of money to buy the iPhone, now shut up and use it the way Apple tells you to!
Allows you to, actually.

[setgo]

umbrae you wouldn't want to buy an iPhone. I suggest you stay away. Suckers like you who believe CNET's personal iPhone censorship crusade don't deserve an iPhone. This is the second article they have posted and counting. Consider me the watchdog.

[JoeF2]

More the usual Apple fanboy.
You obviously are inside Steve's Reality Distortion Field.

[sapporobaby]

I consider you an idiot. Nokia will launch its Tube soon along with the other 9K plus apps, it will give the iPhone or is that the Nazi-Phone comp.

[setgo]

Hey sap baby, you don't know me so it really doesn't matter now does it? Hope that Nokia thing works out for you.

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.

[XS0706]

To solve the "clutter" problem, Apple could simply have enacted a rating system, whereby those apps that Apple, or even better, the users of Apple Store, deemed to have "utility" would be placed in a special "valuable tool" zone of some sort, while the other apps be grouped in a "Junkware" zone. It would have been much more palletable than Apple arbitrarily killing some apps based on criteria that none of us is really privy to.

[StefRush]

That's why I don't have any apple products. You should develop for windows mobile I?d buy it for a buck or two ;-)

[setgo]

No that's not why. Tell the truth. Your a nerd right.. right?

[techman21]

Poor guy, I bet it took him way more than 5 minutes to write that app - I mean, the special foods needed to create 5 different effects, the time waiting for gas buildup, recording and digitizing...it had to take a week at least!

[urr_quasdim]

Nope, it took only 29 minutes thanks to the advent of parallel processing: for every sound a different volunteer was utilized. At a given time, each ate his/her special food for the occasion, tailor made for quick gas build-up. While they were floating between floor and ceiling, their products were individually and digitally recorded in close vicinity to the source so as to avoid acoustic interference from the other contributors. There was only one mishap: all windows were shut to prevent outside noise from contaminating the assymphony, resulting in one technician fainting from inhaling the right stuff at the wrong time...

[Jack K1]

Yes yes yes! Apple is all about thinking outside of the box, enabling free expression, supporting individual creativity. Apple is fun. Apple is whimsical. Apple is goofy. Apple is the Un-company. Apple is nothing like those staid, boring, white-shirt companies. You know the two I'm talking about.

BULL DUNG.

Apple isn't any different from Microsoft or IBM

[DigitalFrog]

It would have been funnier to set it up as a clock theme with farts on the hour/halfhour/qtr hour/random, alarm clock noice, etc. Maybe then it would have been seen as a more functional application. Expansion packs could include belching, snorting, sneezing, hiccups......

[jtaylor475]

Then again, we have, what, 500 "Tip Calculators" to choose from. Thanks Apple, I always need to crack open my iPhone, launch an app (why actually use the calculator?) to figure out what to tip my waiter. Yep, makes perfect sense.

[drukenhard]

just vote the republicans out and get a minimum wage where you don't need to tip in order to supplement their meager earnings.

btw, that app is ****

[skellener]

Apple needs to monitoring these things for QUALITY!!!! Not content!!

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.

[skillingssucks]

Right on. Good post.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Well, think of it in another way. Since Apple controls what is and is not on the Apps Store, you could download an application or feature, decide that you are personally offended greatly by that content and then sue Apple for it. They have no defense- they control and authorize everything that is on there, and that makes them directly responsible for it as well. You should be able to easily sue them for millions. Go for it.

[manualfunky]

developers that get rejected can just port to cydia or installer app. for use on jailbroken iphones.... i just jailbroke my 3g iphone courtesy of pwnage and now have photo-dialling, a video recorder, different themes installed and other apps i would've been forced to pay for... and it has insurance with no excess through my provider for 7$ per month so if it screws it up somehow, i'll just drop it on the floor and make sure it breaks, tell them it slipped off the dashboard of my car as i was turning a corner and get it replaced on the spot in-store, without paying any excess....!

[kataluo]

I'm not embarrassed to say that I would buy this.

[jscott418]

This is what Apple is all about. CONTROL!!! Mac fans have had blinder's on for a long time. But now we see people who fail to come under the Steve Jobs Spell and are asking questions. This could really put Apple back to where it was at 10 years ago. Just a quiet little company that controlled all the software,hardware and everything else and a small percentage of people that liked that.

[setgo]

Ha! In your crack pipe dreams PC boy.

[baisa]

No private action can be "censorship"--only the government has the power to censor. It is Apple's right to establish standards for the apps they include; it is the right of everyone else to decide if they will buy an iPhone or not, and deal with Apple or not. If the government were, say, to force Apple to include any and all apps, THIS would be a profound violation of Apple's rights of expression, production, and trade.

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.

[skillingssucks]

Wrong. It is the very definition of censorship, look up the meaning of the word. It isn't unconstitutional, but it is censorship nonetheless.

[JoeF2]

While you are right technically, Apple is successful because they claim to be different. If/when people realize that Apple is just like any other company, Apple would have lost its reason for being.
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.

[superblue32]

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

[rkinne01]

"It is Apple's right to establish standards for the apps they include; it is the right of everyone else to decide if they will buy an iPhone or not, and deal with Apple or not"

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.

[David01110]

To quote superblue32, this is utter nonsense. Here's a dictionary definition:

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.

[Penguinisto]

Of course, missing in all of this is whether or not the app in question is actually worth a damn quality-wise. I have no problems seeing a small developer whining about his or her "quality" product was rejected, claiming that it was due to purpose, not the possibility that maybe the app itself was poorly coded.

The rest is just the MSFT shill crowd screaming and howling in pure ignorance, and doing so based on an assumption.

[Vegaman_Dan]

It's amazing how ignorant your own comments are. Ironic too.

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.

[Penguinisto]

The article is making assumptions as well - that's the really funny part.

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.

[hal Summers]

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.

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.

[JoeF2]

On the contrary, bad for Apple.
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.

[DrtyDogg]

Most of the negative pressI saw about "I am rich" was about Apple pulling it, not about it being available.

[IowaNinersFan]

If they want to continue to "protect their image", they should try and fix the 3G issue instead of worrying about fart jokes.