This Week’s “App Store Policy Shift” or… WTF Apple???

By
On April 18, 2009

When Steve Jobs introduced iPhone OS 2.0 about a year ago he spoke about all the possibilities for new apps. He also, however, spoke about the restrictions Apple would put into place.

The display slide that appeared behind him was specific on many counts ("Porn, privacy, bandwidth hog") and intentionally obtuse on others ("bandwidth hog, malicious, illegal, unforeseen.”).

I assume that "unforseen" meant, "we reserve the right to restrict any app we want on whatever ground we can come up with if we are not happy with something submitted to us at a later date." which is smart on their part but confusing, and potentially frustrating, on the end-users part.

In the year since, however, even the more specific restrictions of "porn, privacy and bandwidth hog" have been continually refined such that the slide, if presented today would have to look something like this…

 

 

 

Hence we now end up with the latest trend in apps. Apps like this…
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 and the newest…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, we find ourselves in the position taken in 1964 by Justice Potter Stewart who, trying to explain "hard-core" pornography, or what is obscene, said, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . [b]ut I know it when I see it . . ." Only this time it is Apple sitting on the bench. 
 
So I ask you… where should Apple draw the line? Or to take it a step further… should they even be drawing it at all?