Hugh Hefner
Source: Technology.gather.com – By Christine Zibas
Apple has taken its position, and it’s sticking to it. No nude images for the iPad, despite what Hugh Hefner might say. While there will be an iPad app for the magazine Playboy, it won’t be featuring any centerfolds. The app will access stories and even dirty jokes, but images are strictly off limits.
Of course this is in direct contradiction to what Hefner was tweeting recently. According to Infoworld.com, Hefner had tweeted the following: “Big news! Playboy — both old & new — will be available on iPad beginning in March.” Another, later tweet claimed that the issues would be uncensored.
However, according to fans and those who might have hoped the app would boost the company’s bottom line (the company’s value has plummeted from 1999 when it was worth $1 billion to about $210 million today), “it’s too little, too late,” reports Infoworld.
According to the site, “This comedy of errors marks the latest chapter in Apple’s vain and self-defeating effort at playing protector of the masses.” Should Apple be in the business of censorship for something that is obviously adult content? Or is it just covering its (well) bases, so that it won’t get into any R vs. PG debates about iPad usage and its surging market of apps?
It’s a little sanctimonious for Apple to take this stand, according to Infoworld and users who want this type of reading (or viewing) material. Will this type of censorship hurt or help Apple? What can Playboy do to pressure Apple? Not very much, considering its financially weakened position.
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