Phil Schiller: SI & Playboy are Good, Everything Else, Not So Much

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I’m not a prude. In fact, I’m a pretty typical heterosexual guy who likes women in all different manners of dress. Of course, I’m not everybody, which brings me to a story.

I know a family of people who are super nice and have very well adjusted children, who are 11 and 9 or so I think. We were talking about Star Trek the other day, and how awesome it was, when they told me that they hadn’t seen it yet because they had heard there was a bit of racy content. That’s when I found out that every movie that their kids see are first pre-screened by their mom to see if it’s too dirty for them. If it clears, then they go to the movie with dad – and maybe mom if it was a good flick. Otherwise, they just don’t see it. But it’s just sex that they’re worried about, not violence. That’s all good.

On the flip side, I’ve got another friend who plays Grand Theft Auto III with his kids. I remember walking into the room one day and seeing him showing his son the infamous hooker scene, and I remember standing there, jaw open, wondering how that was OK.

Point is, everyone has their own choice on how to raise their kids. Some of those people are more vocal than others, which explains why Apple pulled racy apps from the App store. TechCrunch at the Washington Post got a quote from Phil Schiller from Apple, which pretty much says that verbatim.

“It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see”

Ok, well, I get that. I’m not with the Christian Right on most … anything, really, but I respect their opinions. That doesn’t mean that there’s not a healthy dose of hypocrisy built into the system too. The SI Swimsuit app pictured above – Free or .99 cents for premium content – is still available on the App store, as is Playboy’s .99 cent offering. So what’s up with that?

“The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format.”

Oh, OK, that’s cool … wait. What?

Look, pick a side. I get it, some of the sexy apps were pretty lame and opportunistic in nature, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t deserve to be there as much as Playboy or SI. I can’t wait to see how the answer changes when Penthouse or Hustler put out apps, because those fit Phil’s criteria as well.

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Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

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