Posted in English

You might have heard the news already… Ryan Tate from Gawker Media wrote an email to Steve Jobs because he didn’t buy the iPad being a “revolution” as the commercials suggest because Apple is so restrictive about what kind of Apps and Data officialy makes it onto the iPad and iPhone.
The master himself bothered to reply.
Tate’s message:

If Dylan was 20 today, how would he feel about your company?
Would he think the iPad had the faintest thing to do with “revolution”?
Revolutions are about freedom.

(for the kids: He’s talking about Bob Dylan)
And Steve Jobs said:

Yep, freedom from programs that steal your private data. Freedom from programs that trash your battery. Freedom from porn. Yep, Freedom. The times they are a changin’, and some traditional PC folks feel like their world is slipping away. It is.

Riiight..so my future freedom is what Apple wants it to be?
I am one of those “traditional PC folks” although I switched to Mac quite a while ago. Mac and PC are incomparable to me since they are not only different systems, they are completely different concepts. While I liked messing around with different hardware, experimental drivers, experimental operating systems etc. when I was young, nowadays I prefer the all-in-one concept the Mac has always offered. No hassle, no crashes…and I don’t care about the limited portfolio of hardware because as a businessman I need my spreadsheeds, my word processor, a database and email…that’s it…no fancy graphics, no ATI Radium with a cooling block the size of a small car…BUT that’s where it ends for me…
I don’t mind Apple being restrictive regarding the code of applications…that’s one of the reasons their stuff works so well (most of the time)…but content? That’s a different story…

Porn is dirty and masturbation makes you go blind, but let’s face it, guys! Had we had a thing like the iPad to hide under our blanket at night to whack off to some porn movie rather than to the female underwear part of a mail-order-catalogue – we would have used it! When we grew older and were suddenly at legal age for getting and consuming porn and alcohol, these things got old very quickly…we got wasted a couple of times…watched a few porn movies and all of a sudden we had grown up and had actual women to whack off to (or with…) and getting wasted became a sign of immaturity…but none of us ended up like the anti-pornography-movement thought we would.
The arguments people bring forth against the internet are the same arguments they used for XXX-channels on satellite TV, and before that they said the same about porn DVDs, and before that they said the same about porn VCR-tapes, and before that they said the same about porn-cinemas and magazines, let alone graphic novels (both of sexual and non-sexual subject)..and all the generations which were said to be doomed by the downfall of moral values have grown up to become normal adults…

I as a teacher say, porn is part of growing up…for boys more than for girls, but it is integral…while now as a school teacher I of course must object to any pornographic imagery, I also know that doing “something bad” is a vital part of a treasure chest of memories…the first cigarette you secretly smoked in the bushes and thought your parents wouldn’t notice because you chewed gum afterwards…the first beer…no one thought it tasted good, but no one wanted to admit that…and the first porn movie someone’s older brother had gotten and given us to watch…then we felt like real men…and none of us became a drug addict (for a longer period of time I mean.. ) or a porn star…

Dear Mr. Jobs,
I love the stuff your company makes, but please keep in mind a company of your influence has a moral imperative when it comes to protect children and adolescents, but as soon as you’re dealing with adult customers it’s their business what kind of material they choose to enjoy on their iPad or iPhone…and it’s the customers’ responsibility not to let such material fall into the hands of minors…if an adult wants to whack off to some internet porn on a device made by Apple, it’s part of his freedom to do as he pleases..
Let me put it this way: As I understand, unlike here in speeder’s heaven (aka. Germany) there is a nationwide speed limit in the USA. While it would be no problem to install a device that limits the top speed of a car to 75 miles per hour, would you buy a Ferrari or a Porsche or a Mercedes Benz with such a device installed? Or would you refuse to buy a car with such a limiter? You know there is a speed limit…still, you want to “choose” not to exceed it, rather than being forced to obey by technical means…give it a thought, Mr. Jobs…

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