[msbarnett]

Because Dateline can't build a concern-trolling episode around "Are iPhones Youth-Corrupting Pornography Machines" when everything and your toaster has a web browser. Every criticism would equally apply to Android and your laptop. It's water off the brand's back.

But if Apple is literally taking money and distributing pornography, a news unit is shooting that story tomorrow.

Nintendo faces many of the same problems, e.g.) http://www.examiner.com/article/pedophiles-could-take-advant...

[smokeyj]

Explain to simpletons like myself how pornography distribution is like measuring weight. I'd love to draw the connection but I'm afraid logic prevails.

Furthermore, if Dateline is an influencing force in Apple product decisions - remind me to smash my iPhone into a million proprietary pieces.

[msbarnett]

> Explain to simpletons like myself how pornography distribution is like measuring weight. I'd love to draw the connection but I'm afraid logic prevails.

Reread thread. This grew out of discussion about Apple forbidding apps with confederate flags etc. Inflammatory, controversial content.

Y'know, like pornography.

The weight thing is obviously much simpler: Apple doesn't want to be the punchline on a lolpiece on the 6 o'clock news about "Are people breaking their iPhones with controversial new 'scale' apps? Find out after news and weather with chuckles the rain stooge"

> Furthermore, if Dateline is an influencing force in Apple product decisions - remind me to smash my iPhone into a million proprietary pieces.

News Organizations are absolutely an influencing force in any major brand's decision making processes. All brands live in utter terror of being on the wrong side of a "won't somebody please think of the children??" shit-storm.

You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

[smokeyj]

"Child installs eBay app to purchase dildos - news at 9."

I understand PR is an influencing factor in corporate decision making - but if Apple is choosing to cater to the Dateline crowd rather than satisfy their core audience, Tim might as well purchase dragon dildos for the entire staff.

Allowing or banning an App is PR worthy. Damned if I do or don't type thing. But a developer wasted time from his life that'll never be returned. Responsible adults who wish to use this functionality aren't able to. The proprietary nature of Apple's wall gardened is coming into question. That's the PR Apple should worry about, and this is a gross miscalculation.

[johncolanduoni]

The concern here is likely that some idiot will try to measure their own weight with it or some such nonsense, and then break their phone. I'm sure Apple still remembers "bendgate", and has no desire to get a bunch of bad press about how the screen's glass is fragile. Like bendgate, they'll probably be vindicated when actual experiments are run, but that is of little comfort.

Also, the parent was responding to why the same argument doesn't apply to Safari. I'm afraid what prevailed was ignoring context, not logic.