Occasionally common sense comes from uncommon places. Apple, Inc., that icon of the hi-tech counterculture -- you know, the folks who used to go to work in tie-dyed t-shirts just to drive those button-downed IBMers nuts -- has come down squarely on the side of morality and decency. In a response to an email complaining about Apple's restrictive policies on applications for the iPhone and iPad, Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, responded by talking about freedom:
"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."
Heavens! His take on freedom sounds remarkably similar to the Church's traditional theological understanding of freedom -- the freedom to do good and avoid evil.
And during a Q&A session in April, Jobs was asked whether Apple had "plans to allow unsigned applications on the iPhone?" (Unsigned applications are applications not approved by Apple.) Jobs' reply was beautiful:
And during a Q&A session in April, Jobs was asked whether Apple had "plans to allow unsigned applications on the iPhone?" (Unsigned applications are applications not approved by Apple.) Jobs' reply was beautiful:
"(W)e do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone...You know, there's a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That's a place we don't want to go - so we're not going to go there."
Three very loud cheers for Apple and Steve Jobs. His comments make me happy that I bought the iPhone and not one of the Android-based phones. I just may have to make the transition from PC to Mac. Now if I could only convince dear Diane to let me buy an iPad...
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