4 ms·

"which had at least some theoretical accountability to the general population. Apple, however, does not have even the pretence of that kind of accountability."

• Daishiman 14y ago
  > Apple, like any for profit business, is certainly accountable to the market. I'm indifferent [1] to this app but maybe so many people are outraged that Apple reconsiders lest it's brand or market share suffer. Again I doubt that's going to happen. For one, this app works perfectly as a web app. If Apple were to start blocking the web I think I might join you and head for another platform but I don't see them doing that. This is not a good argument. Public pressure for apps of this kind will always be relatively low, so other interests will almost always take precedence, which means that states can effectively use their leverage to block undesirable content with minimal consequences. It is effectively a form of soft censorship.
  • Steko 14y ago
    "Pressure for apps of this kind" sort of gives away that game that no one really cares about this Drones+ app. Let me tell you if Apple started featuring an App that let you dress up Obama in racist costumes there would be crowds and boycotts and stores would stop carrying their products and their stock would quickly approach the value of their cash on hand and property. Yes Apple is accountable to the public, full stop.
    • Daishiman 14y ago
      As a matter of principle I consider it wrong that a company that has absolute control on a market exerts its influence on political grounds that effectively stifle freedom of the press. Whether it gets one complaint of a million is not relevant to the question. Ask yourself what would happen if this was the case of ISPs blocking access to a website of the same sort.
      • ralfd 14y ago
        I get the argument about the principle. But I guess Steko is nearer on reality that it practically does not matter. Because it really does not "effectively" stifle freedom of press. Especially if the developer himself regards Drone+ as a one trick pony with no downloads. And there are dozens of full featured news apps available who are reporting all kinds of bad news. You can surf the big wide web. An email newsletter would provide the same feature of a notification alert. A few years ago I read a disgruntled guy complaining that he made a very basic clock App, but Apple rejected it with the explanation there are already hundreds basic clock Apps in the clock category. The other commenters were riled up, how dare you Apple! But in the end there are really enough ways to check the date and time. > Whether it gets one complaint or a million is not relevant to the question. I disagree. A million complains have enough weight to lead to a public discussion and the forming of public opinion and pressure. In the hn thread about this drone-topic, which was only 2 days ago, this link was posted: http://mashable.com/2011/03/23/apple-removes-gay-cure/ http://mashable.com/2011/03/23/apple-removes-gay-cure/ Quote: "After more than 146,000 people signed a petition against a “gay cure” app, Apple has removed it from the App Store." I am glad this junk was removed! But from your viewpoint of principle it should be allowed? ------- That said, I think Apple could some day adopt Mountain Lions new Gatekeeper feature in iOS, if it proofs itself on OSX.
        • Steko 14y ago
          "That said, I think Apple could some day adopt Mountain Lions new Gatekeeper feature in iOS, if it proofs itself on OSX." I'd guess more people (self included) think it will head in the opposite direction (OS X -> iOS). Personally I don't care all that much, robust LTE networks are going to make native apps increasingly irrelevant.
  • philwelch 14y ago
    That's just as much an argument against democracy. The difference is, in the market, a 0.1% niche can be sustainable, while in democracy, a 0.1% niche is meaningless.
    • mjcohenw 14y ago
      Another proof that we don't have a democracy, or anything near it.
    • jlgreco 14y ago
      The tyranny of the majority is a very real phenomenon that must always be in the forefront of your mind when designing a democratic system. It is an argument against democracy, and it is a very good argument against democracy.
• luriel 14y ago
  > Apple, like any for profit business, is certainly accountable to the market. Apple is also using the government to enforce a monopoly on some extremely basic ideas. Thanks to the patent system the market around smartphones is not even remotely free, it requires billions of dollars and armies of lawyers to even have a chance of competing, and even then you might lose.
• gardarh 14y ago
  Seems to me that notifications were essential to the functionality of this app, you can't get that with a web app. Of course the "web app is sufficient" point is irrelevant though, it's fundamentally weird that someone is making arbitrary decisions on which apps are allowed and which ones are not.
• msabalau 14y ago
  Is there any evidence to believe that anyone would have known of or cared about the app if it had been accepted? It seems likely that most people have only heard of it because of the rejection, first on "technical grounds", and then for the cowardly admission that they thought that people would find the content objectionable. Apple certainly can run their store any way they want to. At the same time it's worth noting that compared, say, to standards set by bookstores and libraries which often contain material that many people would find offensive, Apple is acting, well, rather gutlessly. One might have thought that the brand that they wanted to protect would have been that of a company that is not afraid to "think different" and that worked to ensure that "1984 is not like 1984". Evidently they'd rather throw away that brand equity and become as inoffensive as the local Walmart. Fine, noted.
• biafra 14y ago
  How does a web app do notifications on ios while it is not open?