Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Trent Reznor Of NIN Tears Apple Apps Process A New One


I absolutely love NIN frontman Trent Reznor, as only a straight guy can love another man. Not only because he makes really good music, but because this guy knows his tech like no other musician (sorry John Mayer). Case in point is when Trent comes off the top rope on Apple and their ridiculous App approval process. Apple recently rejected a NIN application because of “risqué content” , and that sent Reznor over the edge with this NSFW posting on his podcast:

“You can buy The Downward Fucking Spiral on iTunes, but you can't allow an iPhone app that may have a song with a bad word somewhere in it. Geez, what if someone in the forum in our app says FUCK or CUNT? I suppose that also falls into indecent material. Hey Apple, I just got some SPAM about fucking hot asian teens THROUGH YOUR MAIL PROGRAM. I just saw two guys having explicit anal sex right there in Safari! On my iPhone!”

As crude as he is…… He has a point. Check out the rest of the statement below:

“Everyone - let me be clear. I love Apple products and as goofy and out-of-touch as their app approval process / policy is, I will still use them because they work 1000X better than the competition. This is not a debate, it's a fact. The iPhone is THE most elegant, modern smartphone at this point in time and it's perfect for what we want to do with the NIN app - except for the ludicrous approval process, and that's what I want to draw attention to. Android is cool, but nobody has an Android phone. Blackberry is OK but the hardware is inconsistent and WinMo straight-up sucks balls. If Apple doesn't get it together, we will most certainly make it available to the jailbreak community. I didn't invest in this app to see it languish on the sidelines from an idiotic policy while this tour is in full swing. “

I do find it interesting that Apple doesn’t have a problem with NSFW applications such as Twitter and other questionable apps, not to mention the fact that you can buy explicit lyrics songs on iTunes. Why not just have Adult sections of the app store that you must be over 18 to download instead of rejecting these types of apps? By rejecting them, Apple opens itself up to criticism of hypocrisy, and rightfully so.

Do yourself a favor Apple…. Stop trying to be our Moms!!!

[Gizmodo]

UPDATE: Straight from the twitter account of the man himself, the NIN iPhone app has been approved and will be available sometime later today "unchanged" from the version that Apple found objectionable.
So, it appears that Apple has caved in to the criticism, further illustrating that their approval system is all kinds of messed up. All that aside, I'm just happy it's on it's way. [Twitter]

2 comments:

Malcolm said...

Why don't they simply have parental controls active in the iTunes store? I thought Apple thought of every good idea to simplify life since the wheel and sliced bread. At least that's what they imply in their commercials.

Anonymous said...

I agree.

But as a NIN fan going back to 1990; I just need to make a wee correction. Trent IS NIN. He hires musicians to tour with him while he fronts, plays guitars, and keyboards, etc. He owns his own label and is a great phillanthropist (but rarely does he seek the limelight for that; but check out what he did for New Orleans after Katrina, etc)

If you've never gotten to see him live, then as a tech enthusiast, you'll really love this. He does not tolorate anything less than perfection on tour. If a keyboard, computer, or any type of equipment fail (no mattter what the cost) He destroys it. It's very expensive; but I think he's fighting the machines even prior to John Conner!

If you can get you hands on some concert video; yhe litereally will pick up a $10,000 board and throw it to the ground and kick it's ass like Pete Townshend does to his guitars.

Trent and whoever he has touring with him usually end up getting stiched up after many a gig due to flying mechancal or silicone parts.

He does not tolorate failure... Perhaps he's actually my Dad who's found a rift in the time/space contiuum and shot back in time so he could whoop some more ass.