Apple Bans Non-Graphic, VR Representation Of Ferguson Shooting For No Coherent Reason
from the would-you-please-make-some-sense dept
Apple's ridiculous, inconsistent and incoherent app store approval process is now a thing of legend. The company has long banned apps simply for being able to access other, vaguely-controversial content, whether that's a dictionary (because some words are naughty), or comic book and e-book readers (because, occasional booby references). But Apple's also been known to ban apps critical of Apple products, games with Nazis in it, DUI checkpoint apps, and anything with a confederate flag in it (even if historically accurate). Basically, Apple governs its app store approval process like a puritanical child in the throes of an epic acid trip, and conversations trying to decipher company intent goes accordingly.Apple's latest ingenious app store approval ban? Virtual reality journalism. Graphic artist Dan Archer thought it might be cool to build a 3D representation of the Ferguson shooting to help people better understand precisely what happened. Note there's no graphic content whatsoever; the app simply shows a 3D representative of the crime scene, 3D models of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson and their alleged locations, and lets the user simultaneously peruse publicly-filed evidence, witness testimony, and published radio chatter:
"According to the phone call I received, Ferguson Firsthand was disallowed because it “refers to a very specific event, and therefore its scope is too narrow.” I was encouraged to try again with an app that is “topical, but not focusing on any one single incident or topic.” Ferguson Firsthand, in its current state, would need to be “changed so significantly for it to be approved.” The representative was unable to clarify whether an app that reported on multiple, nationwide allegations of police misconduct would better fit the recommendations she had mentioned."As with previous bans, getting Apple to transparently and more precisely illuminate the exact problem with the VR app was utterly unfruitful. In a companion piece over at Medium, Archer quite-correctly notes that the continued reliance on arbitrary, non-transparent gatekeepers is the last thing the soon-to-explode virtual reality market needs. Sure, those that can afford the $500 for the upcoming HTC Vive or Oculus Rift (not to mention a high-end graphics card) will likely be slightly less-reliant on gatekeepers for content access, but having Apple determine what qualifies as an acceptable journalism tool on less expensive smartphone VR platforms is a scary proposition:
"Leading VR headsets in the market still cost hundreds of dollars (despite becoming a decimal point or two cheaper in the last decade) and a powerful PC to run home experiences. Google cardboard, the SDK that allows journalists to port a game engine experience into VR, was designed to work brilliantly with smartphones, but in light of my phone call with Ms. Apple, almost half (44.1%, according to June 2015 data published by Comscore) of that market share in the US was effectively being cut off."Archer also notes that Apple's decision directly contradicts its own over-arching principles for its own guidelines:
"Thank you for developing for iOS. Even though this document is a formidable list of what not to do, please also keep in mind the much shorter list of what you must do. Above all else, join us in trying to surprise and delight users. Show them their world in innovative ways, and let them interact with it like never before. In our experience, users really respond to polish, both in functionality and user interface. Go the extra mile. Give them more than they expect. And take them places where they have never been before. We are ready to help."Or, try to do exactly that and get your project blocked for no coherent reason.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: app store, arbitrary, ferguson, journalism, news, rejections, vr
Companies: apple
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Looks like time to get rid of any Stopwatch Apps on the App Store
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I see their point
Apple has re-created a beatnik-like "hipster cult". Sunshine and daisies, 24/7 is their world. The worst possible punishment anyone should ever suffer is to be smothered with hugs and puppies.
Meanwhile, all their gear is built by child slave labor, the rare earths used for the components is obtained from China by "relocating" everyone on the mountain they're under, strip mining the ore, and then processing it with 18th century methods that blacken the skies with hazardous smog for thousands of miles.
But it's "green"...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I see their point
(http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killi ngs-us-database)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I see their point
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Pretty sure people want a phone.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Mounting your own PC is the only way to go. And it's possible to be ethical about it. I told him I would never have developed all my "debugging" skills had I not learned to computer with DOS and Win95, that Windows forced you to play around with settings and such because it was so buggy heh. Of course that ended for a while for those who didn't get fooled and got Win2k "WHICH IS ONLY FOR SERVERS!" and not WinME, which was buggy beyond any sense of how OS's and computers worked. Although I lost all interest in Windows from 8 and on, I learned to Linux by myself, not something a Mac Only person could do as fast.
If I ever visit my mother and I see him with an iPhone, I'll be getting annoyingly "political" though...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Malware
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No surprise here
Apparently 44.1% still need their parents and can't find their way out of a walled garden.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pure gold.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
A bland, safe, predictable experience.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
They don't want anything "socially controversial" to be associated with their branding.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That would be one hell of a VR experience. Getting beat up by thugs in the first person perspective. I know my heart would be pumping.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Keep trying to stay relevant....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Good call, Apple
[ link to this | view in chronology ]