Last Straw

Ninja­words dic­tion­ary iPhone app

When I pur­chased an iPhone it was with the cas­ual under­stand­ing that I was buy­ing into a product that was con­trolled not by me, in the way I con­trol my com­puter, but by the com­pany selling me the product, Apple.

It’s what Jonathan Zit­train describes as a “tethered appli­ance.” In con­trast to a “gen­er­at­ive PC.” Have enough of these tethered appli­ances and the inter­net would cease being the internet.

The latest neg­at­ive example of this teth­er­ing is the most out­rageous App Store rejec­tion to date: the cen­sor­ship and adult-rating of the Eng­lish dic­tion­ary!

Update: If you’d like a chance to tell these self-appointed arbit­ers of cul­ture what you think you can go to the Ninja­words App Store page (App Store link) and click on the “Report a Prob­lem” but­ton at the bot­tom. You’ll need to use an iPhone as the “Report a Prob­lem” but­ton doesn’t seem to appear in iTunes.

Update 2: Apple’s vice pres­id­ent Phil Schiller responds to Gruber.