Shame on Apple´s new sexy rules #Mediause

So, Apple has decided to delete applications which are containing sexy images from its apple store. It is said that they are doing this because apple is bring the new presented Apple-tablet iPad on the market. The iPad is also for family use, so Apple decided to make the necessary adjustments to their policy concerning the use of sexy images.

Instead of deleting the applications they could also create an age border form applications which are too sexy. The user needs to fill in its age and judging by his age he/she is allowed to use the application. Besides that Apple hasn´t got any clear rules defined, developer Jon Artherton (from the famous Wobble application) called to Apple and asked them to explain what the rules are. This is what an Apple employee answered:

1. No images of women in bikinis (Ice skating tights are not OK either)

2. No images of men in bikinis! (I didn’t ask about Ice Skating tights for men)

3. No skin (he seriously said this) (I asked if a Burqa was OK, and the Apple guy got angry)

4. No silhouettes that indicate that Wobble can be used for wobbling boobs (yes – I am serious, we have to remove the silhouette in this pic)

5. No sexual connotations or innuendo: boobs, babes, booty, sex – all banned

6. Nothing that can be sexually arousing!! (I doubt many people could get aroused with the pic above but those puritanical guys at Apple must get off on pretty mundane things to find Wobble “overtly sexual!)

7. No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content (not sure how Playboy is still in the store, but …)

So, besides that these rules are still strange it also shutdown the income of developers. These boys and girls are contributing a create deal to the success of the apple applications. Personally I think apple should withdraw its ridicules set of rules. Shame on them!!

Media in the bus #mediause

Last week I sat in a bus and I was looking at the TV screen which shows all the bus stops. After we went on the highway the screen showed a short TV-program about some guy who was showing how you could design your own individual sneaker. At the bottom of the screen news items were displaced, mostly about the Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Media is getting more integrated in to our daily lives, when finding a Metro or Spits in a train or reading news at www.nu.nl in class on your mobile phone. Even when you are on vacation in Italy you can buy a Dutch newspaper at the local supermarket, quite handy and sick at the same time.

Just something to thing about: the disaster that recently happened in Haiti was (globally) all over the news after a few minutes after it happened, but for the rescue helpers it took hours to get to the area. It should be the other way around when you think of it. Since when is spreading news more important than giving first aid.

But media it is not all bad news, because after seeing the disaster on TV Dutch people donated millions to the fund to help the victims and reconstruct the city. Media is getting more and more powerful. Just that you know!

A new job, #mediause

Hi, I just started a new job! Well besides that this is great news, I have to work with a couple of IT-systems. So I thought, this could be a new input for my blog. But let me tell you first what I have to do there, customers email questions to me and I answer them in a nice and satisfying way. Yes you're right its customer service, sounds easy. I thought so.....

After a couple of days of training, my new found knowledge was put to the test. I got my own email account and opened my first email, so far no problems.....

During the training it became clear to me that they were using four different kinds of IT-systems, which are far from user-friendly (the fun part is that the rest of the employees agrees). So for the next 30 minutes I was looking for the answer to a simple question, after 30 minutes the system crashed and was down for 2 hours.

This meant that I could not work during the malfunction, resulting that I tried nine different kinds of coffee at the coffee machine.

It-systems help solving problems but some are not userfriendly, unreliable and create a high level of irritation among users. But without the systems I could not do my work properly aswell as my colleagues working on the customerservice.

The fact that I could not function without the systems shows that systems should support users suche as myself and not make them dependent on systems, which is not the way systems where intended.

Hope to see you next time