Recently I read this article called: Steve Jobs, Apple, and porn. An excerpt: [Steve] Jobs (CEO of Mac) has recently argued that he wants his portable computer devices to not sell or stock pornography. When a critic emailed him to say that this infringed his freedoms, Jobs emailed back and told him to buy a different type of computer.
Steve Jobs is a fan of Bob Dylan, so one customer emailed him to ask how Dylan would feel about Jobs’ restrictions of customers’ freedoms.
The CEO of Apple replied to say that he values:
‘Freedom from programs that steal your private data. Freedom from programs that trash your battery. Freedom from porn. Yep, freedom. The times they are a changin’ and some traditional PC folks feel their world is slipping away. It is.’
The interlocutor replied:
“I don’t want ‘freedom from porn’. Porn is just fine! And I think my wife would agree.”
In the most revealing line, Steve Jobs dismissed the critic thus:
“You might care more about porn when you have kids.”
Pause for a moment and consider what the above emails represent.
The CEO of one of the wealthiest, most successful international companies responds to the email of a customer. Business prospers on the mantra ‘The customer is always right.’ Business wants the customers’ money.
But in this case, over the moral issue of pornography, Jobs is happy to tell customers to buy a different product. He argues that children and innocence ought to be preserved—and that trumps the dollar.
I was struck by Steve Jobs’ idea of freedom through restrictions in relation to our ultimate freedom through submission to God’s Word. The world does not see that as freedom, they view freedom as the ability to do anything, which ultimately leads to some sort of slavery. Even though Jobs was not coming from a Biblical Worldview it is interesting to see him entertain the idea that one can have freedom by submitting to something. Furthermore, Macs filter less porn than PC’s out of the box. Ultimately, these are respectable statements from Jobs. As a husband and A father I am ecstatic for for him to use his platform to get this message across. However, the response of the Christian community is proof of the success of Apple’s marketing. He made a statement, not a decision that he would like to keep porn off of Apple portable devices. That is all he did. Why must Christians continue to get all excited and make decisions about products because someone says something they agree with? It would seem that the only way Jobs can keep porn off of Apple i[device] is to remove the camera and video support, Wi-Fi and data support as swell.
Do I use Apple products? Yes. Are they great? Yes, but there is no need for me to follow blindly. Do we need to support people that we agree with? Sure. I support President Obama’s statement that he wants to lower taxes, but also take issue with some other ideas he has. 40 Days of Purpose, Prayer of Jabez, The Shack, Bono, Steven Baldwin, Oprah, Ford, Pepsi, Disney, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM and many other products have all been boycotted or embraced by Christians at some point, and some of them have had both done to them. I think Job’s newly publicized anti-porn campaign is a great idea. More people should support that type of thinking. I also think it is great marketing, especially coming from a liberal CEO towards a naive conservative fan base who has in the past questioned his Buddhist and mostly agnostic beliefs. The same conservative group who flipped out back in 1977 when the first Apple retailed for $666.66.
Will I continue to use Mac’s? Sure, if they serve the purpose. Will I purchase one because of a statement that cannot even be upheld? NO. But I do like to support people who have similar morals.
What do you think?