“I was perplexed by Apple’s decision to replace the revolver emoji for a lime green water pistol in its upcoming software release,” Michelle Quinn writes for The Mercury News. “The move, which the company hasn’t explained but is expected to take effect in September, has some of that old Apple whimsy to it. Disarm the guns of the world by replacing them with squirt guns.”
“I get it. Even on the tiny stage of the iPhone’s text messaging space, Apple is sending a message: It doesn’t like guns and wants to reduce our insensitivity to gun violence,” Quinn writes. “That’s a laudable goal, but it’s sadly laughable. And a tad dangerous.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to defend the right of iPhone users to have a gun emoji, but tech companies are communication firms now. They give us the tools to talk to each other. To remove an image like the revolver emoji is to remove an idea,” Quinn writes. “Apple is in the business of giving customers more tools for communicating, not taking them away.”
“To take the squirt gun change even further, why not remove the word ‘gun’ and all its synonyms? Or the word ‘bang?” Quinn writes. “And what about the iPhone’s bomb and knife emojis? They seem safe, for now.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple should be in the business of giving customers more tools for communicating, not taking them away as they’re attempting to do now.
It’s not hammers that pose a threat to nails, it’s some of the people wielding some of the hammers. Barring hammers from conversation won’t save a single nail. By the way, hammers can also be used to save nails as they have claws for extraction. It actually depends upon the intent of the person holding the hammer.
Apple, of all places, should understand clearly that problems don’t get solved until you can identify the actual problem and then address it. The rest is just infantile obfuscation.
Blaming the tool when the issues are with certain tool-holders (mental illness, religious extremism, lack of respect for life, poverty, etc.) is just silliness. If someone really wants to do away with a nail, you don’t even need a hammer, any old rock will do.
Sticking your fingers in your ears and shutting your eyes is a three-year-old’s response to a scary situation. Sticking your fingers in someone else’s ears while blindfolding them is the response of a totalitarian dictator.
With this silly squirt gun move, Apple Inc. looks like it’s run by a bunch of dictatorial fools tilting at windmills.
SEE ALSO:
Get out of gun control, Apple – August 16, 2016
Apple and the (squirt) gun emoji – August 4, 2016
In wake of London stabbing rampage, will Apple replace their knife emoji with a plastic spork? – August 4, 2016
Open Thread: Should Apple code their OSes to block video games that glorify guns and murder? – August 3, 2016
Apple jumps the shark by removing the handgun emoji; Gun owners might want to reconsider buying Apple’s products – August 3, 2016
Apple removes handgun emoji, replaces it with a squirt gun – August 1, 2016
Apple’s politics may be hurting its brand – June 29, 2016
Apple quashes rifle Emoji – June 20, 2016
