“Apple Computer Inc. never seemed too bothered about whether it made money. Worrying about earnings was for the bean counters at Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc.; Apple was too busy being hip and sexy to fret about its bottom line. The runaway success of its iPod portable music player, though, seems to have given the company a renewed lust for life. After years in the wilderness as a niche maker of groovy computers and software for designers and musicians, Apple is starting to enjoy mainstream success,” Mark Gilbert writes for Bloomberg. “And, just like every other underground artist, Apple faces some tough decisions that will leave it open to accusations of selling out. As the Cupertino, California-based company adds television shows, films and sporting events to its iTunes Internet store, one entertainment category is notable by its absence — pornography.”
“t’s pretty obvious, if a little dismaying, that adding an adult-video section to the iTunes Web site would generate a ton of new visitors and additional revenue for Apple,” Gilbert writes. “It’s also obvious, though, that porn would sit badly with Apple’s self-image. One more thing, says Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs at the next marketing presentation, as the wall-sized video screen behind him fills with fleshy images of bump and grind. It’s hard to picture that scene; Apple is all about whiteness and purity, not smut.”
“Money, though, is the root of all evil, and there’s a lot of money to be made from the alleged evil of so-called adult entertainment. Porn is, literally, the Internet’s dirty big secret. There are 4.2 million pornographic Web sites, with 372 million porn pages handling 68 million search requests per day, according to TopTenReviews Inc., which analyzes software products and Internet services,” Gilbert writes. “The porn industry generates $57 billion in global revenue over the Web, the research firm says, with sales of adult videos contributing $20 billion.”
“Selling more than 42 million iPods in less than five years looks like success, until you realize that mobile-phone sales climbed to about 795 million handsets last year. IPod fans will pay top dollar for an Apple iPhone; CEO Jobs should provide one,” Gilbert writes. “The same applies to porn. A search on Google Inc. shows a bunch of companies willing to sell the content and software needed to view erotic material on an iPod. Apple may as well grab some of that revenue for itself.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Do you want to spend your life selling pornography to people or do you want to change the world?
Advertisements:
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related articles:
Mobile porn on video-enabled Apple iPod, mobile phones is a growing business – March 13, 2006
Parents warned to check kids’ iPods for porn – January 04, 2006
Cincinnati NBC affiliate calls Apple iPod ‘potential cyber-smut porn device’ – November 30, 2005
Leading Catholic cardinal warns parents about buying iPods for Christmas due to porn – November 17, 2005
Love Labs creates ‘iBuzz’ his-and-her vibrating sex toy accessory for Apple iPod – November 16, 2005
Porn media companies scramble to provide content for Apple video-capable iPod – November 15, 2005
Playboy, Penthouse may make video porn for Apple iPod players – November 03, 2005
Guba Usenet search engine preps video porn for Apple iPod – November 02, 2005
Advice for parents: protecting against iPod porn – October 27, 2005
Porn-filtering V-chip for Apple iPod? – October 26, 2005
Porn industry rushes to adapt offerings for Apple’s new video-capable iPod – October 21, 2005
Podfather: iPod porn is going to be huge – October 14, 2005
Get ready for the iPod video torrent search sites – October 13, 2005
Using QuickTime Pro to create videos for playback in new Apple iPods – October 13, 2005
Apple unveils new 5th generation iPod, now plays music, photos, and video – October 12, 2005
Playboy brings soft-core porn to Apple’s iPod photo – December 30, 2004
YES APPLE SHOULD SELL PORN!!
There of course should be a totally different application for it with password protection as not to associate it with iTMS and keep it from the kiddies.
Credit card only access, no music cards or gift certificates.
Porn makes a incredible amount of money, provides a need for common mike, jim and macdudes of the world who don’t have girlfriends apparanty.
Apple would make a killing!!
Yeah, somehow I don’t think Steve Jobs’ image could handle being linked to Disney and Pornography.
It’s a no-boner…. er… I mean a no-brainer
What a slag. Down into the gutter.
Perfect take, MDN!!
No, Apple should not sell porn. Just because it is commonly used wouldn’t make Apple seem any less pathetic and unprincipled for selling it.
Porn: the polar opposite of creativity.
But would Apple sell just the normal stuff, or the lesbian mother-daughter, toe-sucking BDSM videos I have a fetish for?
MDN magic word: “number”, porn is all about the numbers.
…ummmmmm…..no.
First post! finally!! after all these years!!!
Like I’ve always said: porn’s the only reason I got me an iPod. Porn’s the only reason I turn on my iPod. I’ve got one hand holding my iPod, the other on my jimmy and I’m having a good ol’ time. Heck, I’ve been thinking ’bout dumping that old bi*ch too!!!
Like Disney has Touchstone, Apple should have a separate subsidiary for it.
This will keep the Apple name somewhat clean.
“The same applies to porn. A search on Google Inc. shows a bunch of companies willing to sell the content and software needed to view erotic material on an iPod. Apple may as well grab some of that revenue for itself.”
Geez. Amazing that Apple hasn’t already seen the iPorn opportunity. Glad Gilbert is here to point such idiotic things out.
Lots of money to be made selling drugs, too, Mark.
MW: law. Of course, selling drugs is against the law, if you want to be puritanical about it.
Perhaps what would be better if Apple created another company to sell porn.
This way the so called “religious smug’s” with their “oh so superior than thou” and “I’m going to heaven and your going to hell you heathen” moral additudes, (who secretly sodomize their own children and commit adulty quite reguraly) combined with the old farts who don’t get any thus “nobody else should get any” additudes won’t object to loudly.
Of course what will most likely happen is porn sites, which like to control everything themselves, will sell their own iPod porn.
Porn sites like to sell your email addresses to spammers if you quit paying, so I hear.
Gee if you read your Bible a bit more closely (heh, I’m not even a church goer) MONEY is not the root of all evil, the LOVE of MONEY is. The author can’t even get that right (most people don’t).
No, Apple should not sell porn. Plenty of iPod-compatible stuff out there already.
“MDN Magic Word” – lead – Apple should lead the market with cool toys, not sell smut.
Hey you can change the world by selling porn. Besides we can always hold our iPods with our left hands (right hands for the leftys out there, don’t want to discriminate)
Get me a pornpod!
Apple–yank different
All iPorn will do is cause Public Relation Headaches for Apple. Then, the conservative christian groups will be very vocal (as will the media) and most likely plan large scale boycotts of all Apple products. Parents will see Apple as a danger and not buy their kids any Apple products. In the end iPorn would be more trouble than what it is worth to Apple.
Apple doesnt need to sell porn. as of right now there isnt any DRM on current porn sites, and videos that you download, so having a porn site sell ipod compatible video is an easy thing to do.
There is no reason apple would need to sell porn. this guy just wants to get clicks.
While we’re at it, doesn’t Apple have enough money to control the Columbian or Afgani drug trade? Hell, there’s money to be made there too.
One could easily substitute the name “Amazon.com” for “Apple” in this article (along with the corresponding CEO’s names). You could make the argument that it would make money for the shareholders by announcing by “Hustler Magazine – now a TimeWarner publication.” Pornography has always been and will always be around, but always as its own sub-industry. For a number of sound reasons, it simply is not embraced by the mainstream media conglomerates.
(Of which, thanks to the iTunes Music Store, Apple is one.)
(MW is “boys.” Riiiiight…)
All the nice hotels have it.
Cable has it.
Sat TV has it.
They put a nice name on it “Adult Programming”.
It’s still SMUT no matter what you call it.
I want it, but Apple will never sell it.
You know what makes me sick?
Is people who demonize porn.
As long as everyone involved is consenting and cooperating, and of a mental ability to consent and cooperate, then there should be no problem.
Religion often “programs” people to say that masturbation or porn is bad. So these poor people go for weeks and months without providing a basic human need and wind up going nuts in the head because of it.
A healthy release is normal behavior.
Anyone telling you otherwise is trying to brainwash you.
Religion cannot conquer the basic human need for sex, they have been trying for years.
Actually, religion is the root of all evil.
http://www.g-zus.net/
Just because there is money to be made doesn’t mean that Apple should go there… give me a break… I could be rich too if I just sold drugs to kids but should I? I could be rich too if I exploited young women and sold pictures and video of them on the net but should I? Absolutely NOT! It’s a ridiculous ideology that people in America have about the almighty dollar. Stop. Stop and think what kind of impact that would have on our global society. If every fortune 500 company gave into (sell out for) the almighty dollar. small businesses look up to big successful businesses for leadership. Why not just let every business hop on the smut wagon. “There’s money to be made, why not?” I don’t agree with you Mr. Gilbert and I am willing to bet that Apple doesn’t either.
Apple doesn’t need to peddle porn, there are many other content providers for that. Keep it clean.
Oh, and it’s the LOVE of money that is the root of evil, not the money itself. People place value in money not the other way around.
Apple already have their advertising campaign!!!!
http://mobilecrunch.com/2006/03/20/ipod-advert-shows-new-use-for-mobile-tech-iporn/
with 4.2 million pornographic Web sites to go to…i have a lot more surfing to do….thanks for the info mr. bloomberg…..and i thought i had gone to the end of the internet…