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Apple: You Must Be 17+ To Use Opera
An anonymous reader writes "From the techspot article: 'This week, the Opera web browser became the first non-native browser made available in Apple's Mac App Store. While Apple approved the browser, it still managed to hurt its competitor by putting this ridiculous label on it: "You must be at least 17 years old to download this app." Opera has reacted in good humor. "I'm very concerned," Jan Standal, VP of Desktop Products for Opera Software, said in a statement. "Seventeen is very young, and I am not sure if, at that age, people are ready to use such an application. It's very fast, you know, and it has a lot of features. I think the download requirement should be at least 18."'"
I'm 12 and what is this?
And right around the time when those kids turn of-age, the other browsers will finally be implementing all of those features
Last night couple of teenagers approached me near a liquor store and asked me if they could use my Opera.
Seems FUD, I downloaded other Safari-based browsers and they give a warning since you can get to adult content via the browser. I'm over 17, but I just had to say "OK" in the message box to proceed, Seems pretty reasonable...
The cookie told me to.
After reading this, I just want to go shake Jan Standal's hand. It's not often you see a a suit invert a rival's rhetoric against them so pointedly and humorously. Usually it's all serious business, especially, you know, with the internet.
It is because Safari has hooks into Parental Controls and Opera has not, therefore Opera gets the 17 years old limit.
Actually, that just highlights how ridiculous this is. Opera is simply not big enough to be a threat to Safari's market share, warning label or not. However, they've now managed to make themselves look like assholes to thousands of people who would never have downloaded the app anyway.
All apps that have unfettered access to the Internet have the 17+ nag screen. Browsers, RSS readers... This isn't a story, this is Apple bashing.
The more 17- kids will want it. Doing something forbidden is always more fun! But the kids will get bored of it soon, and say, "What was the big deal about this app?"
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
if i say, at this point, that Apple has become a rather villainous, control whore.
Nonsense.
They always were control whores.
Hush, don't tell the hipsters. They still think that using Apple is a symbol of individuality, creativity, and rebellion. Just look at how many douchebags you can find on YouTube looking into their MacBook cameras ranting about the evils of capitalism.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Scroll up. See all those comments condemning Apple?
It's subjective. In a debate on the matter, I once posted an image featuring not just a naked woman, but provocative posing and implied bestiality with a swan. Draw that today, it'd be called porn. But this painting was drawn by no less than Leonado da Vinci, and obviously someone so famous would never draw porn. Therefore it can't be porn.
Speaking of which, where is all the dirty dirty Android pr0n Steve Jobs promised me? The best I can find on the Android Market is some Kama Sutra DB with stick figures.
And this is the whole point.
1. There are parental controls in iOS. Including for Safari. Thus no need for a warning.
2. Opera ignores these parental controls.
3. Apple gives a warning because of #2.
There is no one-sided-ness. No overt control for a competitor. Just trying to be more consistent - parental control or warning. And ironically, after being tarred and feathered for being one sided, when they're more consistent, there's even more whinging.
In the bigger picture, most kids are given sex-ed at around 10...America thinks they have to wait 7 more years for better pictures.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Safari respects Apple's Parental Control system. Opera does not. Therefore, Safari does not require a warning since parents can lock it down if they choose, Opera cannot be locked down using any Apple controls so Apple has to warn parents that it falls outside of the "safe zone" and can be used to access porn no matter what Parental Controls are set for the iDevice.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
The OS has built-in parental controls that apply to Safari. And to the Mac App Store. Had Opera not been given a 17+ rating, a parent could have set restrictions on Safari, set the Mac App Store not to allow installation of apps allowing access to adult content... and little Johnny could have still installed Opera and gotten himself unrestricted web access.
The idea that this is some plot by Apple to undermine Opera is absurd. Apple gives the same 17+ rating to any app that allows access to sufficiently unrestricted Internet content, including things like Wikipedia apps, which last time I checked Apple wasn't competing with.
This space unintentionally left unblank.
Opera only for 17+? Great, now that it's taboo a bunch of kids are going to get a fetish for fat ladies singing.
Safari can really restrict access to all porn over the Internet? As opposed to every single other filtering mechanism that has ever existed? And on a phone nonetheless?
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
I'm not saying the Parental Controls work. We all know they don't really work. The problem is that Safari is subject to them, and Opera bypasses them, therefore Apple cannot even claim a good-faith effort to protect the chilluns from seeing sausage and meatballs or melons and bush on Opera.
It's a legal disclaimer.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
If only I had mod points, I'd mod this way up. A guy in my high school made the same type of comment when they banned a bunch of books. He said, I found a book in the school library that has rape, murder, incest, genocide, graphic sex, etc. etc. in it. The school demanded he produce the book so they could ban it from the library, and he handed them a copy of the King James Bible.
You do realise that TFA is about the Mac App Store right? Not the iOS App Store!
You can still get Opera the old fashioned way.
Actually, mobile Opera is possibly the best browser on the market. It's much more lightweight then competition, at least as good, and has some very promising features that competition lacks. While it's possible that fanboy crowd wouldn't switch to a competing product, those who aren't fanboys likely will.
Hell, one of the reasons why "omg symbian browser sucks" argument is pointless from end user POV is because both opera and opera mini on that platform work wonderfully.
But for most of their life.
Basically I'd say there were two Apples: The Woz Apple and the Jobs Apple.
Initially Apple was the Woz Apple. He made all the products, Jobs was his marketing guy. Apple was very much about just making cool hardware then. In fact rather than being a premium company, they were an economy company. You got an Apple because it cost less than an IBM, and you could mess with it more. If you've ever seen Woz interviewed, you know where it came from.
However in the early 80s, around when the original Mac launched, the company started to shift to become the Jobs Apple. Woz was away because of his aircraft accident, and when he returned he came back as just a designer, and left not too long after.
At that point Apple started to be all about control. Their products were the sort of thing you used their way. They dictated your experience to you. It was an extremely locked down "doesn't play well with others" platform. However it was really small, so nobody really noticed. Few people got Macs, those that did tended to be rather rabid fanboys so nobody noticed how Apple was actually far worse than most when it came to locking down their platform.
When Jobs was forced out, Apple looked at opening up more but of course we all know how poorly that went. When he came back, the company swung back to being in control stronger than ever. However now, because of their massive consumer electronics division, people are noticing what they do. Apple is becoming more common so more people are noticing how locked down they are.
What's more, they are getting in to more areas, so they have more to control. When they were just a computer and OS company, there wasn't so much, but now they are in to application distribution, consumer electronics, and so on. Means their lock-in can stretch much farther.
But ya, they've had this mentality ever since the mid to early 80s. People just didn't notice so much or gave them a pass because they were "so small" or "not Microsoft."