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5 Aug 2009

John Gruber reports on the trouble of getting Ninjawords in the App Store:

Apple censored an English dictionary.

A dictionary. A reference book. For words contained in all reasonable dictionaries. For words contained in dictionaries that are used every day in elementary school libraries and classrooms.

I think that a reasonable (as in open and clear) review process might be a fast way to improve the quality of what is offered. That being said, completely open systems like the software on regular computers have worked out just fine (malware is mostly a problem of inadequate security measures). Censorship, questionable explanations and random rejections is, however, not a path to anything but eventual failure.

Apple had a phenomenal chance to create an new platform with the iPhone, on which an entire ecosystem of software and hardware could arise. Right now, it appears as if the review process is being dictated by schizophrenic lawyers.