Tim Cook doesn’t have the same problem with porn that Steve Jobs did.
During a recent interview, Cook made it clear that he feels comfortable with people using their Apple devices to check out, err, adult materials online.
The Apple CEO was talking about accessing adult websites through Safari during his recent interview with MSNBC. That’s something that has been possible to do since day one of the iPhone.
However, Cook’s liberal attitude about porn certainly strikes a different tone than the more prurient sensibilities of his predecessor, Steve Jobs.
Was Steve Jobs anti-porn?
Jobs’ supposedly anti-liberal opposition to pornography made headlines in the last few years of his life.
“We believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone,” Jobs wrote one customer. “Folks who want porn can buy an Android.”
This triggered an exchange between Jobs and Valleywag editor Ryan Tate. After being accused of being anti-freedom for banning certain apps, Jobs fired back: “Yep, freedom from programs that steal your private data. Freedom from programs that trash your battery. Freedom from porn.”
When Tate responded that “porn is just fine,” Jobs answered: “You might care more about porn when you have kids. It’s about Apple trying to do the right thing for its users.”
Tim Cook on porn: A more liberal take
Cook, meanwhile, has a different take. While he still doesn’t want apps in the App Store that don’t reflect Apple’s values, he doesn’t speak about pornography in quite the same negative terms that Jobs did.
Speaking about Apple’s curation of apps allowed in the App Store, Cook said in his recent interview, “It doesn’t mean that you can’t use an iPhone to go to your browser and go to some porno site, if you want to do that.”
At this point, host Kara Swisher interjected with the zinger, “Nobody does that,” causing Cook to break out laughing.
“I’m not making fun of it,” he said.
Check out the clip below:
Source: Business Insider
