Ironically, I have in my hands the screener for the unreleased documentary Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel (thank you, Landmark). It releases to the general public on the 20th.
A tasteful headshot of a playmate… for your iPad. You really are redefining “rebel” Mr. Hefner. Your magazine once interviewed Martin Luther King Jr. and published Hunter S. Thompson. We knew you ceased to be relevant for erotica and sex culture 15 years ago, but this is the sound of the curtain closing on your era. You, of all entities, could have stood up for the values you fought to create and protect. You could have even made this a PR opportunity like no other. But I guess you have to keep your flaccid old man’s fantasy of Barbie incest and a Viagra drip intact. You may now exit in shame. What a big fucking disappointment. Don’t even get me started on the Apple “1984” commercial.
Where the hell have all the risk-takers gone?
From Telegraph UK:
Anyone forking out £3.20 for the digital version of the magazine will have to do without the explicit photo spreads that titillated generations of teenage boys.
The Playmate of the Month, one of the magazine’s most popular photo features, will only appear on the iPad as a tasteful headshot.
Playboy agreed to censor its content in order to secure a place in the App Store, from which any software which Apple considers “obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory” is banned. Apps which have fallen foul of Apple’s strict taste standards in the past include a dictionary which contained swear words, and a programme called “Me So Holy” which allowed users to replace Jesus’ face with their own.
While Playboy has long trumpeted the strength of its journalism – “I only read it for the articles” is the standard response of men caught with a copy of the magazine by their partners – many iPad users have expressed frustration at the self-censorship. (…read more, telegraph.co.uk)
Uncensored iPad-friendly image of Ukranian model Elvira from one of many of Playboy’s heirs to the throne (more in this gallery).
I used to be thankful I was born in the USA.
Boy was I a dumb kid.
(Soup Nazi Jobs. LMAO.).
Capitalism trumps any sort of risk-taking now a days. Back then they had nothing to loose,now they do. The Hef dont care, and it would be sad if he was the only one who does. But we live in a different time. The new risks are not how we view the private sex lives of ourselves, but the public. Most of us has less guilt about stuff we do behind doors, but in front of them we still fear shame. The only people who take risks now are those who have played the game and acquired FU money and now speaking out about it.
Well, I’m willing to cut Playboy, but not Apple, some slack. With the Soup Nazi (Steve Jobs) in a position to say “no soup for you!,” really what do you expect Playboy to do?
as I’ve recently discussed on Twitter, everything is somebody’s porn. More on this when I’m a little less amped. Be looking for it :)
I have to admit I’m disappointed by this whole sad story… not so much about Playboy rolling over like a submissive dog as what Apple has become in the past couple of years. What started as an iconoclastic company with a computer that was completely and totally yours (I mean the Apple I and Apple II here) has gradually turned into something else… Mrs. Grundy. Faugh! I get that they don’t want to sell porn on their site, ok fine; except there is no other way to install another app on “your” iPad unless you jailbreak. I love my Macintosh, but I guess when the time comes I’ll be turning back to the penguin. No sense in feeding the beast anymore.