Mashable has an interesting post about Apple rejecting a game for its iPhone App Store because the game involves throwing shoes at a caricatured image of former President George W. Bush. Mashable quotes the developer as describing the game this way,
1. You hold the IPhone like a shoe,
2. Press on Start button
3. System, starts saying 3, 2, 1 and Go
4. You, swing your arm ( as you are throwing ) without throwing.
5. Application will figure out how hard did you throw the shoe at him and it may or may miss the cartoon.
6. It shoes the total number of shoes that have been hit at the cartoon.
7. We started with Bush, but next in line were Bin-Laden and other figures as well ( apparent from the splash screen).
But, of course, Apple controls what applications users can run on the iPod Touch/iPhones they own, so it refuses to allow users to purchase this application. The AppStore’s TOS includes ridiculous language that,
Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users.
Well, of course — why would you ever let users decide what kind of applications they want to buy and run, when Uncle Steve and his cronies are more than capable of making that decision for you.