An Apple store in TokyoTHURSDAY, MARCH 24: Listen up iPhone, iPad and Mac lovers: take a moment today to wish Apple a “Happy anniversary!” Ten years ago today, Apple released the operating system that would almost single-handedly carry it from near-bankruptcy to indisputable success. On March 24, 2001, Apple released the long-awaited Mac OS X version 10.0. (Read the original Apple press release here.)
Apple entered the computer scene more than 30 years ago in the 1970s, and although Macintosh came along in the 1980s, the company almost became extinct until the iMac launched in 1998. It wasn’t until 2001, though, that Apple began its journey to unrelenting success–with the Mac OS X operating system.
The original Mac OS X wasn’t without flaws, however: all system requirements weren’t easily applicable to existing Macs and general performance proved sluggish at times. (Wikipedia has a page on the operating system.) Still, experts and critics alike praised the new operating system for its potential. Apple already had iMovie and iTunes in place in 2001, and between the Mac, iPhone and iPod Touch–all of which use a type of OS X–Apple accumulated a whopping $50 billion in revenue last year. (A full article was in Wired.)
RELIGION-RELATED APP CONTROVERSY ENDS WITH OUSTER
ReadTheSpirit is a Mac-based publishing house, so we understand the flexible power of Mac systems in media production. We’re also aware that any faith-based organization that’s trying to expand these days is looking into hand-held apps. So, a lot of religious groups are watching a controversial faith-based case that ended this week involving the politically loaded Exodus International. Apple announced that an Exodus app claiming to help cure homosexuals has been ousted from the Apple system—a move that many are cheering today and others are worried may set a higher level of skepticism at Apple for future religious apps.
Here’s the background from Cnet news today: “Launched last month by Exodus International, a ministry that encourages gay people to seek ‘cures’ for their homosexuality, the app triggered a huge outcry from Two Wins Out, a nonprofit group with the stated goal of fighting anti-gay religious extremism. Pointing out that any therapy or cures to change one’s sexual orientation have been soundly rejected by all the major medical associations, TWO launched an online petition at Change.org calling on Apple to remove the app. Over the course of a couple of days, the petition received signatures from more than 150,000 people, while the app itself was strongly condemned by most reviews in the App Store.”
However objectionable the app was before Apple ousted it, the outcry now raises questions about whether future religious apps may spark controversy over a range of hot-button issues. Apple’s skepticism in permitting faith-based apps may rise. Stay tuned for more coverage at …
readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.
