What's Apple Smoking? A Steve Jobs Lackey Explains

Company fending off complaints from app developers, cigarette addicts

Everyone knows Steve Jobs gets the fun job of showing off Apple's new toys. Explaining the company's gaffes? That seems to fall to Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing chief.

When the company's MobileMe service went down upon the launch of the iPhone, it was Schiller who first admitted the company had made a mistake.

And now it's Schiller defending the company's approval process for iPhone applications.

That process has angered developers who feel that it is fickle and arbitrary, and in the wake of denials of apps from companies like Google, possibly anti-competitive.

It's also kept sweet, sweet porn off the App Store -- though now that parents can impose parental controls on content, consenting adults may soon be able to easily download boobies from iTunes.

"We review the applications to make sure they work as the customers expect them to work when they download them," Schiller told BusinessWeek.

That includes sending apps back for bug fixes, as well as keeping apps that might compromise an iPhone user's privacy or personal data.However, Apple has little interest in protecting the health of your computer, at least if you're a smoker.

Reports on Consumerist from multiple Apple Macintosh owners say that company has declined to honor warranties in the case of computers that have been exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke.

While not explicitly stated in the company's warranty or AppleCare service plan, if your computer is exposed to lots of cigarette smoke, you may be out of luck if something breaks.

Wonder how Schiller will explain that issue.

Jackson West is a smoker who does his own laptop repairs.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us