"Baby Shaker" IPhone App Keeps Getting Pulled From App Store, We Can't Imagine Why
We know there have been complaints from developers that it takes too long to get iPhone apps approved, or that Apple is behind on payments, or that it's hard to know what they'll reject and what they'll accept. Well, apparently they'll accept an application that "challenges users to see how long they can withstand the cries of a baby before they shake it to death." Oh wait, they won't, they pulled it after complaints yesterday. No, wait, they put it back up for sale today! Oh no now it's gone again. Maybe they're just making room for a Pistol Whip Your Spouse app.
The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation has sent out a press release condemning Apple for ever allowing the app to reach the public in the first place. Seriously, Apple rejects a jiggling boobs app for being "obscene" but lets an "abuse a baby to death" app through?
In the interest of reminding people that shaking babies is a really bad idea, here's an excerpt from the press release:
Jennipher Dickens, whose 2-year-old son Christopher was shaken by his 21-year-old biological father when he was only 7 weeks old, said, "This horrible iPhone app will undoubtedly be downloaded thousands of times by others in that same young male demographic - the population group that is already statistically the most likely to shake babies. As a result of the child abuse my son endured in the form of Shaken Baby Syndrome, my son now has irreversible brain damage."
Don't shake babies IRL.
"‘Baby Shaker' app fuels outrage" [Boston Herald]
(Photo: Matt Stone)
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Comments:
Interesting, but tasteless. Reminds me of the slightly less inappropriate and much more humorous app that lets you keep track of multiple girlfriends' menstrual cycles
@TheDayIsMine: I heard their menstrual cycles attract bears, I bet that app would keep you safe from a bear attack. :)
i would argue that people would shake the app/iPhone INSTEAD of an IRL-baby.
Makes me sick anyone would even develop that app.
@LordofBacon: I agree. I don't think you would be any more likely to shake a baby because of this app... unless you hold real babies in one hand and pretend they have a touchscreen.
And of course, women are absolutely blameless and perfect...
-_-
Ahh the joys of sexism...
@TheDayIsMine: That's actually useful to avoid the harassment. For guys who live with multiple girls, they tend to synch up after a month or two. So you can just avoid them all the same week :P
I need to get that iBoob app
@silver-bolt: If you were dating multiple women that lived together, their menstrual cycles would be the least of your worries.
young male demographic - the population group that is already statistically the most likely to shake babies
Is there anything bad that that demographic isn't most likely to do? You could use that generic argument to speak out against just about anything.
@LordofBacon: I think you're missing the point. Apple doesn't pull apps because they might be harmful or cause bad behavior, they pull them for reasons of taste, which are purely arbitrary. Obviously they disagree with your more democratic "don't like it, don't download it." That's Apple for ya.
Disgusting. Horrible. As a mother, it makes me ill to even think about people laughing at it, even on a game as a joke.
I really hope some four or five year old doesn't find this on their parent's or older sibling's phone, and try and copycat it on their baby brother.
It's a free country. So even though it disgusts me, they have a right to sell it. I hope they pull it though. It's awful.
Why on earth would anyone even make an app that plays crying baby noises? "Hey, this program will annoy you, so download it!"
Next up: "iChalkboard," which lets you drag your fingers across the screen and produce screeching noises.
@Ratty:
No it's not. I'm gay, and every girl I've ever dated has ended up on my cycle. No myth about it.
It really is in horrible taste!!!
I really hate censorship.
I also hate screaming babies.
I will go buy an Iphone tomorrow if I can shake the hell out of some babies in public and laugh about it on the thing.
This article makes me want a baby shaking app, only because apple doesn't want to give me one. Honestly it's junk, but now that they want to ban it, I can only wonder where I can download it!
OK, I'm the key demographic for this. And would eagerly purchase the commercial version which featured shaking unicorns into comas, puppies into a bruised haze and (gasp!) kittens until they walked confusedly into walls.
But I can see why Apple would pull it. Imagine if they didn't pull it, and the media firestorm the interwebs & 24-hour cable "news" networks would huff and puff into a Vesuvius-sized inferno that would very likely consume the entire planet.
Steve Jobs hates babies!
A Hobbsian choice that, either way, would result in Apple having to cave to protect the delicate sensibilities of our sensationalist, hysteric culture.
@TheDayIsMine: Shaking babies won't save lives. Keeping track of your girlfriend's menstrual cycle could very well save yours.
Apple cares
@Julia789: A four or five year old should not be left alone with a baby long enough to shake it. An iphone app is not going to teach a kid to kill a baby. A four year old will kill a baby because they don't fully understand the concept of death and babies are annoying and easily killable.
@CumaeanSibyl: It's probably not an app that people play while idly sitting around waiting for the phone to ring or to get called up to HR for their exit interview. It's probably more of something that people play around friends / coworkers to annoy them.
In fact, now that you mention it, that chalkboard app would be a hit around the office...
As a mother myself... I wish I had had an app to shake in effigy every time my real life sweetheart cried endlessly despite efforts to comfort. It would have been therapeutic. Of course, in my sleep deprived haze I found crying on the bathroom floor to be just as useful.
Now I wish I had an app that would listen obediantly when my own precious refuses to.
@Trai_Dep: Yeah, then Charles Grassley would comment to the media that Steve Jobs should just kill himself.
@tbax929: And I lived in a house with eight women. it just... doesn't. Especially with the prevalence of hormonal birth control.
@ailema: Pretty much... kids that age have no idea of death. This leads to a lot of strange things involving dead pets.
I find this hilarious. I guess that means I have no soul.
@ailema:
"...and babies are annoying and easily killable."
Okay, I know what you are trying to say and I suspect you were serious, but that made me laugh myself silly.
@ailema: It could happen in the same room, even if they are not left alone. It only takes a few seconds to shake a baby to death or cause brain damage. By the time mom runs from one end of the living room to the other it's too late.
That being said, I don't think there is a high likelihood of that happening, I just hope it doesn't happen. It's just my "mom thoughts" that run through my head when I read things like this story. I know I shouldn't worry so much.
I am against censorship, and even though I find the product distasteful and sick they have a right to sell it. I don't think it's in their best interests as a company to sell it, and personally would be happy if they pulled it because it bothers me so much. But they do have a right to sell it.
@humphrmi: I'm holding out for iRubPiecesOfStyrofoamTogetherToMakeThemSqueak, so I can send my mother over the edge.
@Trai_Dep: Sensationalism that spreads panic and paranoia is pretty annoying. Remember SARS, Bird flu, rap music, video games, bird flu (again), mad cow disease,...I grow weary of this game. Everything is a problem to someone, and some feel that their problem should also be everyone elses. I see the humor in this app, it's harmless, but very tactless.
@JamieSueAustin: Bathroom floors can be pretty comfy, if given enough motivation (for me it was usually one or several too many drinks at the bar)
People pay for this kind of thing?
Is it called iShakeMyBaby?
@silver-bolt: lol, wait, you're seriously going to claim sexism on this one? despite the data given on the subject?
women are more likely to get postpartum depression?!?!? SEXIST#*@()$&*(&@$*(
Is there a "Kick A Hobo" iPhone app I can download?
@ailema: That's what the quote says.
In other news, lawmakers strive to ban women from owning microwaves, because statistically speaking, women are more likely to put babies into microwaves.
See, sexist.
@Julia789: Why does a four year old have access to their parent's iPhone? Why does the parent have this application on their phone? Why does the older brother/sister have the application on their phone? Why don't the parents know what applications their children are downloading?
What's stopping a four year old from sitting on their baby, or stepping on its head, accidentally, while mom is on the other end of the living room? What's stopping the child from feeding the baby something poisonous, or poking it in the eye until it goes blind, or any number of other horrible things?
Yes, the application is tasteless, but frankly, its content should be the least of anyone's concerns in this scenario.
::shrug:: These people seem to think that folks are going to be encouraged to shake real life babies if they download and use this app.
Don't like the app? Don't download it. It's really that simple. The world is full of offensive stuff, and you can't get rid of it all.
I played GTA 4 the other day, and as of yet, I haven't shot any hookers, ran over a couple dozen innocent pedestrians, or lead police on a high speed pursuit.
Oh well, I suppose the day is still young.