Apple really needs to get a new PR agent. They're just not giving the public the right impression this year. We've seen badly handled issues (yes like the antenna fiasco), heavy censorship and now they've gone and pis*** off a load of charities, not the smartest of moves.
Apple's latest self-induced blow stems from the way it handles non-profit apps for the iPhone.
Organizations such as Monterey Bay Aquarium and American Cancer Society have apps but the problem is that they can't be used to make donations.
Instead prospective donors are directed out of a non-profit's app to its Web site, which the organizations say makes the process of contributing more cumbersome and let's be honest organisations which want money 'for nothing' don't exactly want to complicate the payment process.
"When you're popped out of an app, you then have to go through a whole bunch of clicks to make a donation," said Beth Kanter, co-author of The Networked Nonprofit "It's cumbersome and it doesn't have to be" she continued.
Thus in protest to Apple's charity censorship Ms.Kanter has said she is ditching her iPhone for an Android running Smartphone, a decision she announced on Twitter to her 366,000 followers.
And if that wasn't enough, she also has started an online petition seeking to draw the issue to the attention of Steven Jobs which as of Wednesday afternoon had attracted more than 1,600 signatures.
An Apple spokeswoman, Trudy Muller, declined to explain the rationale for banning charitable solicitations via apps, saying only, "We are proud to have many applications on our App Store which accept charitable donations via their Web sites."
This comes after Apple demanded PayPal eliminate the donation system from its app two months ago.
What are they playing at?
Source: NYtimes