Hitler bypasses Apple censors: Mein Kampf for your iPhone
Despite stringent censorship policy, digital version of Adolf Hitler's book available at Apple's app store.
By TheMarker IT Tags: Israel news HitlerAn iPhone application that recently made its way into the Apple App Store has sparked some controversy - a digital version of Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf translated to Spanish. The application comes complete with a swastika icon.
The fact that the application went on sale, for $1.99, is surprising in light of Apple's usually stringent censorship of what the company terms "objectionable content."
According to the blog TechCrunch, Apple has recently rejected an application by the electronic card company Someecards on the basis of "objectionable content that ridicules public figures" citing the following card and two others:
(Some Blog Website - the somewhat official someecards.com blog)
TechCrunch went on to mention that alongside Apple's rejection of Someecards, perhaps over the mention of U.S. President Barack Obama's skin color, Apple has accepted into its store an application called Asian Boobs, which depicts Asian women in suggestive poses.
In another questionable move, the Apple rating granted to the Mein Kampf application was 9+, indicating that it is appropriate for people 9 years of age and up.
Mein Kampf (My struggle) combines autobiographical elements alongside a presentation of Hitler's political ideology. Hitler dictated the book while he was imprisoned following his failed revolution in Munich in 1923. The first part of the book was released in 1925 and the second part in 1926.
In light of complaints, the Apple store appears to have removed the application from its inventory.
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How many people have actually read that truculent garbage book end to end? According to Bill Shirer it was so badly written that many Nazis even never managed it. The only good thing was the short snappy title - and that was his publisher's choice.
I haven't read it by myself (It is prohibited here). But i was told that it is so dumb, everybody will understand how stupid the entire idea of of the nazi party was. So give the book to the public instead of mystifying it
What a non-story. Free pdf versions of Mein Kampf exist all over the internet. You can load it on your Kindle, iPhone, PC, Mac, and most Nokia's. No one can control digital information, and no one should. Censorship is unacceptable!
I agree with Apple's decision. This book is part of the Historical record and should be read. It's important that people see what one failed mind can do to a people. While I don't agree with the book itself, I think all people should have access to it. It's up to the individual to interpret it as they see fit. No sane individual would find this work to be a guide to a better future for all humankind.
While I applaud the concern raised by the application providing Mein Kampf, I feel hiding the material or preventing its availability is merely aiding its mystique. A smart man once said, failure to learn the lessons of history doom us to repeat them. Hiding Mein Kampf instead of using it as a means of teaching bigotry and the dangers of this type of thinking may make it more alluring. Apple should allow the download but also require a more in depth look at what this writing and thinking brought the world to in WWII.
Mein Kampf is an important historical document and needs to be read by anyone trying to understand the perversion of the Nazi regime. It's simply amazing to me that anyone would claim the book is "objectionable" in the sense used by censors. The philosophy of the book and its author will certainly be objectionable to most readers but as an historical document it is a crtical piece in the puzzle of those years. Let everyone read it. It won't take too many pages before the reader is able to make the correct judgment on Herr Hitler.