The music publisher preaches quality over quantity and engagement over eyeballs.

Apparently my mentioning of self-censorship yesterday was even closer to reality than I thought.

So, not only do we have to continue eyeing Apple, but now Comixology, the current lead-by-a-wide-margin source for digital comics, is to be forevermore scrutinized on this front.

As a follow-up to today’s Apple trouble, I must remind us that this sort of thing has happened before. (This also shows the legion of “but but but” types in the comments sections that it isn’t just the explicitness that matters to Apple).

Of course, that situation was ultimately rectified…after people started complaining. Which it shouldn’t have taken in the first place.

There also seems to be a general misunderstanding of the chilling effect corporate censorship has on art. It’s entirely true that retailers have a choice in what they carry…however, when we’re dealing with what is essentially THE primary retailer of its particular medium, things start getting sticky. Apple’s model for digital purchases is repeatedly touted as the future of retail, and is especially important to the future of comics retail. So, the decision to not sell certain comics based on these kind of content calls IS a big deal, because although there are certainly other options for Vaughn/Staples/Image, not being available on the Apple iOS cuts them off from a potentially large number of customers. This kind of thing can shape how things are made - be they comics, movies, games, or what have you - so they can avoid the Apple banhammer and lose money. We saw the same thing happen over a decade ago with Blockbuster and Wal-Mart, equally image-conscious “family friendly” retailers whose decision to send back magazines with “objectionable” covers and albums with “explicit” lyrics sent publishers and record companies into a panic, and led them to self-censor in order to appease them.

So yes, this is a big issue, and yes, we should all be pissed.

Stuff like this is why I can never take the idea of an “app store future” seriously.

“Orth reiterated his previous electricity argument, to which Heir added, “You’ve lived in LA, SF, Seattle… very connected places. Try living in Janesville, WI or Blacksburg, VA.”

“Why on earth would I live there?” Orth answered.”

sloaneshutup:

(Note: This stream of thoughts was initially posted on twitter and seemed to engage many people, which you’ll see is a point of relevance after you read this.)

I recently heard comments in podcasts and have seen people talking about how Tumblr/Twitter/social media is such…

“An email from the group executive director Richard Ellis, outlining the paper’s plans to focus on digital media, was sent to the group’s 500-plus journalists on Friday evening, demanding: “All reporters must be on Twitter.”

Sources say journalists have also been treated to a presentation by the paper’s Social Media and Engagement Editor, with reporters now required to tweet an average of once an hour. However, they got off lightly compared to editors, who must update their Twitter feed every 15 minutes.”

“I want to be clear: I can say, without reservation, that this is the worst book contract I have ever personally encountered”

“Now, three years after the introduction of IAP, being free isn’t beneficial to players or developers. If a game isn’t rigged to either charge a user or force them to advertise for the game, it is doomed to fail relative to other titles on the top-grossing list. If a game is rigged with F2P features, then it fails as a work of art, because it is not timeless. Worse, it fails as a game because it is not fun, immersive, or entertaining to make spending decisions right in the middle of a gameplay session.”