This morning I read in “Teletipo MarketingDirecto.com” that Adobe launched a campaign against Apple. Adobe decided to counter-attack Apple, which, by blocking the Flash format, aims to eradicate it from the online advertising world and monopolize the market with its iAd system, by launching an ad in print and online ironically proclaiming that they “love…

To which Apple lovers, including myself, responded on the Applesfera blog as follows:

“As Miguel commented a few days ago, Adobe managed to inject a touch of humor and veiled annoyance into something Apple is taking very seriously, while Adobe seems less concerned. After so much deliberation, Apple users themselves are now responding to Adobe with a humorous ad. The ad is the image at the top of this post, and if you don’t get it the first time, read it again; it’s simpler than it seems.”

A few weeks ago, Steve Jobs got tough in a series of emails with blogger Ryan Tate.

We transcribe Apple’s response directly from Applesfera, in this case, Steve Jobs:

Over the past few days, it seems Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been in an argument with Gawker writer Ryan Tate. Ryan was not at all pleased with the new iPad ad, which described the device as revolutionary in a way Apple had never done before. After an email with his arguments, Jobs responded.

In an initial email, Ryan accused Jobs of turning his back on freedom and revolution due to his restrictions on approving App Store applications and recent criticisms of Flash, and for “disguising” it as something positive. Tate concluded his email with the phrase “Evolutions are about freedom.” Jobs’s response appeared three hours later:

Yes, freedom from apps that steal your private data. Freedom from apps that drain your battery. Freedom from pornography. Yes, freedom. Times are changing, and some traditional PC users have the impression that their world is falling apart. And indeed, that’s what’s happening.

Upon reading this response, Ryan couldn’t stay silent and wrote back to Jobs. You can see the rest of the emails after the jump.

My 13-inch MacBook Pro handles Flash perfectly. […] I’d rather have a decent app to read Wired with some interactivity than an app that’s just a PDF with some enhancements. Why can’t it be like that? Is it because Adobe tried to screw you over in the late 90s? […] And you know what? I don’t want ‘freedom from porn.’ Porn is fine! And I think even my wife would agree.

Note that when you read ‘screw over,’ it means that in addition to translating, I’ve toned down the words. Ryan’s emails did not exactly use very polite language. Jobs responded to Ryan briefly:

Wired is creating a native Cocoa app for its magazine, as almost all media outlets are doing. And perhaps you’ll worry more about porn once you have children…

wired apple ipad

…and Ryan didn’t give up. Yes, we read ‘screw over’ again:

Wired is making a Cocoa app because IT HAS TO. Why do they have to go to the trouble of porting the app? […] I’m convinced that Apple will screw us over in app approval, just as it has with many other programs with controversial content or features. It’s better to develop a website directly. […] I’m not a fan of porn, but come on… I don’t think it will seriously harm my children if someone in my house watches an adult video. And if my children ever get an iPad, I’m completely sure they won’t watch pornography on it.

Steve responds by demonstrating his arguments with facts:

They don’t have to publish anything on the iPad if they don’t want to; we don’t force anyone to. But it seems they want to. There are 200,000 apps in the App Store, so we must be doing something right. Magazine apps will be much better for being natively written. We’ve seen this movie before. Why are you so irritated by a technical issue like this? It’s not about freedom; it’s about Apple trying to do the right thing for its users. Users, developers, and publishers can do whatever they want; they don’t have to buy or develop apps for the iPad if they don’t want to. It seems to be more your problem than theirs.

It was then that Ryan Tate responded with two more emails using quite foul language.

You have the opportunity to establish a new platform, the platform of the future! I’m disappointed when I see it’s the same old nonsense of vendettas. […] And yes, I may sound dismissive and irritated, but I don’t think it’s a technical problem at all. It’s you imposing your morality regarding pornography, your secrecy, and technical purity in its most bizarre sense. Apple has frequently used third-party APIs and intermediate software layers, for example, when creating iTunes for Windows using Objective C. […] And I don’t like the police, that mascot you have, literally breaking down the door of my colleagues’ house [referring to the Jason Chen incident and Gizmodo’s iPhone 4G prototype]. But I suppose justice will have the last word on this, and I can say I’m not worried.

Jobs, finally, writes his last response (at least publicly known), insisting on his opinion about the discussion in general.

You are very misinformed. No one broke down anyone’s door. You’re believing a lot of mistaken blogger reports. […] As for us, we simply do what we can to create and preserve the user experience we’ve envisioned. You may disagree with us, but our motives are pure. By the way, what great thing have you done? Have you created anything? Or do you just criticize the work of others and consider their motivations to be unimportant?

Indeed, this entire email exchange is much more extensive than the terse responses the Apple CEO usually gives to people who write to him (at least those lucky enough to receive a reply). I think this shows that Steve Jobs, like anyone else, can get “annoyed” with someone who doesn’t quite understand something.

As for everyone else, these emails serve to show how convinced Steve is of his work at Apple, no matter how much his users write to him telling him how despotic he seems from the outside. Be that as it may, Apple’s boss never ceases to surprise us with his sudden fondness for responding to user emails.