The technologically-inclined NIN frontman is notoriously vocal about tech, media and censorship issues, but Apple's recent rejection of his iPhone app really sent Trent Reznor over the edge, and onto his forums.
The app was rejected for risque content, which turned out to be "The Downward Spiral", a song that was available in the app, sort of, as part of a podcast. Trent's NSFW take:
You can buy The Downward Fucking Spiral on iTunes, but you can't allow an iPhone app that may have a song with a bad word somewhere in it. Geez, what if someone in the forum in our app says FUCK or CUNT? I suppose that also falls into indecent material. Hey Apple, I just got some SPAM about fucking hot asian teens THROUGH YOUR MAIL PROGRAM. I just saw two guys having explicit anal sex right there in Safari! On my iPhone!
A good point, and one that he elaborates on at length. But then, he quickly softens, and goes all TUAW on everyone:
Everyone - let me be clear. I love Apple products and as goofy and out-of-touch as their app approval process / policy is, I will still use them because they work 1000X better than the competition. This is not a debate, it's a fact. The iPhone is THE most elegant, modern smartphone at this point in time and it's perfect for what we want to do with the NIN app - except for the ludicrous approval process, and that's what I want to draw attention to. Android is cool, but nobody has an Android phone. Blackberry is OK but the hardware is inconsistent and WinMo straight-up sucks balls. If Apple doesn't get it together, we will most certainly make it available to the jailbreak community. I didn't invest in this app to see it languish on the sidelines from an idiotic policy while this tour is in full swing.
Surprise fanboyism aside, his points on censorship are solid: assuming the presence of other apps—Safari, Mail, Twitter, whatever—that provide access to uncensored material, banning one app that provides access to the same objectionable content is kind of pointless. [Trent Reznor via Crunchgear]