NJ Moms Blog Retrospect: Can I ask Apple, what were you thinking?

Author's Note: Upon seeing this on the news, I immediately wrote a post. The post was later cross-posted to all our sister sites.
April 23, 2009
Can I Ask Apple, What Were You Thinking?
Dear Apple,
I thought I might have been hallucinating this morning when I was watching the news but low and behold I was not. Some how, some way your company approved (oh yes let me be fair...then pulled) an application for the iPhone that allows you to shake a baby to a virtual death or the "Baby Shaker" app as it is fondly referred to. Even writing this can you believe the colossal mistake you made? Normally, I think you are a pretty alright company - one of the "good guys" if you will - but after this debacle I'm not really sure what to think.
Can you give me a little insight into how this came about? Were you sitting around a room considering new apps and your team started proposing programs like: "Decaying Animal Gallery" and "Run Over Old Ladies' Skills Game." Did you say, "no way how could we ever promote an application that would show dead animals or an opportunity to run over old ladies crossing the street that is completely insensitive and insane, but shaking babies to a death this I LIKE! Tell me more..."

I'm sure someone or some animal thought this was hysterical. Let me tell you if you were wondering - it is not fun or funny it is just plain wrong. I think you got that notion eventually because you did pull the app. But when the proposed shaken baby idea came up you said, "yeah, we got an app for that." Can I provide you with a statistic about shaken baby syndrome? According to the Web site and organization About Shaken Baby Syndrome, more than 1400 cases are reported each year and 1 out of every 4 babies dies of from being violently shaken. As for the other 3 babies in the statistic, they are left with life altering injuries.
Apple, here is my suggestion for a new application, "The Sensitivity Meter." This application judges whether or not someone is being sensitive to other human beings. Might have been a better choice don't you think? You got that?
This is an original post for New Jersey Moms Blog. When not ranting and raving on NJ Moms Blog, Jennifer can also be found writing on The Kamienski Chronicles.