Overexposure

Perhaps I'm overly paranoid, or overly prudish, but this bothers me. Apple can argue all they want that this was an unintended consequence. I think they knew darn well what they were doing.

You'll remember that Apple launched iTunes nearly a year before they released the iPod, making sure the content would be there to drive sales of the device. In this case, they're releasing the device, and while there is some official content, it's a fairly meager (and arguably lame) offering. Critics are already debating the eagerness of the masses to watch mainstream entertainment in small scale, low resolution.

But it doesn't take a genius to realize that there is already a lot of content available out there that has already been quite successful in small scale: pornography. You don't need high resolution to get your jollies. And all the prurience purveyors are falling over themselves to bring their wares to market. Just dandy.

When I was a kid I only had to worry about kids sneaking their dad's dirty magazines and trying to show me in school. More recently we've had to deal with the constant bombardment of it on computers. Now it can go anywhere. By the time my kids go to school it'll probably be commonplace for kids to gather around their ViPods at recess and watch downloads from Hustler. The person in the next seat at the ball game could be watching his latest hot honeys, and my son could inadvertantly get an eyeful. Will public decency laws have any control over that sort of thing?

I'm scared. I thought I had perhaps until my kids were eight or nine before I'd have to prepare them for that sort of thing. Am I going to have to have "the talk" with my daughter before she goes to school next year? It's frightening, it's frustrating, and it's downright depressing. Can't my kids just be kids for a few years?

Just one more assault on the family and the safety of home.

Knock it off already!