Okay, so which do you want first: The good news or the bad news?
Here's the good news:
What YouTube did for the online video, Copenhagen-based Issuu has done for electronic magazines, catalogs, and newspapers. Like YouTube, Issuu is a hosted service that lets you upload any pdf-based publication for free.
It's a fantastic solution for anyone who wants to publish a product catalog in electronic format. The Issuu reader is so slick that you'll never look at Adobe Reader® in the same way again. Here's an example of how New York boutique, "Thistle & Clover" uses the free version of Issuu to publish The Thistle & Clover Diaries, a quarterly showcase of up-and-coming designers.
In addition to the free service, Issuu also offers a professional version that can be used to create a branded version of the player, without those sometimes troublesome links to other content. Even The New York Times uses Issuu to make back issues of its T Magazine available online.
Now for the bad news:
Issuu reports they have spent "over two man years" developing what they believe to be "a truly cutting-edge iPhone app that is dedicated to digital publishing." One would think that applications like this are exactly why Apple made the iPhone -- and especially the iPad -- in the first place. But for the third time, the Apple Review Board has rejected Issuu's iPhone app. After the most recent rejection, Issuu has decided to cut its losses and focus on greener pastures.
According to the company, it would have been the "first iPhone app where anyone can freely enjoy magazines, catalogs and other 'rich' publications without censorship, where you can both read the text and enjoy the design of a beautiful publication."
Oh, there are those words ...
Everyone knows that Apple doesn't like Flash or flashers, for that matter. According to Apple's Review Guidelines,
We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, "I'll know it when I see it". And we think that you will also know it when you cross it.
This may be, in part, a cultural issue because everyone knows that the United States is generally more conservative than Denmark. It's probably safe to say that in the United States, bare breasts and naked bottoms are considered "over the line," unless you're at a nude beach or are mooning your friends from the school bus window. (Participants in the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club's "Over the Line Tournament" and publishers of high-fashion magazines are given some leeway in this regard.)
But it is entirely possible that the Apple Review Board found some objectionable content in "the over two million free publications that are available without censorship through Issuu Mobile."
Others suggest that it may be a simple case of iBook envy.
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