iTunes… on a nuclear sub / life support machine?
Have you ever looked closely at the EULA (End User License Agreement) for iTunes? If you take a moment, there’s some intriguing stuff in there. Most notably this:
THE APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.
So, don’t run iTunes on your CAT scanner or nuclear-submarine navigation center. Because if you accidentally kill a patient by interfering with their heart monitor, or nuke half the free world with an accidental missile launch, Apple will NOT be held liable.
This bit of legalese is no doubt meant to simply plug some theoretical legal loophole, and help justify the Apple legal team’s fees, but it begs the question: how the hell could you even use iTunes for any of these things? I mean, it doesn’t even say not to use it “on a machine used for” these purposes, but specifically to use “The Apple Software” (which earlier in the EULA it is made pretty clear, it seems to me, refers to iTunes, NOT the Apple operating system as a whole), for nuclear power, life support, etc.
I guess this is all to keep our soldiers in Afghanistan from blasting “Ride of the Valkyries” on their iPods during bombing runs. Keep it old-school – use a tape deck like Martin Sheen did.
Safety first.