Apple said that the House and Senate shakeable bobbleheads application ridicules public figures and so Apple rejected it. Then last Monday, apparently, Apple rethought its position. Bobbleheads is silly, not mean spirited! It’s bipartisan foolery! Now you can download the bobblehead app for your iPhone and watch Rep. Doug Lamborn, for example, cast in a Mad Magazine-style caricature, dance in the palm of your hand next to general information and contact numbers and addresses. It’s fun and informational, just like the mobile web is supposed to be.
The 99-cent application helps users find out who they’re represented by in Congress. You can search by name or you can search using the GPS locator in your phone, which means you can search for the representatives of any place you visit, too. The caricatures — heads for each of the 540 legislators put on one of 12 bodies — were in fact drawn by Mad Magazine artist Tom Richmond, who was shocked to discover Apple thought he was out to offend lawmakers:
This is truly ridiculous. These caricatures aren’t mean or very exaggerated. They are simple, fun cartoon likenesses of the politicians and the purpose of the app is an informational database. There is no editorial commentary involved at all.
Here’s how Colorado’s Bobblehead delegation looks:
