Irish rock star Bono has apologized to millions of iCloud subscribers around the world who were shocked to find x-rays of his fractured arm on their iPads and iPhones after the images were released exclusively through iCloud photo sharing.
“Call it post-traumatic megalomania,” said Bono from his New York hospital bed last night. “But we thought we were doing something beautiful.”
While many U2 fans have welcomed the move, other iCloud users are angry that the photos were added to their i-device libraries without their permission. It was unclear last night how, or if, the pictures could be removed.
“I’m not even a fan of their music,” said Ling Tao-Hun, a student in Hong Kong. “And I really don’t want to see graphic images of someone’s injuries on my iPhone.”
A spokesman for Apple said they were working on a software update that would give customers the option of deleting the images and blocking further automatic releases.
The move may not have helped doctors treating the singer. “Many older surgeons have no idea what iCloud is, and want to wait for hard copies of the x-rays to be released,” said a spokesman for Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where Bono is undergoing treatment. “Even younger, more tech-savvy doctors are having trouble viewing the x-rays.” Some surgeons reportedly wasted valuable hours after the Irish rocker’s accident downloading the latest iPhone software upgrade before they could access iCloud and view x-rays of the injured arm. And at least one leading orthopaedic surgeon was unable to assist in treating Bono when he could not remember his iCloud password.