Hefner, who will turn 85 in April, shared the news late yesterday on Twitter.  You can see his first tweet on the subject below.

Later, Hefner added, "The IPad Version of Playboy will include the whole magazine from the first issue to the latest."

He also stated in response to a question that uncensored versions of the magazine are what will appear.

This would appear to be in violation of previously stated App Store rules and policies.  Steve Jobs himself has even said that he wants the iPad to remain free of porn.

It remains to be seen whether this represents a one-time exception to Apple’s rules or a new approach to adult content, then.  But either way – assuming Hefner wasn’t somehow misinformed – this will constitute a major change.

Keep an eye out for the additional details which are sure to surface in the days and weeks ahead.

UPDATE: A Playboy spokesperson clarified, "We are releasing a web-based subscription service with Bondi Digital Publishing that will give users access to every issue of Playboy both past and present.  The service will be iPad compatible and will utilize iPad functions.

"We also have plans to release a non-nude version of a Playboy-branded iPad app in the coming months that adheres to all of Apple’s policies and guidelines."

Jon Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle today writes about his experience visiting the Google headquarters, and he’s reminded of another building:

Some years ago, I spent a year taking meetings at the Playboy mansion, both the one in Chicago (RIP) and the one in Los Angeles. It had a lot of amenities – I was never more than 15 feet from food and extremely good red wine, and the chairs were comfortable enough for the all-nighters we routinely pulled. There were scantily clad women about, too, and occasionally I passed one in the halls. It was a lot better than a regular office.

I think maybe Google is the Hefner mansion of the 21st century. It too rises from a fantasy – what if you had all the information in the universe at your fingertips? – and it too has sensual amenities to ease the workload. Since the whole idea of Google, it would seem, is that no one should ever have to leave work, one does wonder how it handles courtship rituals and related activities. I imagine they are handled in some officially unofficial way, though, because the Google environment is very carefully thought through.

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