Hip hop fans are now analyzing Apple’s legalese.
Rap Genius, a website for collaboratively annotating hip hop lyrics, recently accepted $15 million in venture capital from Andreessen Horowitz, suggesting the site would expand its tools to other texts. “Poetry, literature, the Bible, political speeches, legal texts, science papers,” wrote Marc Andreessen about the investment. “The potential of this company is large.”
The expansion has already begun. Rap Genius users recently began annotating the Mayflower Compact, and a few days ago, the community turned its exegesis expertise to another document with historic significance: the iTunes terms of service.
Head over there for a refreshing translation of the nearly 6,000-word document. And because Rap Genius is typically used to decode lyrics, you’ll also have the pleasure of reading Apple’s legalese as though it were poetry:
Consult a doctor before using the products offered through the iTunes Service
If you have ever suffered these or similar symptoms,
And stop using such products immediately
And see a doctor
To which a Rap Genius user added the following annotation: “We at Apple think this would be hysterical, if every single one of you went to your doctor and was like, ‘Doc, I’m thinking of using iTunes…'”