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Why Facebook's Falling Share Price Really Doesn't MatterInterestingly, the law, according to lawyers, actually supports Apple and "it seems abundantly clear that Apple is entirely within its right to refuse warranty service on unlocked iPhones." I wonder, though, if its within its right to purposely render them useless, as many think it has.
There seems to be two issues at the center of this; one is the right of Apple to demand customers to use a certain carrier. The other issue is the refusal service for hacked phones and then turning them into bricks following the software update. Could it possibly have made the update so it would deliberately make iBricks?
Well, I say that it has all got to change. Say I bought a computer -- any computer -- not just a Mac. Does the computer maker have the right to dictate which internet provider I choose? And don't I change the software on my PC? Have I not been known to tinker with the BIOS? Can I not then take it to the producer for service? Will Apple really refuse to help those who got bricked? Mind you also that many may have bought the phone at the previous price tag too and that there are reports of iBricks happening despite the phones not being modified. Well, so far, TUAW reports that Apple Geniuses have fixed iBricks and turned them into (or replaced them with) iPhones.
Apple knows it may have only won a battle, not the war, it has launched against its fans. Apple fans, on their part, seem to be up to the challenge (almost enjoying it I'd even dare say -- like a game). While the iPhone is not the only locked cell phone around, Apple has built such a hype that fans will work hard on unbricking the phones just so they could keep trying to unlock it. Well, I guess that's score one for Apple -- or is it?
Well, I say that it has all got to change. Say I bought a computer -- any computer -- not just a Mac. Does the computer maker have the right to dictate which internet provider I choose? And don't I change the software on my PC? Have I not been known to tinker with the BIOS? Can I not then take it to the producer for service? Will Apple really refuse to help those who got bricked? Mind you also that many may have bought the phone at the previous price tag too and that there are reports of iBricks happening despite the phones not being modified. Well, so far, TUAW reports that Apple Geniuses have fixed iBricks and turned them into (or replaced them with) iPhones.
Apple knows it may have only won a battle, not the war, it has launched against its fans. Apple fans, on their part, seem to be up to the challenge (almost enjoying it I'd even dare say -- like a game). While the iPhone is not the only locked cell phone around, Apple has built such a hype that fans will work hard on unbricking the phones just so they could keep trying to unlock it. Well, I guess that's score one for Apple -- or is it?
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
9-29-2007 @ 11:16AM
Jay said...
Two fatal flaws to this rant:
1) If you want a hacked iPhone -- simply don't update the software/firmware!!! Duh!
2) The iPhone is a tool, not a toy. Unlike a Mac, it is not an open platform. If the iPhone, constrained by the terms of its contract, did not meet my needs for this particular type of tool, I would have shopped elsewhere. If you want to treat it like a toy and hack it, enjoy. But don't expect support for that from the vendor. Although there are many who would like to develop for this platform (myself included), Apple to date has not opened this platform up to 3rd party developers, so hacking the iPhone remains a realm for people who want to use it for something other than it's advertised purpose.
9-29-2007 @ 8:37PM
Neil Anderson said...
I'm a big boy. I knew a future Apple update wouldn't sit well with a hacked phone. But I'm not crying about it or blaming anyone when the onus falls on me. :)
9-30-2007 @ 7:48PM
EK said...
All of your arguments against this rant are right on the money, but can be stated even more simply. If you don't like it the way it is, DON"T BUY IT! If I love a house in an area, but they have certain local taxes I don't agree, I don't buy the house and then complain when I can't get the rules changed. What the hackers are looking for are rights to an action that in itself is unprotected. IF you are smart enough to hack you would think you might be smart enough to know there is no support for what companies see as a nuisance, and also an action that damages the deals they have in place.
Speaks volumes of a certain sect. of the American populace whose sense of entitlement makes them believe that just because I want it I should have it, and regardless of how a get it, legal or not, I'm right in having it. And the maker should support it as well!!
Idiocy at it's best!
Oh, and BTW, just about any manufacturer of any product that can be opened and tinkered with VOIDS THE WARRANTY when doing so! Where have you been moron!
10-01-2007 @ 9:55PM
Uri Schorch said...
Theory:
Apple needed to protect AT&T's exclusive relationship with them and needed a way and an excuse to re-establish the exclusivity between them. If they did not either brick or re-lock hacked iPhones, AT&T could sue Apple for a breach of contract. It would be a bigger loss, financially, to lose AT&T than to lose a few thousand consumers.
10-02-2007 @ 11:02AM
Dario said...
I've hacked my phone to the max and it doesn't even speak English anymore, but it works.
I am not complaining though, that's not my style. I simply want to see Steve out of a job.
http://iphoneteaparty.blogspot.com/
10-04-2007 @ 12:20AM
MetalboySiSo said...
Yeah, Dario, you want to see the man that got Apple back to profitability, and to the point to where they could even make an iPhone, out of a job. Yeah, that's REAL smart, there, buddy. As for that website you posted? What do you have, ten members? And people call Mac users cultists. What sort of craziness is that?
SiSo
10-05-2007 @ 9:45PM
charanischiu said...
Yesterday I got my iTouch and start running the Safair internet browser to enter my banking account, I can immediately buy or sell stock either locally in Hong Kong or oversea in USA.
That was a big huge surprise to me since I was guesting whether this simple iTouch or more complicate iPhone (unable to purchase in Hong Kong at this moment) Safari internet browser can really do operate banking account?
I had tried many different models of mobile phone running Microsoft Internet Explorer either version 5 or 6, none of them has such a capability as compare with APPLE iTouch or famous iPhone.
Both iTouch and iPhone are most suitable for financing or business people to whom they can operate their bank investment account anywhere around the world in real time.
10-31-2007 @ 12:02PM
Ronsonit said...
Obviously, the money the purchaser spent to aquire the phone was actually a rent payment on hardware that Apple believes they still own (but aren't responsible for) and that Apple has the right to dictate end use in perpetuity. Sorry folks, we worked it out in court a long time ago. The auto industry can no longer invalidate your warranty for not buying OEM components unless they bring physical harm themselves. If the physical piece of hardware is intact with it's own components in place and it has no physical damage or abuse, it should be able to be returned to a bootable state. Could you imagine your PC becoming a brick when you loaded a script from a Microsoft competitor?