[DM-MUG] iPHone sighting in Beijing

[Matthew Nuzum]

On 10/12/07, Bryan Baker <ka_klick at mac.com> wrote:
>
> See this Daring Fireball http://daringfireball.net/2007/10/
> un_in_unsupported - frankly I agree with him (Gruber).
>
> On Oct 12, 2007, at 8:27 AM, Bill Davis wrote:
> > Apple's update  also disabled any phone that was unlocked. Lawsuits
> > have started about that last bit!  I hope Apple loses, frankly.
>

>From tfa:

> The point isn't that you shouldn't hack, or that you don't have the right
> to do whatever you want with something you own. The point is that if you
> hack, you're on your own. You can't do unsupported things and expect to be
> supported for them just because you think these actions should be supported.
> It's that simple.
>

The problem is far more deeply rooted, and revealed in the
mis-statement/implication that you own your iphone (which, arguably, we'll
define as the combination of the phone and the system software).

People feel, rightly so, that if you go spend $400 for a widget to carry
around with you that the widget is yours. Likewise, that if you buy a
program for your pc or a song to listen to that this software is yours.

What you have purchased is a few ounces of plastic and silicon AND Apple's
permission to use the software, without which the iphone's value is slightly
less than a banana of equivalent size and heft. Unfortunately the permission
comes with strings attached.

I've come seriously close to buying an iPhone a couple times now, and would
enjoy the unique productivity benefits it yields, but the attached strings
make me hesitate. (for example, I'd like it to be a voice recorder too, and
while there are hacks available, this feature is not inbuilt and there's no
assurance the hack's will continue to work the day after I buy it).

Interestingly, the cost of the device seems to be what makes people so
passionate about it. If you buy the $39 phone no one complains about not
being able to install software on it or use it with another carrier. But at
an order of magnitude more expensive, people expect more.
-- 
Matthew Nuzum
newz2000 on freenode
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