I understand that, Steve. Apple is not happy that individuals are compromising their exclusive deal with AT&T by jailbreaking the iPhone. I guess that a whole round of lawsuits will follow, pointed at examining the rights of phone owners vs. carriers, etc.
On the totally up & up, Apple could reduce phone theft to virtually zero with some biometric "fingerprint" lock on the phone. Invasion of privacy & information security issues will abound.
Jailbreaking is a process by which the user of a cell phone can connect via other carriers, rather than the one they signed with. So, iPhone users are not limited to use via the AT&T network, etc.
Lee, it goes beyond that. With Jailbreaking you can run apps that aren't in the itunes store. I buy these apps and use them on my phone and ipad. It is a shame that some of these apps dont make it to the itunes store as they are brlliant. I have said here before that I use an app called MyWi which tethers my iphone to my ipad.I don't have to pay monthly data charges for my ipad. The app cost me $20 to run on my jailbroken iphone. Monthly data charges would be $16 ...........every month
Seeing that I just got a Droid X a few days ago, I'm still just trying to make calls and use text messaging. I've got a lot to learn about new electronics, from computers to phones, to catch up with technology.
BTW, there are several apps to jailbreak your iphone and ipad. I suggest to everyone search out the best.... a simple Google search will bring the top ones up. It takes 3-4 seconds to jailbreak your device once you load the app.
There are also many things that can be done which are not legal and I would caution people against this.
I'm not sure if legislation has been passed in the US (it hasn't here) but there is a strong push to make quite a few device modifications illegal as pertaining to use of unlicensed software. The push initially came from DVD player manufacturers out to fight mods that effectively killed region coding then were followed by console manufacturers out to fight bootleg game copies. Cellphones being essentially computers now, it is no surprise that telcos are also very concerned.
In Asia, modifications are done to devices such as PSPs where expensive games can be bought and stored on a memory stick typically eight at a time for practically nothing. It is a sad affair. The flipside however is that King Kong is out of his cage and there's no putting him back. The RIAA has learned that lesson. Manufacturers and developers alike will have to adapt and create business models that work if they want the returns they rightfully deserve.
Apple did just that with the iTunes store's game apps and that has sent Nintendo and Sony reeling. This topic just goes to show however that every solution creates its own problems.
