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Apple: Next iPhone update could break unlocked phones
September 24, 2007
Should owners of unlocked iPhone have known better than to install the latest updates? Those who did are cursing their $500 bricks.
The New York Times
The story "Altered iPhones freeze up" published September 30, 2007 at 4:00 AM is no longer available on CNET News.
Content from The New York Times expires after 7 days.
Mr Jobs, you're making the life of Nokia SO much easier that it's embarassing, and if you forgetting your loyal fans & developers, Nokia will happily welcome then in open arms (and SDK).
I assume that within few days/weeks, someone will "unlock" the frozen iphones and people would unlock their iphones again, leaving them with a sour taste in their mouth. First you dropped $200 price and cheating your loyal customers, and now you "brick" their phone in the phase.
As Bill Gates said once to you: "You just don't get it". Please don't make the same mistake 3rd time by treating your customers as retards.
Thanks,
Hetz
Apple has already made me a fool once by cutting $200 off my iPhone price. I will not be made a fool again, no matter how great the product!!!
If you like they way your iPhone works with the modifications
you've made to it, then its simple, dont use the software update.
You just have to deal with the consequences of not having the
extra functionality that it brings.
If you had update it, and its a brick! Well tough luck you voided
your warranty. That was the choice you made, deal with it!
Apple had announced that their in partnership with AT&T for five
years and they have to honour it! Whoever doesn't know this
shouldn't buy an iPhone.
Apple's partnership with AT&T to me, makes sense from an
engineering point of view, if you want to make a better phone
you need to create a long term partnerships with a company who
can provide you with the knowledge you need to create a better
user experience. It just makes sense from a business point of
view, that TRUST works in a business relationship.
Really, it just doesn't make sense for Apple to spread themselves
out thin with other providers. I mean you dont' exactly see them
sneaking around in bed with AMD behind INTEL's back, and yet
they are creating the best computers with Intel right now
because of that partnership. So case in point, having to many
providers would justs dilute the experience Apple wants to
create for future iPhones.
So either your onboard or you buy another phone. Motorola,
Nokia and Blackberry aren't no spring chickens either.
Choice is yours.
The iPhone is kinda cool, but I don't think I'm willing to risk the money, and I sure as hell don't want them telling me what I can do with a piece of hardware that I purchased, and disabling it if I decide to do something else.
The rest of your arguments are so ridiculous that I can't even bring myself to address them.
If it simply states that your warranty is void they may be in trouble. Because then they are on the hook for intentionally disabling your device.
On the other hand, it's the court system. Something non-logical will most likely prevail.
contract, and you have to agree to its terms in order to activate
an iPhone. If you don't want to agree, you don't get to use the
iPhone. Since Apple invented the iPhone, that's their prerogative.
(Technically, they don't even have to sell you one, if they don't
want to.)
Anyway, the contract prohibits you from modifying the device,
and the software is an integral part of that device.
Last time I checked, courts tend to frown on breech of contract,
and they don't usually give the breecher many (if any) rights.
Apple can easily claim that modifying the iPhone or its software
(which could mean adding to it) is illegal under the DMCA, and
it's pretty hard to argue that you had the right to break the
DMCA "because I don't like AT&T" or "because I really wanted to
have a virtual popcorn popper on my phone".
Another way of looking at this is to compare it to something a
bit more common and cut-and-dry: It's against the law to
modify your car's emissions system with non-approved
equipment or procedures. If you do, and you get caught at your
next emissions test by failing either the sniffer or visual checks
or both, the EPA has the right to "disable" your car (prevent you
from driving it) until you _restore_ it to a lawful state.
So, while Apple's actions don't necessarily leave a warm and
fuzzy feeling, they're hardly illegal ... or unprecedented.
no one can use other carriers or software. Imagine if Microsoft did
that to computers. You can't use anyone else's software or
hardware. What missing here ? Why is Apple so unfriendly to
competition ? From all this imagine if Nokia or Motola came out
with a superior phone to Iphone. Just as cool, but even better. Then
they sold those phones at open market. No contracts, no fuzz.. You
buy and use with whoever you want as a carrier. Would love to see
Apple's face if that happens.
However, I would like the ability to legitly install 3rd party apps. Games would be really nice. Tetris, bejeweled, tic-tac-toe, blackjack, pong... A voice recorder would be nice as well. A video recorder too. All of these programs are filling a need with this device that Apple, so far, has simply not addressed.
I do think it would have been respectful of them to simply reset the sim card and relock the phone, avoiding bricking it. I would imagine there's a way to reset the phone somehow. I'm sure they're not completely broken.
If I had paid $600 for something, only to have the company ruin it with an update a month later, I would be very frustrated and angry as well. Even though I plan not to alter my phone, I can understand their perspective entirely. Apple's greatest strength and weakness is the way they try to lock their systems together. It truly does preserve the user experience and make it nice and smooth, but it's also entirely limiting and in some cases down right annoying and irrational.
Nevertheless, they make the best products on the market, and I prefer their iMacs, iPhone, and their software over that of Dells, Nokia, or M$'s any day.
various electronics I can make a few educated guesses.
Some people think Apple acted deliberately and maliciously to
damage hacked iPhones.
I really doubt it. They don't need the bad PR.
I've updated firmware on a Linksys wireless router and on my
old iBook, and there's always one firm warning in the
instructions:
Do NOT interrupt the process during the update. If you do,
you risk turning your device into a paperweight.
This is because the firmware holds all the programming on
how to turn the device on.
If that programming is damaged, you won't be able to just
shrug and start over because the device won't be able to
restart.
I suspect that the new update included a comprehensive
firmware re-write.
Because the hacked iPhones were altered in various ways, the
update program may have crashed half-way through.
And that's the problem in a nutshell. Now the only way to fix
the problem is to send the unit back to the factory where they
could physically remove the EEPROM chip and replace it.
Of course the labor fees to do that would be half the cost of
the iPhone, at least.
Ideally, all the boot-up data COULD be written on the SIM card
which would make the repair and later updates a lot easier, but
I don't know if any phone maker does this.
little except make the lawyers very wealthy, the customer at best
ends up with little more than token compensation, eg, the
infamous $5 gift card.
However, in this case, I'd be 100% behind such an action.
Apple has behaved atrociously and should be reprimanded
serverely. If a class action suit resulting in financial penalty is
the only way to achieve that, then so be it. I wasn't afftcted by
the update - my iPhone is just fine thank you - but I'd happily
contribute a token fee, say $50, to prosecuting the case.
The reasons I'm so angry at a company I was formerly very loyal
to:
1. Apple appears to be playing very freely with the Magnuson-
Moss Warranty Act, and is using the press to propagate the line
that 3rd party apps cause damage to the equipment and that the
company is therefore not required to honor the warranty. This
is extremely disingenuous.
In actual fact, it was Apple's software update (note: SOFT) which
rendered the phones unusable. There is evidence such damage
can be reversed ("reflashing the baseband") but that Apple is
refusing to do it because the warranty was violated according to
their terms.
2. It is highly suspicious that the phones were damaged in a
way that fitted so precisely with Apple's contractual obligations
to AT&T to lock the iPhone to its network. The vast majority of
"bricked" iPhones are that way because they were unlocked from
the AT&T network.
However, it is not illegal to unlock a phone - there is a provision
in the DMCA to allow that. Apple is claiming the iPhone was
damaged by an otherwise legal process which they, seemingly
out of a ruthless corporate form of spite, wish to punish.
3. A thriving, enthusistic and extremely creative community had
built up creating 3rd party applications for the iPhone, just as it
has for every other phone platform.
In acting in such a draconian way to destroy the ability of iPhone
users to make use of these applications, Apple forfeits any right
to the passionate loyalty of its fans.
Now the iPhone is indeed an extremly pleasing, well engineered
device. I like mine very much, and will continue to keep using it
as long as I can. However, the iPhone's popularity appears to
have made its creators both arrogant and abusive of customers'
rights and expectations.
A penalty should reflect that.
Whether or not a lawsuit gets anywhere is probably going to be
determined by how cleverly Apple's legal team has steered its
masters through the murky waters of warranty terms.
But there is one thing they have already lost: the loyalty of a
disgusted fan.
I have for those hackers that destroy people's programs. While the
Phone hackers can do what they want to to their phones, they have
no right to complain. Now would you really expect Mercedes to
warrant your car after you tinker with it and screw it up? Of course
not. As for the slime who hack people's computers with viruses,
they should be immediately jailed and fined and made to do
without a computer for 10 years or more. Bassboat
You're conflating "hackers" with "enthusiast programmers" with
"black hat security breacher" with "virus writers."
All very different activities.
To make it simple for you:
Enthusiast programmers worked out how to make programs for
the iPhone. Some went further and worked out how to turn off
the restriction to use only AT&T's network.
The people whose iPhones were bricked were not programmers
but consumers - they ran a one-click installer app that made
their iPhone do cool stuff.
These are the ones Apple decided to punish.
Apple made the rules, you bought their device [wonderful that it is!]...and now your feelings are hurt?
Gee whiz!
I like the idea of the iphone (the UI) but I never,ever buy locked phones. I'll wait and see what the competition brings to the market.
It's official, Steve Jobs thinks he is the Mob Boss. And we all know what happens to Mob Bosses.
update. I wonder however what would consumer reaction be if our
automobiles were rendered inoperative by the use of gasoline, oil
or air filters not sanctioned by the manufacturer?
It is time for greater control by government (heaven forbid) of the
computer AND music industry?
You obviously have not looked at your car warrantee. If you use some non-approved after market parts on your car (yes, including the wrong gasoline or oil) and it breaks it is up to you to fix it because the warrantee is void.
Hell, at least if MSFT is going to block your pirated copy of XP, you can still install critical updates.
Then again, there's no patch for human stupidity.
I do consider Apple at much at fault here as the consumer as Apple intentionally bricked the unlocked iPhones. Why does Apple care what carrier you use your iPhone on? You've already paid Apple the price of the iPhone... the monthly contract goes to AT&T. So it leads to reason that AT&T divies up the profits of iPhone service with Apple.
a) Nobody forced you to buy the iPhone, so understand that YOU are responsible for it.
b) You willingly signed an agreement understanding that you must use AT&T as your carrier and that any 3rd party applications or hacks to the phone voids your warranty.
c) There are plenty of other choices available if you are unhappy with the iPhone.
It just seems to me that there are about a million other real-world problems (that are actual problems) that I would rather hear about than listening to people that violate the terms of an agreement that they signed only to complain about issues when they knew the risks that they were taking to begin with. There are plenty of manufacturers that do these same types of activities to begin with, so Apple isn?t the first (nor last) to be doing this. Nobody forced you to do any of this, including the update. If it bothers you so badly, get a Nokia, Samsung, Sony/Ericsson, or Motorola, etc. Nobody ?complains? about the $175 fee for leaving a carrier when in the middle of a cell-phone agreement?
Mac.
It would be like hacking a Rolex. Why would you do it?
The iPhone users hacked around to "improve" their device -- but
either there aren't any Mac programmers eager to hack their
Macs, or it's just too difficult.
There ARE software add-ons that get a bad rep for being
"haxies" but they don't hack firmware.
Switch them off, restart, and they're gone.
Fortunately I've never had trouble with a haxie, cause I'd sure
miss FruitMenu if I had to disable it.
I suppose if someone decided to hack the firmware on an OS X
Mac, they might be in the same situation as the iPhone users.
They'd have to ignore all future updates for fear their Mac
wouldn't run a later software revision.
You can't cry foul over this - Apple laid the rules out very explicitly. They warned you before, during, and after. If you *still* clicked "Yes, I agree" - who's to blame?
I am sorry, but if you buy a Ford truck, you should be able to purchase gas wherever you like, and if you put on an after market muffler, your truck should not stop working as a direct result of Ford installing an "update" which renders your truck un-drivable because of said muffler.
Buying something you know won't let you do what you want without hacking and then complaining like 2 years when the makers fixes the hole that allowed your to hack it is just stupid.
Consumers are lemmings!
Robert
First of all, the iPhone was announced in January. For over six months or so, EVERYONE and their grandmother knew that the iPhone was going to be a closed system. Just look at the 5-year old iPod - I haven't seen anyone trying to hack it with their custom apps and hacks. I knew that the iPhone would be as closed of a system as the iPod.
Also, the iPhone is a telephone! It is NOT a computer. A manufacturer has every right to lock down their telephones. It is legal to unlock a phone, but it isn't the responsibility of the software manufacturer to make sure the unlock stays intact. Again, we're talking about an non-computer appliance here. And as such, comparisons to Microsoft patches not affecting a PC's stability does not apply. Once hacks are applied to any appliance, it is impossible for the manufacturer to maintain the device through updates.
And last, let's look at the definition of a monopoly. We're talking about a telephone that represents less than one-percent of the cell phone market. I would NOT call that a monopoly. Also, a monopoly is when you're hooked into a device or service because there is no alternative for you to choose. The only way the iPhone would be a monopoly is if it occupied 95-percent of the marketplace, and you couldn't call 98-percent of Earth's population unless you owned an iPhone. Even the iPod isn't a monopoly!
In summary:
1. You should have a known that the iPhone was a closed system. If you bought the phone knowing this, and yet you continue to complain about it not being open, "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred! BRAAAAAAK!"
2. It is not the responsibility of the manufacturer to maintain functionality of hacks and unlocks. The iPhone is not a computer.
3. Apple is not a monopoly. When your computers and appliances represent less than 5-percent of the marketplace, there's no way in hell you could be a monopoly.
- LOL to all you complainers...err..early adopters.
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by ncftech
October 1, 2007 10:14 PM PDT
- Personal Responsibility. You were warned and still you decided to do it. Bottom line, its a freakin cell phone people. Cant you just be happy using it as such, with the tools it came with? Of course not, you need that stupid popcorn popper right? Did I miss a memo somewhere or did the world just go nuts? Take responsibility for your actions.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (61 Comments)The only thing Apple is guilty of, is making a stupid agreement with ATT to exclusively use their slow network. Locking you into one choice, is not good for the customer. Isn't that what they used to accuse M$ of?
LAME LAME LAME