Underground App Store Courts the Jailbroken 295
PainMeds writes "Apple's stepped-up and controversial rejections are helping to foster competition in the app store marketplace. According to an article by Wired, developers aren't taking AppStore rejection lying down, but are turning to the hacking community's repository system for the iPhone to launch an app store of their own. The 4-month-old Cydia store is yielding notably higher sales for a few application developers than Apple's AppStore, and is reportedly running on over 4 million Apple iPhone devices, with perhaps 350,000 connected at any one time. In this store, developers are distributing applications they've written that push the limits of Apple's normal AppStore policies, with software to add file downloads to Safari, trick applications into thinking they're on Wi-Fi (for VoIP), and enhance other types functionality. You'll also find the popular Google Voice application, which was recently rejected by Apple. Third party application development has been around since 2007, when the iPhone was originally introduced, and became so popular that O'Reilly Media published a book geared toward writing applications before an SDK was available. The Cydia store acts as both a free package repository and commercial storefront to third-party developers."
Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Insightful)
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The problem is that you need jailbroken iphone, which wont be so easy for average joe. There wont be final resolution before Apple also learns that restricting so much is a bad decision.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Informative)
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The issue isn't all about how easy it is, but because they dont know of other. If they happen to run across something else, there will be list of things you need to do before you can use their store (which usually means connecting phone to computer and doing something non-standard -- we're talking about average joe here). Its great there's other app stores for iphone than apples too, but because of this I dont see how it would be such a major enemy for Apple.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people won't do it though. Sure your average college kid or whatever has no problem downloading an app to jailbreak the phone, but joe average on the street doesn't tend to flock towards anything involving firmware modification. They buy a phone, they use the phone, and that's all they do.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:4, Interesting)
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You know why I won't do it (again)? Because after two weeks applications stop working. You click the icon and it opens and then immediately closes. You delete the application and reinstall it and that issue moves to another application. Before long your phone icon or Safari icon stop working and you're forced to reinstall everything on the phone. Yeah, Jailbreaking is cool and I love the fact that you can run apps you normally cannot but I really do need the most basic functionality of the iPhone to work to
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Interesting)
Not everyone that can jailbreak an iPhone does either.
Now, a possibly relevant caveat is that I didn't actually go out and buy mine (gift from my Apple-fan father, after I said don't bother giving me one, since I don't care about it) but I honestly don't see the gain in jailbreaking it. I'm not planning on leaving AT&T (they're a hell of a lot better than Sprint in my experience, which gave me nightmares for years. I don't care how good they are rated right this second, they would have to basically hand me a bag of $100 bills for me to sign back up with them at this point). When things go wrong with the phone, I want Apple and/or AT&T to be the ones on the hook for fixing them.
And frankly, Apple approving all the software in the App store, while slimy doesn't particularly matter to me, because there's no way I'm ever buying any software for any phone, whether it's an iPhone or a Pre or a Blackberry or an Android phone. On top of that, while I certainly don't trust Apple to have my best interests at heart, I see no reason at all why I should trust any of these unofficial app stores any more, especially since I have to allow them to do whatever they damn well please with my phone in order to use their "service". Frankly, I think the FCC investigation is possibly the best thing to happen to the iPhone. I figure there's very little chance that Apple will be forced to allow any unsigned code whatsoever to run (which would pretty much mean I sell off the the phone and get one that isn't an invitation to data theft), but a very good chance that the black box in the approval process will be torn apart, some Apple executives embarassed, and some changes made.
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Now my head hurts from reading pure stupid.
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Seeing how easy is iPhone jailbreaking nowadays, it's the matter of time word goes around and people start doing it. Of course the Apple will start legal attack, but that's a different story...
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Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Funny)
need jailbroken iphone
There's an app for that.
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The problem is that you need jailbroken iphone, which wont be so easy for average joe. There wont be final resolution before Apple also learns that restricting so much is a bad decision.
Out of curiosity, have you even jailbroken an iPhone?
I'm going to say that for an average Joe, jailbreaking an iPhone is *not* a problem assuming said average Joe both knows how to read and owns a computer with internet access.
Maybe the "below-average" Joes who have an iPhone, but either do not know how to read or do not have a computer with internet access would have a problem figuring out how to jailbreak, but the truly average ones, they won't have any trouble at all.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:4, Insightful)
Average Joe won't have trouble doing the jailbreaking thing. They do protest about doing anything that *sounds* complicated. Some people don't *want* to learn anything about computers and electronic devices.
So Apple's own AppStore is safe because most people are lazy idiots :)
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Interesting)
Have you read any comments in the App Store? The average iPhone user has no idea how to read.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm also somewhat inclined to believe that should the AT&T exclusive deal come to an end, and the iPhone can be taken to a compatible network of the customer's choosing, the use jailbreaking would decline. I hear far more tales of people who wish to take their iPhones to another carrier rather than download applications that haven't been approved.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Interesting)
That and their control fetish.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Informative)
Apple seems pretty lax, especially compared to other companies, with the OSX86 AND Jailbreaking communities.
They really only went after Pystar when they tried selling OS X clones. The Hackintosh community is doing pretty well just like the Jailbreaking community. Worst I've seen is a takedown letter for some files, but instructions for OS X on the Mini 9 are still out there.
Apple seems to be making it 'reasonably' difficult to keep the interested parties (RIAA/MPAA/AT&T) happy, but they really don't make it impossible to do stuff. OS X Client still doesn't have a 16 digit code to enter to install it. They sell a Family pack of 5 licenses for relatively cheap, even though there's no way to actually hard lock it to JUST 5 computers.
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:4, Informative)
You are confusing Jailbreaking (ability to install non-Apple blessed software) with Unlocking (ability to run on a different carrier's network). The 3rd party apps require only Jailbreaking.
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Apple understands that a sold iPhone is a sold iPhone
Nyet, tovarishch. Apple understands that a captive audience to a walled-garden content-delivery system is a continuing revenue stream that only compounds as their hardware business becomes more successful.
Obviously pressure from AT&T is a big part of all this (maybe even the major part), but Apple has skin in the game too. (Plus, that $400 iPhone subsidy from AT&T? You can bet that does not actually represent $400 in Apple's pocket.)
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Apple appears to be quite aware of keeping customers happy - at least from what I've experienced. There may be less of us on slashdot than we think; the numbers mustn't add up.
How much does Cydia take away from Apple? They must have a good idea; I can't imagine they are just looking at hard numbers, when they are more they type that wants th
Re:Bye Bye Monopoly (Score:5, Insightful)
"but if you had the position in Apple to make that decision"
I see your point. I have stockholders to answer to, as well as being responsible for honoring contractual commitments.
Even so, I think the RIGHT thing to do, is to announce that Apple will not support jailbroken and/or unlocked telephones. It's cool to only support the thing as it was sold, with proper updates and company approved applications. That is perfectly cool. Using the phone in a manner not approved by Apple voids any and all warranties is cool. (except the battery issue - I don't think Apple can legally drop any liability related to a phone that burns up due to the battery)
What is NOT COOL, is attempting to block people from jailbreaking and/or unlocking their phone. Nor is it cool to obstruct this competing app store.
Obligatory automotive analogy: Ford may very well tell you that modifying your car for stock racing voids all warranties, but they can't prohibit you from making said modification, nor can they prohibit you from racing our stock car.
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Even if you aren't an average Joe, it's still makes "legit" apps run buggy. And every time there's a firmware upgrade, it's advised to "unjailbreak" the phone, do the upgrade, and then "rejailbreak" the phone.
Jailbroken phones are great, but be prepared to put up with extra headaches.
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and hello! Free Market!
And, it really doesn't matter if this "hurts" apple. Sometimes, a little pain aids in growth and learning.
Competition? What is that? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Unfortunately, that is true. For a jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch can be trivially enabled to pirate App Store (the official Apple one) apps. Jailbreaking won't get you the ability to install pirated apps, but it's trivial to do it (basically you enable a new repository, which involves maybe 5 or 6 taps and a bit of typing,
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(With apologies to Clausewitz...)
The Obvious Truth (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The Obvious Truth (Score:5, Insightful)
Those that hack or pirate always have it better. No DRM, no restrictions on what software you can install, no need for physical media and the list goes on. Being a nice customer simply doesn't pay anymore these days.
That should be obvious, yes. Still I see people who defend DRM and I don't understand it. If it were just the occasional one or two I would suspect that perhaps they are astroturfing. It's more than a few so while I have to admit it has some non-zero probability, I really don't think astroturfing is a satisfying explanation. I think plenty of people really feel this way. I apologize in advance for caps, but to them, YOU ARE DEFENDING SOMETHING THAT IS NOT AND COULD NEVER BE IN YOUR INTERESTS, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT FOR ANY REASON?! If nothing else, understanding this behavior would be an interesting psychological study.
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It's a part of the general trend of society towards a situation where thinking is entirely unnecessary since all decisions have been made for you, and the conclusions made obvious.
Re:The Obvious Truth (Score:5, Insightful)
I am against DRM in its current form.
I am not against DRM implemented properly (i.e. in such a way that it allows for legal exceptions like fair use, satire, copyright termination, companies going under, etc.). However, the chances of that happening are essentially zero.
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To date, I have never been able to get out of a speeding ticket by telling the magistrate that the speed limit should be 65 instead of 55 on that highway.
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One of those two puts peoples lives in danger and the other _potentially_ can put a _fraction_ of a businesses profits in danger.
Which one of the two has an _immensely_ steeper fine?
Absolute absurdity.
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Well, to bring it back to comparable offences. I have never been able to get away with shoplifting a CD if I am caught with the defence "It should be free because the music is rubbish and I only want 1 track".
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Re:The Obvious Truth (Score:4, Interesting)
No, that's part of my point - copyright infringement has been blown out of proportion with bought and paid for legislation by the media companies to push it up to the levels of a felony, with repercussions far exceeding the real damages of the crime.
The point is though, that is *is* a crime, silly restrictions or not, to share your music that way, and it always has been. Fair use doesn't include burning your collection onto 10,000 CDs and handing them out for free in the street. This is a point that I do agree with the music industry on (shudder). You should be able to use your music on any device you own though, and give it to a friend, or your family, or use it on home movies you've made, or non-commercial stuff and so on.
While the argument that there's no financial loss to the industry since the files are copied and no physical theft occurs, and the people doing it wouldn't have bought the music anyway is sound, the law about copyright has always existed.
What's really silly is that you can get a $700,000 fine for doing it. If I went into a shop at night and stole all of their CDs in the back of a van, I would not be facing a $700,000 fine, and that really is causing major financial losses to a business.
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But that's not the point of the post. Copyright infringement is a crime. The penalties for it have been ludicrously trumped up, far beyond the real damage it causes (debatable just what that damage is), but it has always been a crime since copyright existed.
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A highway I use sometimes had the speed limit raised from 55 to 65 recently. I should emphasize that there has been no new construction on that road. Now, before the limit was raised, if I were ticketed for doing 65 while it was 55 I would have been told that this was for my safety. Now, if the state had any sense of honor (haha) they would refund the
Re:The Obvious Truth (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps they determined that older vehicles, that are only capable of safely traveling 55MPH, were no longer in use? Road construction isn't the only thing that has changed since the speed limits were previously set.
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I try to avoid the cops, when I get the bill at home I tell them it wasn't me driving and a pick a random guy from a foreign country.
Fuck the law,
Re:The Obvious Truth (Score:5, Informative)
Not entirely true. Ask the recent defendant who now has to cough up close to $700,000 for his piracy. While being a nice customer might not pay, breaking the law might cost a lot more. Yes, yes, the law might be stupid, but it's still the law.
To date, I have never been able to get out of a speeding ticket by telling the magistrate that the speed limit should be 65 instead of 55 on that highway.
In the US that's actually one of the easiest ways to get out of a speeding ticket (a family member of mine just did it, and has done it before). If you can prove that the speed limit on a non-highway should be higher than it is (based on state guidelines for deciding speed limits) and a review of that speed limit hasn't been done in X years (X= 2 or 3, I think), you can get out of the ticket and force the police to collect data on driving habits on that road in order to define a new speed limit.
Re:The Obvious Truth (Score:4, Interesting)
Ditto here. I got pulled over and ticketed on an obvious speedtrap-- a State highway (State prescribes 50 MPH) on a straight, perfectly safe, stretch of road. For some "mysterious" reason, the speed limit turns to 35 MPH right before a perfect spot for a cop to hide, then about a half mile down goes back to 55 MPH. Went in front of the judge with some photos of the road, and a citation of the State law, and got off.
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Being a nice customer simply doesn't pay anymore these days.
It pays sometimes. It pays in karma and even repeat customer goodwill when the company itself is nice.
OK, I know, that sounds like crazy talk -- nice companies?!? WTF am I smoking?!? But seriously, such companies do exist!
For one example, go see Cole Hardware on 4th between Mission and Market in San Francisco. Locally owned and operated for decades. They care about their customers, because they know their customers, and they have to be nice or thei
Don't worry- the U.S. tyranny will arrest soon (Score:2)
...just as they arrested that guy who was illegally modifying PS3s without Sony's permission. We cannot allow people to have control over their own property.
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I'm not sure this would be much of the same. For one, the jail braking doesn't really enable pirated stuff to play, just non-approved stuff. For two, the jail breaking is being done by the user and not some guy selling the modified devices after the fact. Selling modified phones or Xboxes isn't really the same as you having control over your own property.
Finally, I think this arena might already be covered by the Fair Use exceptions to the restrictions on the copyright protection laws. If it isn't, it will
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>>> the jail braking doesn't really enable pirated stuff to play, just non-approved stuff.
According to the U.S. Digital Millenium Copyright Act, it doesn't matter. The mere *act* of jailbreaking a product is illegal, even if your goal is just to run the freeware EDIT on your iPhone or PS3 or whatever.
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Ah right so if you commit a crime, as long as you go home you should be free from prosecution?
It was inevitable (Score:5, Insightful)
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Um, Software programmers are just a group of people, some of which are free thinkers, just like most other groups.
"They don't like being told what to do by a monolithic entity trying to hold all the cards and write all the game's rules."
Nobody likes that, except the entity doing it. Even entities that do that don't like it when other entities do it.
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Writing software for the iPhone and submitting it for approval is about as fun as playing a game of Mao [wikipedia.org], and for the same reasons.
jailbroken should be called liberated (Score:2)
Jailbreaking is where it's at (Score:2, Funny)
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One big one that I find frustrating on the Touch is the inability to use it as an USB storage device. I brought the Touch with me on a recent trip to Europe, and found (much to my frustration) that I could not copy pictures from my camera over to the Touch without installing iTunes on every random computer I used. I wanted to just connect both the camera and the Touch to my friend's laptop & drag the pictures across...apparently Apple doesn't want me to do that, which I think is stupid.
Also, on a corp
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Why Jailbreak? Here's why (Score:4, Informative)
The apps interfaces are so amazing compared to the boring vanilla apps. check qtwitter or sbsettings for examples.
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The ability to put any app you want on it.
You may feel free to use it and control it how you want, but in reality you are not. You are free to use it as long as it's within the bounds set by Apple.
The fact that you are limited in what you can out on it means you won't know what you are missing.
Maybe there isn't any applications you want, but that doesn't mean you should have your choices limited.
"Beyond "freedom" "
Should that be enough?
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Re:Jailbreaking is where it's at (Score:4, Funny)
>>>If you haven't jailbroken yours yet, you haven't lived.
I suspect it's only a matter of time until this falls into common slang. "That was my girlfriend Emily." "Wow she's cute. Have you jailbroken her yet?" "No but she promised me on the night of the prom she'd let me."
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I think the term you meant was "jailbaited".
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I jailbroke her with your mother.
Correction... (Score:2, Informative)
It amazes me how often the details in these stories are completely wrong...
"You'll also find the popular Google Voice application, which was recently rejected by Apple."
You won't find the Google Voice app which was recently rejected ANYWHERE in Cydia. Do you honestly think Google, who are practically partners on the iPhone considering the Apple/Google relationship as well as the phone coming with Google Maps and Youtube baked in, would turn to releasing software in Cydia?
What you WILL find in Cydia is the
Isn't it ironic... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Please, MS and Sony have done far more then Apple.
Actually, the DMCA has done for more then any of those companies.
I am not excusing Apples behaviour here, just pointing out that Apple is the least offender out there.
Re:Isn't it ironic...--OH, I DON'T KNOW... (Score:2)
Very insightful, and I'd Mod you to +6 if I could. However, I make the case that Amazon.com is currently duking it out with Apple over the top position in the 1984 mentality race of late.
Then again, if Amazon deleted 1984 off of the Kindle reader software on your iPhone then it all comes together and I can see the Big Picture now.
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Very insightful, and I'd Mod you to +6 if I could. However, I make the case that Amazon.com is currently duking it out with Apple over the top position in the 1984 mentality race of late. Then again, if Amazon deleted 1984 off of the Kindle reader software on your iPhone then it all comes together and I can see the Big Picture now.
Damn... and I thought we'd always been at war with Amazon.
I like the idea with reservations (Score:5, Informative)
I like the idea of free choice when it comes to what I run on my phone. And I'm in serious need of adblock on the phone (c'mon apple, the 3G pipe is small, I don't want to waste time downloading that crap). But the thing that keeps me from jailbraking my phone is:
1) primarily it's a phone and it's got to be reliable. I'm not going to do anything to reduce the already marginal reliability of the cell network.
2) Once jailbroken it's a constant game of cat and mouse when it comes to updates. I don't want to have to research every system patch and update to see when it's ok to use it and how. This goes back to point 1, it's an appliance for me, with extra functionality I can strap on. It's not a cutting edge geeky plaything because that would hose up the core functionality that I need (the phone part)
So in this regard, I look at android and think that the grass is a bit greener over there. But there's a lot of reasons to stay with the iPhone if you aren't butthurt over someone else telling you what you can do with the shiny.
Sheldon
Re:I like the idea with reservations-AT&T PROP (Score:2)
Congratulations, you just won the prize for buying into AT&T's Propaganda Campaign against jailbreaking your phone.
Oh, pleeeese don't do that! You'll break the network if you do that!
The number of contradictions in AT&T's public position on this (no Sling media, but yes MLB streaming; no VOIP here, but yes on other AT&T phones...) are too numerous to enumerate here, so I'll put it in simple terms: I
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From and end user perspective 3G (at least here in the midwest) seems slow compared to home. Using some speedtest app, it appears that the 3G network has big latencies, not as bad as edge was, but still was laggy compared to cable modem and wifi. Plus there's the lower processing power of the phone. It all combines to make page loading feel slower and more studdery. Anything I can do to limit the extra crap loading (via adblock) is a good thing (tm) in my option.
License agreements on hardware don't make sense (Score:2)
People who own a physical piece of equipment should be able to use their equipment in any way that doesn't break the law or hurt others.
Some protections of the manufacturer are understandable, but they must be within reason. The more unreasonable the restrictions, the less legitimate they seem in the eyes o
Google Voice not on Cydia (Score:5, Informative)
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Sorry, but how does it not integrate well? I just installed GV mobile last night and when I go to the keypad and hit the contacts button I see only my iPhone contact list...I can dial just like I do with phone.app
If anything the seamless integration of the iPhone contact list is the thing that GV mobile does best...
Wrong mod. (Score:3, Insightful)
Viceroy:" Is this...legal? " (Score:2)
I have a simple question... (Score:5, Interesting)
...how hard is a jailbroken device to maintain over time? I understand the initial process is fairly simple, but with most hacks maintenance and keeping it hacked can be difficult (witness hackintoshes when OS updates come out, Tivos when the kernel is updated, etc). Can anyone comment on how hard it would be for an "average user" to not only set this up, but keep it running over time?
Re:I have a simple question... (Score:4, Informative)
Maybe not the simplest or quickest solution, but this has worked pretty well for me. I find the actual update installation and jailbreak to be the most time consuming steps.
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If you install a lot of non-Apple stuff you have to know how to use ssh/scp/rsync if you want to keep all your non-Apple-application data over upgrades. I usually make a rsync backup of my phone before I upgrade so that I can rsync stuff back afterwards. Keeping your packages is reatively easy, just list the ones you installed before upgrading (dbkg -l) and use apt-get to re-install them after upgrading. With the latest Cydia incarnation you have to use Cydia's GUI app to install apt-get after you upgrade.
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http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/05/03/fruit-allergy060503.html [www.cbc.ca]
Re:all hail... (Score:5, Funny)
"Apple - Think Less"
On the other hand if you peruse an actual list of 'real' Apple slogans [wikipedia.org], some of them work without any changes.
"Apple - What kind of man owns his own computer?"
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Actually, the funny thing is that jailbreaking and an underground app store almost makes me WANT to buy one. Too bad Apple will shut them down.
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but I'm glad that someone is challenging them in this way. If you're going to have a device that is touted as one of the most powerful and useful, don't stifle the development community by rejecting the better applications they send your way.
And in the meantime, iFart Mobile rakes in thousands per day. :/
Re:Pros and Cons (Score:5, Insightful)
Although you can't really blame Apple for denying Google Voice and similar apps
You can't really blame Comcast for denying access to hulu.com or tnt.com or scifi.com.....
Just something to think about - the motives for these denials are clear.
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You can't really blame Comcast for denying access to hulu.com or tnt.com or scifi.com.....
Just something to think about - the motives for these denials are clear.
Except that I am on comcast and I can get to all three of those sites.
Re:Pros and Cons (Score:5, Funny)
You can't really blame Comcast for denying access to hulu.com or tnt.com or scifi.com.....
Don't you mean Siffy? Err, SyFy?
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The motive for denying google voice is the deal with AT&T. There will almost certainly be a clause in their contract that forces Apple's hand on this (or whatever smartphone manufacturer they make a deal with) - this is a mobile phone company we're talking about here. If your grandma died while on the phone calling for help and left it off the hook having accidentally dialed the Australian speaking clock in the death throes, they would still chase you to the ends of the earth for payment of the bill.
App
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Although you can't really blame Apple for denying Google Voice and similar apps
You can't really blame Comcast for denying access to hulu.com or tnt.com or scifi.com.....
Hmm. Let's test this. "I blame Comcast for denying access to hulu.com, tnt.com and scifi.com". Myth busted.
"I blame Apple for..." Excuse me, some guys in a black helicopter just landed in my back garden. Excuse me while I go and see what they want.
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You don't want a basic level of care available to you? Are you invincible?
Re:Jobs doesn't understand history . . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple did open their platform to clones. It very nearly killed them completely. Apple are a hardware company.
Apple is making an *enormous* amount of money with their hardware and software in its current configuration, and I believe is very high up the charts on total number of machines shipped. They are very clearly not dying. In fact, their marketshare in terms of computers and phones, and portable music players is going up, year on year.
A hackable iPod/iPhone is a niche market. The slashdot audience really isn't the primary target audience. If you want a hackable smartphone, there's Android. If you just want a flashy smartphone with the internet, street cred, a camera, games, and tons of apps of varying usefulness (from things that make your phone into a flashlight and make silly noises, right up to high quality games, task manager apps and sat nav) then the iPhone is for you.
Not that I'm saying the Android lacks street cred, but the iPhone really made smartphones cool. Blackberrys were around, and were pretty popular, but when the iPhone came out - boom. And now we have a huge slew of competitors who are releasing phones that look just like an iPhone. Funny that!
The platform is very transparent up front - ie, you know it is locked to AT&T, you know the app system is tightly controlled by Apple, you know the hardware is tightly controlled. None of this is hidden. If you want a hackable phone, it is yelling at you right out that it's not the purchase for you.
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Apple is making a ton of money, and they have created 'the' music device.
And it is 'open enough' for 99% of it's users. Granted, I suspect it's 'open enough' to those users because they haven't peaked over the wall, so to speak.
In fact, I would say there doing pretty good:
Apple has growth:
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AAPL#chart3:symbol=aapl;range=5y;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined [yahoo.com]
MS has nearly no growth:
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MSFT#char [yahoo.com]
Re:Jobs doesn't understand history . . . . THE ??? (Score:2)
The real question is: Does Apple really want to learn?
It's hard to be 'elitest' and #1 at the same time. In fact, I think that they're mutually exclusive. Evidence over all these years seems conclusive that Steve Jobs has exactly the computer company that he always wanted to have...
...and that this vision means that the rest of us don't matter in relationship to that vision. It's simply take-it-or-leave-it -- you don
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Jobs is worth millions, if not Billions. You post on slashdot. Who made the mistakes here?
Re:Good For Them! (Score:5, Insightful)
It sounds like your beef is with the phone companies - and rightly so.
I think Apple would love to sell you an iPhone that works on any carrier. They would make more money - there is very clearly a market for people who want one but don't want AT&T, just as there is in the UK for people who don;t want to use O2. Unfortunately, they just can't do that right now and are obligated to try to keep you from unlocking it to change networks (even though they know its fruitess since jailbreaking is trivial, they are contractually obliged to try to stop you).
The same process happened with the iTunes store. They didn't want to sell DRM'ed music tracks - customers don't like it, but it was the only way they could do so at first. Now it has changed somewhat and DRM-free music is available for sale, but it's still not Apple's content, so they are selling it based on an agreement with the actual owners.
I'm sure that if the exclusive deal is not renewed with AT&T (or another carrier makes a better offer) that the locking will change. It is an artificial barrier that exists solely to further the business model of AT&T - it's not Apple's decision. The VOIP and tethering is AT&T again (didn;t you hear the very thinly veiled digs at AT&T during the WWDC keynote - it is clear that Apple are not happy with them and don;t mind publicly hinting at it with huge comedy wink-winks).
The consumer pressure is good though - it;s the only serious way to get companies to change things that are not necessarily in their obvious interest (like DRM on music, or tethering, or the dropping of firewire from the cheapest Macbook). Apple reverted that change in response to customer complaints - I expect they are trying to negotiate with AT&T about some of the nasty restrictions on the iPhone.