The guys over at Giz wrote a rather lengthy article explaining why a product once on their “wait” list, and was about to be upgraded to the “buy” list, is now on there “don’t hold your breathe” list after a simple update. The chart below does a pretty good job of spelling it out graphically.
Basically the iPhone was bought by a lot of people because it was a great phone, but there were huge feature gaps, and sales started increasing the more those gaps got filled by the hacking community with a large number sold with the release of a free unlock. Then next thing you know, Apple is dropping firmware 1.1.1 which bricks all hacked and unlocked phones which means if you aren’t in an area where an iPhone carrier resides you are stuck with a useless iPhone until a new unlock is released and it also means that you lose all the functionality you once had on your iPhone.
Sure there are Web 2.0 apps that fill some of the gaps, but not nearly as well as the native apps did, and all that wireless radio use severely drains your battery. Even Bill at Red Ferret thinks its crap and can’t believe that Apple is getting by with this when MS would be asshole deep in lawsuits if they tried anything like this. Personally, I still want an iPhone because I still think there is room for it to be the great device it was meant to be, even after the latest firmware update, but Apple is going to have to either ease up on the restrictions and start allowing third party apps or they are going to have to start filling those voids themselves.
Gizmodo says don’t buy the iPhone – we ask WWBS? [via redferret]
As a hacked (for 3rd party apps, not SIM unlocking) iPhone owner, I’m bummed about the recent turn of event. (I haven’t “upgraded” to 1.1.1 yet). As someone who has owned every smartphone ever made, the iPhone is still leaps and bounds better than the competition (with or without the hacks). So I’m still a happy iPhone owner.
Still, though, I wish Apple would issue a statement explaining why the 3rd party apps are so bad. I completely understand why they don’t want people unlocking the SIM to other carriers and concur with their right (which they are probably contractually obligated to exercise) to block the SIM unlocking.
But why would they not want 3rd party apps available? Can you imagine how quickly Palm would have died if they allowed no addon applications?
I just don’t get it.
Can you post sales figures to back up your claims that iPhone hackers are driving iPhone sales? Honestly, I think you’re giving the whole unlocking thing way too much credit. And the 3rd-party apps were, by and large, pretty crappy. Many of them were buggy, had poor UIs, and limited functionality.
In the end, I think Apple should allow for 3rd-party development – per Apple’s standards. But if what was available from the “homebrew” community was any indication, I don’t blame them for wanting to force people into having unhacked phones. The iPhone deserves better.
I agree you’re giving the whole unlocking thing way too much credit. Third party apps are neat/interesting/fun, but the apps that are made by and on the iPhone are and always the best. I would rather use Apple’s version of something anyway. the day that changes is the day I simply move on from using apple. That day will probably never happen. It will be a cold day in hell I run to Nokia for service in any way. What a joke.
Correct, the general recommendation (other than those from Apple can do wrong fanatics) is to not buy the iphone as it is now… Wait till sometime next year – and see if Apple gets the message. If not, Nokia is looking better and better …
Really? I do not remember Apple promising users that they could hack the phone or that they could use it with other carriers. I am not an Apple fan by any stretch of the imagination but I got an iPhone. It has a clean interfact and great mp3 capabilities. Would I like Apple to allow 3rd party apps on it, sure. Did I know that they said that there would be no 3rd party apps allowed before I bought the phone, yes. So stop whining because your hacking of the iPhone is being stopped by updates. Do you complain when you get updates to you Mac or PC to stop hackers?
[quote comment="10151"]As a hacked (for 3rd party apps, not SIM unlocking) iPhone owner, I’m bummed about the recent turn of event. (I haven’t “upgraded” to 1.1.1 yet). As someone who has owned every smartphone ever made, the iPhone is still leaps and bounds better than the competition (with or without the hacks). So I’m still a happy iPhone owner.[/quote]
I TOTALLY agree and am a casual modder, not unlocker, because Apple forgot some basic things such as IM, screengrab, file suitcase, personalizing (wallpaper, my ringtones, icons and icon order, web links on desktop…), games…not to mention cut and paste (a TOTALLY lame failure, no matter how hard it was to do right). I find that Apple often gets the fit and finish and basics right, but misses nuances that matter. Such as deciding to shuffle a playlist or album on an iPod without diving deep in the menus (finally fixed in iPhone). The “hackers” are doing them a favor. BTW, I call them “application developers”. If they did this for a PC or Mac or other computer, that’s what they would be called. It just turns out that Apple forgot (chose not) to invite them to the party this time.
I love the iPhone as it ships, but I love it much more as I’ve made it with these great people’s help. It was easy to do after their hard work. The mods make me happy when I use the phone and make life easier. My iPhone rarely crashes (same frequency as before modding). I’ll take the modders’ updates over Apple’s for now. Which, ultimately, is a loss of power for Apple unless they get even more anal-retentive and sneak a blind update on me (no updates to either iTunes or iPhone).
This 4 year Palm Treo veteran will stick with iPhone. There’s no going back. But, I’m watching the competition. The message is now out and this type of phone is going mainstream. We’ll have options moving forward. Hopefully Apple can play the game and give us the options we want.
This little tid-bit of info is just another example that the sub-blogsphere where everyone seems to get information from is in no way related to any ‘real’ journalism; that is, if any still exists.
When online sites including (reputable?) ones such as Cnet, Reuters and Wired, use terms like ‘Apple Fanboys,’ and ‘Jesus Phone’, when referring to products and consumers, what are they talking about? Is ‘Giz’ or Engaget, for that matter reputable? Now we’re relaying those rants as though they are somewhat relevant to a purchase decision?
It’s obvious that some people’s passions are a bit out of whack. Don’t get me wrong, I like Apple products as much as the next guy, but calling some personally motivated blog rant an ‘article’ just proves that most of the things written online are as note-worthy as a grocery store tabloids.
I mean really, geeks own this sub-blogsphere, they say whatever they want, they even set up web sites that make it seem like they know what they’re talking about. But it’s starting to get pretty pathetic how they’re using the sensationalism soapbox to berate ‘A’ company because they don’t get the products and features that they demand…