As we all know by now, the latest software update to the iPhone may in some cases turn it into a useless brick—if you happen to have put hacked software on it or unlocked it (ahem, John) in order to make it work on a non-AT&T carrier (such as T-Mobile, in the U.S.). Apple, of course, is free to try to lock in customers to its partner AT&T and to control what software will work on the phone. That’s just the way the cell phone business works. Right? It’s all about customer lock-in and reducing churn.
But Steve Jobs might be better served here to take his own advice and think different. Because, as he has so elegantly demonstrated with the iPhone, these devices are finally becoming little computers. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that consumers will expect them to act like computers. They will want to modify them to their exact, quirky predilections. They will want to use them any way they want, as a general-purpose device.
That is why PCs took over the world. They could be tuned a million different ways to the needs of a million different customers. You don’t ask Apple permission to download software off the Web for your Mac. And you would never agree to buy a laptop that only worked with only one broadband provider. Why should the iPhone be any different?
The uproar today may be limited to hackers and the digerati. But soon everyone will want the same thing. And if they don’t get it from Apple. They may look somewhere else. Google Phone anyone?
Well written Erick, I totally agree with your view. Like you said we dont expect computers to work with only one broadband service provider so there is no reason for us to buy an iPhone that only works with one service provider. its a valid arguement
Apple is being so stubborn about this. I don’t care about the carrier lock-in as much (although it is crappy), but the software hacks for this thing are awesome. I haven’t “hacked” mine yet but I am certainly interested in some of the things like the nintendo emulator and “GPS”. What is Apple’s problem with people doing this? Stock iPhone is pretty good, I’m very happy with it, but there’s so many extra things you can do with the third party apps.
Erick – you forget one thing – moving is not so easy. It’s like trying to go crosstown on 50th street, you just don’t do it.
the early term fees will keep some in the phone even if they think they want out.
and no matter how cool the gphone will be, you are way more sexy carrying an iphone.
apple always had this problem
ans still consumers like them so
much or maybe they are stupid
enough to buy apple restricted
stuff it’s the same with the ipod
and the same with the mac os
rc
trading tennis blog
Apple has always been a closed platform (in terms of both hardware and software). It’s either Steve’s way or the highway. Locking the phones down is completely consistent with Apple’s philosophy that treats users like an ATM machine.
the masses are initially impressed with the apple iphone’s look, technology, fashion, etc…but they will revolt sooner or later; they don’t want to be locked into only one service provider option – no one does.
google phone will definitely prove to be a very formidable opponent to the iphone – it’ll be only a matter of time before mr jobs starts to sweat
Yeah, I think Apple is one company that has been successful with its brand of closed-system design. People are actually happy to have Apple’s shackles on.
Excellent post and thought. Though if you know anything about the history of Apple you know there isn’t a chance in hell that your idea will ever happen.
Referencing the PC as a case study was your biggest mistake.
http://answers.nobosh.com
If Steve Jobs doesn’t have restrictions of his products, Apple could surpass MS in revenues.
Everyone seems to forget that there’s more to consider here than just Apple. What about AT&T?
I suspect that Apple is contractually obligated to defend their AT&T lock-in for the duration of their exclusivity period.
@ 8.
I think the writer was correct in referencing the PC as his case study. The PC is open to any OS, and Apple is not. So people choose PC over Apple, even though the latter is of quality product.
OK – the morons who reference the PC, and “the PC is open to any OS, and Apple is not”. Hello, I have Windows and Linux running happily on my iMac right now?!?!
Perhaps what Apple did was simply update the iPhone. They have stated they don’t support third party development at this time, however they have not said they won’t do in the future. I can only imagine the junk we’d get, and why should they support that? Perhaps when they get an SDK out the door, they will support it, just like they do with Mac OS X on the desktop. That’s not closed? In fact, neither is the iPhone… connect various third party hardware to it – check; use more websites than any other phone – check; use existing bluetooth devices – check. Sounds open to me!
In fact, didn’t they state they won’t intentionally break third party apps just this week? I think they did.
Listen guys, before commenting, please know what you are talking about. Do you even own an iPhone?
@henry: You are blind, sorry about your condition.
Of course they’ll say they won’t intentionally brick your iPhone. It reduces liability and eases what has become a lot of bad press for Apple. If Apple has some obligation to KEEP these devices locked, they should say so and save a little face. I won’t have an iPhone until I can use it with my provider without worrying about bricking it on the next update.
@thomas: well put
shouldn’t belong before a chinese iphone copy comes out that looks and works exactly the same but costs less and can work on every network
And the #1 reason why Stevie is doing this? Simply because of the resurrection of Newton 2.0
Steve wants to keep the iphone and ipod touch limited in their capabilities and develop certain boundaries with what you can and can’t do.
Once they come out with a iNewton (pda and ipod in one package) you will be able to install 3rd party apps and do what you want with it…
It would suck if he came out with the iNewton, charged ppl $499 / $699 for it and no one bought it because their iPhone had all the features already…
what do ya’ll think? am i smokin something or onto something?
It’s just another walled garden – there’s nothing wrong with those. But the hackers and digerati want it to be something that it isn’t – an open source platform.
Gee, I wonder why Apple would want to preserve the appearance of unbreakable carrier exclusivity while in the middle of negotiations with European carriers.
I would bet the ranch that this has as much to do with AT&T as it does with Apple. The carriers/telcos are scared stiff that they will get shafted like they did when they got stuck connecting copper wires to peoples houses while companies like Yahoo, AOL, and Google made a mint pushing data over those wires.
A snazzy multi-touch piece of hardware, WiFi, and Skype are the trifecta for the consumer, but a nightmare for the carriers. They will beg, cheat, lie and brick peoples iPhones in order to keep them selves in the middle of each and every transaction that happens on the mobile web. Google and other Internet giants understand this, which is what is motivating them to jump into the spectrum auction. Everyone thinks its about open hardware standards… it’s not.. It’s all about VoIP, the music you buy, how you pay for it and the carriers getting their cut. Look at the new offering that “graciously” allow customers to use VoIP clients on their T-Mobile phones if you buy their “special” WiFi router and pay an additional fee.
My palms sweat, my heart pumps and I get major techno-lust when I see my friends iPhones, but I won’t make the jump until I see a nice official Skype icon on the home screen
Great story and well written.
I can’t work out that if it is legal to unlock phones why can’t people do it? In Austrlai it’s legal so does that mean when/if this thing comes out here, the 100 or so that are sold can’t be unlocked?
Lots od weird things things Apple does – fixes prices, tries to stop people returning faulty goods to retail stores (I remember some big dept stores having signs saying that you could not return you faulty ipod that you bought from them back – you had to deal with Apple directly, thats rubbish and as far as I know against law), and this iphone thingy.
I don’t know how they get away with it.
I don’t know why the US is so stuck up on the iPhone, because it is so 1st generation when Japan and Korea are already into the 3rd generation models of the iPhone. Now if a more enterprising phone company would make service available for these phone from Asia, the iPhone would already be dead before it was brought to the US market.
Every tourist in America is laughing at us for using this piece of crap.
I personally would have purchased at least 3 iphones (one for myself and two for my family plan members) if we could use this damn thing on t-mobile.
Nokia isn’t locking their phones to one provider, why is Apple doing it is beyond me.
It is sad to see what is happening to Apple during the last two years.
Apple’s problem as many have said, is they are control freaks. Sometimes that is good, but this time its bad:
http://smoothsp...es-for-success/
If this was just about honoring an agreement with AT&T, Apple should have only made the iPhone available via AT&T where they could ensure the contract was with AT&T. But the phones are available from more places than that. I find that just a little bit disengenuous to offer it without the carrier contract and then to render the phone junk if you have the temerity to take advantage of it.
Sincerely,
BW
Adding to my last comment: as soon as good DJing software that can match Ableton Live becomes available on Linux, I am switching from Mac to Ubuntu.
The irony here is that Steve got his start in technology hacking telephone company switches and selling ‘blue boxes’…
All people in Japan and Korea care about with regards to phones is if it looks cool. Their user interfaces suck horribly. You can buy unlocked Asian phones from ebay pretty easily. Very few people bother because their interfaces are so bad.
The iPhone is popular not because it has unique features that other phones don’t. Pretty much everything the iPhone does could already be done by existing phones as soon as it was announced. The iPhone is popular because of the user interface. It’s pretty obvious which people posting here will never grasp this fact.
Why did the iPod trounce all those cheap Asian knock-offs? The Asian versions had many more features built in and were cheaper. But their interfaces were atrocious.
Finally, this page is full of spoiled whiny brats. Don’t mess with firmware if you’re too dumb to realize it could screw your device. How many people posting messages even know what firmware is and why they shouldn’t screw with it unless they’re willing to risk bricking their device?
“It is sad to see what is happening to Apple during the last two years.”
Yeah… a 200% gain in the stock price. What a mess…
You don’t get it – if the rumors about their deal is true, it’s essentially Apple’s network piggybacking on AT&T. If the rumors are true, Apple owns the customers and splits the monthly service charges with AT&T. It would not be surprising if the new $399 price point was a loss-leader to secure market share and that future profits are projected on a customerbase. If this is the iPhone business model, then Apple has to protect their ground or risk losing significant money.
Imagine if the Sony PS3 were hacked to be Halo compatible and only play Xbox games. Sony loses several hundred dollars per sale on the PS3 and expects to make it up in game sales.
Point being, if this is Apple’s iPhone business model the iPhone wont be around for long.
I don’t fault Apple for blocking the hacks. Blocking installed software, that’s another story…
@JABevan If the iPhone is sold at a loss, how do you explain the pricing for the iPod Touch? The “phone” part can’t add much to the cost (since you can get a generic one for peanuts.) With the iPods, not so many people buy songs from iTunes, the profit on the songs is small, and there is no lock-in.
I agree about the need for consumer freedom & unlocked hardware.
Of course, with the new FCC rules, this will be a non-issue when the new rules take effect, and such device locking becomes illegal. (as it should have been for YEARS now)
I love Apple but I hate ATT far more than I love Apple. We will not own iPhones while ATT is the only choice as a service provider. Steve you are compounding your mistakes and creating a lot of bad will with these moves.
Why are we discussing that we want the iPhone to be legally unlocked? Look around!, most all carriers in the US do not sell or approve of unlocked phones being used on their network. Why would the big 4 act any different in regards to the iPhone? Sure in future years you will see iPhones for each of the carriers but just like all other phones they will be branded to be used only by a specific carrier. That is just the American Cellular Business Model, yes the cell companies are crooks, but that is just the way it is. Wishing for support for unlocked phones is ludicrous.
When you buy an iPhone, your really buying a great software interface experience, and possibly a fashion item. The hardware specs on the device itself are lame with the exception of the touch screen.
People often forget that Apple is a public company interested in making money. They are not an open source software company and cannot evolve their products to exactly what everyone wants unless it fits their business model. They are accountable to investors and If they invested $$ into setting up ring-tones purchases and predicted $$$$ to their investors for earnings, they are not to fond of the idea of you making them yourself.
Besides having control over your products isn’t always a bad thing. Look at what happened with Facebook.
The problem is that jobs is a control freak and very very Arrogant. The solution is don’t buy his stuff and let him know why.
WHY? Beacuse when we spend out money to buy something it’s our to do with as we want. PERIOD.
Hopefully, much of the threat of bricking cracked iPhones comes out of Apple’s need to show compliance with their contractual obligations to AT&T. The folks in Cupertino realized pretty quickly that the hardware was simply too expensive and would not generate enough sales to reach their initial lofty goals. It is also safe to assume that internally, they have to be pretty happy that a few additional hundred thousand units have been sold over the past couple of weeks to people that had zero intentions of breaking their service contracts with non-AT&T providers.
Now that cracking the iPhone has become a reality, it’s also pretty obvious that Apple can’t stop future hacks. The hardware has been compromised, so it’s also pretty obvious that current production models will always be able to be unlocked, no matter how many firmware upgrades are released. After all, there is absolutely no way Apple can force a cracked iPhone owner to update their firmware.
Here is my 2 cents on this.
For better or for worse (probably worse), the mobile industry has a different value chain than the PC industry. Service providers still have a major say in what consumers can or cannot use. Steve Job is just playing the game of the industry, which, ironically, is not too far from the Mac/iTunes/iPod model.
I am sure that these exclusive deals are very lucrative for Apple. So, from a business angle, I think Steve Job is doing a great job at immersing his company in this new industry.
From a consumer angle…. well… for now, I will pass on the flying pixel phone, and stick with boring but more open devices.
I wonder how they’ll make their approach here in Asia come 2008.
Erick, that is the first reasonable and yet simple explanation I’ve heard for hoping Apple would be more open to third-party applications and modifications for their iPhone/Touch.
I keep shaking my head at these ridiculous complaints that Apple is horrible or turning into Microsoft for “intentionally” bricking their devices and constantly messing up with their consumers. I understand the resentment but I don’t agree with it. I have an iPod Touch and I didn’t buy it expecting more than what it was. I understood it’s “limitations” (I put it in quotes because I’m damn happy with it. But of course it could always be a little better, why not.). But I think it’s silly to essentially hack your device and then bitch about it when it’s not supported. Of course it’s not supported.
However, I think your explanation for why Apple might want to reconsider this game plan of locking their devices is a valid one. These devices ARE mini-computers and people WILL want to customize them. I think people will be eating their words on these issues in the years to come. At least that’s my hope.
I enjoyed the article and think you make great points.
I believe Apple’s largest successes and greatest pitfalls come from this very issue of whether to open up or due to maintaining a closed system. They’ve gotten back into the more mainstream computer market in large part by opening up their computing platform by building it upon a flavor of unix. They’ve also began using the pentium chip so that more software would work easily on their systems.
In short, I think the best decision is to open it up and build a larger community rather than close it off to only those that enjoy the shackles.
I agree your argument. iPhone that only works with one service provider can’t be taken for consideration!
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Sorry to say, As much as I respect Steeve as an entrepreneur. Iphone is not Ipod or computer. Definitely, mass penetration than any computer or any music player.
Apple is just becoming a pain name through Iphone. Is it beginning of the end of apple computers. May be apple will be a succesful phone company. But will never get the love from their beloved users.
I will short apple in the long. Any want to sell me some options on AAPl.
Vijay actually has a point. What gives apple its status and causes people to buy it is the way it creates follower, not just customers. And because these followers so love the cult of apple, they’re willing to pay more for sometimes not much more than a shiny case. If they lose that, they’ll lose a lot over the long run.
I wonder what Apple will do in Belgium as locking mobile phones is forbidden by law. The act of locking a phone is not a crime, but the fact that a product is tied to only one carrier is not allowed here. So every phone you buy in Belgium is unlocked. Maybe our unlocked iPhones will be our new export product or will Apple change their global strategy only because of Belgium?
Why is it that everyone has seemed to forget about AT&T when it comes to the iPhone? All Apple is trying to do is protect itself… you really think that Steve has a problem with more people buying the iPhone and unlocking it… i doubt it.
Instead of blaming Apple, why don’t you look at it from all angles. You have NO idea what is in the contract between both companies… AT&T didn’t agree to sell the iPhone to only end up having people be able to unlock it and go to a new carrier.
Why does everyone believe that having an open platform is a better consumer experience? I mean you must be kidding if you think the PC experience vs. MAC experience is actually a better experience. Ask any Vista user, how they are enjoying their wonderful open platform filled with conflicts, driver nightmares and incompatibility bugs.
I mean sure the open platform results in more choices, more providers and lower prices, but inherent in that platform is complexity. The software to operate on the platform is harder to build, more complex and littered with bugs.
I am happy to have a closed platform if the experience is actually better. And it is in my opinion on both the iphone and Apple Mac platform. So, go ahead and keep it closed, that works for me just fine, if I continue to be thrilled with the products and experience.
I agree entirely with this post. Here in Asia, where the iphone has yet to be officialy launched, there are a LOT of people purchasing iphones and using them as glorified ipod touches for the longest time. That is, until the hacks came in, and then people started using the iphones here as phones. But if apple will “brick” it in the future, it will only alienate these early adopters who are often the most die-hard apple fans. Losing this segment of the Asian market simply due to exclusivity deals with an american telco will have severe repercussions I think, and it not necessarily a move Apple will want to make.
Personal disclosure: I am from the Philippines and I didn’t get an iphone yet, though i am sorely tempted.
I agree completely. I didn’t buy the iPhone cuz I wanted a new “phone”. I wanted a new gadget that I can change around however I want. Boo to Apple.
Karim Baz
BikerDan is on the right track. The cellular market in the US is much different from any other country. The US cell companies have/had to pay a boat load of $$$ for their spectrum space.. then they have to sign a contract with a cell manufacturer (all of them in foreign lands – Asia, Europe) to develop and deliver the end device/gadget/phone to the US… after all that back and forth, testing, and operational expense overhead, the new device/gadget is finally released to the public. Then, the end user suffers because – it’s a unique gadget, offered through one mobile telco, in the US. The taxes and services are over the top ($) because the business model doesn’t work.
The US is so behind in the mobile space compared to every other nation. This may change and I’d like to see a US product override this whole spectrum allocation situation. Give me a lean, well designed WiMAX/mesh networked device.
In closing, I’d like to see the air waves in the US become FREE… I guess Steve Jobs needs to start talking to the FCC. (as if he isn’t already!)… Not that we need Jobs to stand up for a new infrastructure… It should be a citizen movement…
None of the above comments/opinions reflect the opinions of Apple, mobile cos, or cell phone manufacturers… It’s just one US citizen’s opinion. I hope the first amendment still stands! Godspeed..
The ONLY reason why Apple has been able to deal with Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, O2, Deutsche Telelcom, and Orange is that Apple LOCKS the iPhone to the carrier’s network. That is THE factor that makes Apple powerful and enabled Apple to obtain monthly usage revenue streams from the carrier.
Until Apple came along, ALL handset makers had to cripple their phones by removing features or capabilities that the carrier did NOT want on the handset.
Ringtones anyone? Carriers can charge $2.50 to $3.00 for a ringtone of THEIR size choice and THEIR song segment choice because THEY want the ringtone revenue and control the network services.
Apple broke the carriers’ monopoly with its approach.
Users now have more choice, more capability in their hands, and a more pleasant experience because of Apple. Users do NOT get to choose the carrier. “That’s life in technology.”