Here is my perspective as an iPhone owner. I'm not too familiar with the details of the unlocking process but as far as I can tell if you have third party apps running on your phone the phone will need to be re-activated after installing the update (as I thinkthe phone gets wiped in the process). It makes sense to me that since unlocking modified some internal state of the phone the re-activation might break. I don't think it's apple's job to resolve bugs baused by third party hackers. I'm not even sure this disabling is intentional.

The same thing applies to third party apps. Why should Apple go to the trouble to make sure the upgrade doesn't break third party apps? If you're brave enough to hack your phone you have to take certain risks. If you decide to unlock the phone then don't upgrade until someone figures out how to work around this.

And for all the complaining of locked phones, Apple had to make some deals with AT&T for the phone to work the way it does. AT&T had to upgrade it's EDGE network, it had to build support for visual voicemails and allow for users to activate their iPhones (and sign up for service using iTunes). I can only imagine all of these changes required a lot of money to implement and as such it doesn't sound unreasonable to ask for an exclusivity deal in return. If you want a phone that work internationally go buy a Blackberry (the blackberry is a much better phone in my opinion, the only thing the iPhone does much better, and the deciding factor for me, was the web browser).

"If a company tried this in any other industry, people would howl to the heavens. Imagine the outrage if Apple or Microsoft sold desktop PCs that allowed you to connect to the Internet only through Comcast -- and then, if you tried to use Earthlink instead, the company would shut down your machine. Or what if Ford allowed you to drive your new Explorer only to Wal-Mart to buy your groceries; if you went instead to Whole Foods, a company official would come by and slash your tires."

Someone bulds a car that drives itself. Not only that, but it has an Ethernet port with broadband speeds. So whenever I drive to work in the morning, I can spend that half hour getting things done instead of zoning out in traffic (around 260 extra hours a year). Sounds like a worthwhile investment, yeah? Two catches though. You can only get your gas from your dealership, and your mobile broadband is from them too. If you try to get gas from a regular gas station, then your car will work but you can't take it in for maintenance anymore.

Here's the deal: I'd buy it anyway. The value it provides (saving time) far outweighs the restrictions. The iPhone has saved me a big chunk of time already. I was stuck in a traffic jam just yesterday, and the maps enabled me to navigate the back roads and get to a different highway. That probably saved me two hours. If my time is worth $100/hr (I'd pay $100 to live an extra hour) then the phone half paid for itself in one night. It saves time in other ways with pocket internet and pocket email. So if you don't like the restrictions, then there's a solution: don't buy it. :)

- Posted using an iPhone.

Exactly. The whole cell phone industry abuses its customers like this, and what Apple is doing (with prodding from AT&T, most assuredly) is bad, but it's no different than what you'd get with a lot of other cell phones.

The author should have said that if you care about your rights, you shouldn't buy a cell phone--but that if you need one, and you want the best smartphone, you should get an iPhone. You get screwed on "rights", but at least you don't get screwed on usability too.

"The whole cell phone industry abuses its customers like this"

fwiw, I think it may be less only where a phone is bundled with a network. In India (where I live) you get the phone from a cell phone vendor and the SIM card from a network. You plug the SIM card int your phone and you have a working phone. Some networks have tried to sell phones that work with only a particular network but most people buy phones that works with any network and many people routinely switch networks when someone comes out with a cheaper plan. There are even phones that allow two SIM cards to be plugged in at the same time, allowing you to switch networks at the press of a button.

Cell Phone vendors compete to bring out more attractive phones and the networks compete to bring out better plans. The customer wins.

I pay about 20 $ monthly for a fantastic plan and have no complaints. I can change my phone or network independently.

>So if you don't like the restrictions, then there's a solution: don't buy it. :)

I won't.

I can understand Apple not wanting people to unlock it, but I can't understand the hostility toward third-party applications. It seems like more people developing for their platform can only benefit Apple.

the iPhone hardly saves me any time (gps is built into my car already) google maps isn't unique to the iPhone anyway. Actually you probably waste more time since it is not 3g. I have an iPhone and I enjoy being able to carry one less thing around, but when I am overseas its just annoying to not have it be unlockable (which as far as I know is a unique "feature" to the iPhone as every other phone - whether released under an exclusive contract or not - is unlockable)

I agree. But why would you post that using an iPhone? :)

Didn't have access to a computer, of course :P