Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 13th Feb 2009 20:25 UTC, submitted by Moulinneuf
Apple The iPhone, Apple's current cash cow and best selling cellular phone in the United States, is a completely closed phone in that only applications from the App Store can be installed on the phone. However, by jailbreaking the iPhone you can install applications from whatever source you want, which might be desirable if an application you want isn't allowed into the App Store by Apple. The Cupertino company has never had an official stance on jailbeaking, but this has now changed: according to them, it's a breach of copyright.
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RE: Comment by satan666
by darknexus on Fri 13th Feb 2009 20:55 UTC in reply to "Comment by satan666"
darknexus
Member since:
2008-07-15

I don't own an iPhone (thank God) but let's suppose I do. Why can't I do anything I want with the product that I bought? I didn't steal it, I paid for it. If I want to stick this iPhone up Steve Jobs' arse is that a breach of copyright too?

Well, sticking your iPhone up his arse might actually be filed under assault ;) but who can tell with Apple? Maybe his arse is copyrighted too, and that would be an illegal modification.
Apple doesn't want you to have control, they want to keep control. I'm not sure what they're playing at, history shows us in broad terms what eventually happens to those who squeeze their fist just a bit too hard, and the outcome isn't usually good for the arm controlling that fist when that happens.
I really like the Macintosh, but I'm considering moving away from it, and to Linux full time--sure, some parts of Linux still feel ridiculously dated, but so do some parts of OS X. I can't help but wonder what's next from Apple these days, how long until they decide what software I can use on my Macintosh, for example? You might think I'm being a bit paranoid, and maybe I am, but the fact is they'd probably do that if they could get away with it.
Apple needs to concentrate a bit less on their legal bs, and maybe start improving the iPhone if they don't want it to be hacked. Set permanent guidelines for the app store as to which programs will be allowed, and stick to them. Open the platform up a bit, and they won't need to waste their money in this legal bs and might actually, *gasp*, start to compete on features and technical merit alone. The iPod and iPhone lines are seriously behind their competition in many respects.

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