2008 Woodie Awards
iPhone hacking a waste of minutes, hardly any benefits
Unlocked phone as warranty will be voided, as new phone adapts
Mark Freeman
Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: Opinion
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A pity his feat is mostly worthless. The iPhone, for those who've been living under a rock, is Apple's first step into the cellular world. It features a fancy touch screen and an even fancier price of $599 for an eight-gigabyte phone. While the phone may be brilliant, its carrier is not, as AT&T has received complaints about shoddy reception and 300-page bills.
Enter Hotz, who decided to spend his summer before college on normal teenage ambitions like hacking expensive pieces of hardware. While Hotz's "accomplishment" certainly required skill, as it took him over 500 hours to free the phone from AT&T's clutches, the newly unlocked iPhone faces a host of problems.
The hacked iPhone is only compatible with T-Mobile, which has the smallest native network in the U.S.
That means people using Verizon and Sprint, most of whom probably wouldn't mind owning an iPhone, still won't be able to get one because they'd have to switch networks.
Did I mention that T-Mobile users get terrible reception at Saint Mary's? The liberated iPhone will allow people traveling overseas to use different networks, but I wonder why anyone would bother taking the trouble unlocking the phone when they can just use a phone with an international calling plan. Do you really need to show off your iPhone during that week-long trip to Europe? Better hope your hacked phone doesn't get confiscated by airport security.
Then there's the problem of getting your iPhone hacked to begin with. While the process is technically legal, it's not easy. You could follow the instructions on Hotz's blog, but unless you're an engineering or computer science major you'll be lost within a few minutes.
The second and easier way would be to download a software hack that would take over the iPhone like a virus and do all the tough unlocking for you.
But AT&T has already begun mobilizing its army of lawyers against people selling the software hack. Legal representatives of the company have already contacted websites like uniquephones.com, which claims to possess such unlocking software, and offering "friendly advice," lawyer lingo for "we're about to sue you out of your house if you sell this hack." So don't expect millions of iPhone users to escape from AT&T just yet.
Even if hacked iPhones do reach the public, Apple wins either way. Most likely, if you get your iPhone unlocked, you'll void the warranty, so don't expect any help from Apple's tech support if something goes wrong. If that happens, you'll have no choice but to buy a brand new iPhone.
I think I can hear Steve Jobs chuckling now.