Apple Sticks to Their Guns on iPhone Bricking Issue
For those of you that haven't heard about this one... Apple has built their firmware update for their very popular iPhone so that it checks to see if it has been unlocked or has had unauthorized software loaded. If this is found to be the case, the device is "bricked" which renders it unusable. If this happens, then your iPhone is dead and they will not cover it under warranty. This has obviously created quite a stir in the world of advanced iPhone users. Information Week writer Alexander Wolfe contacted Apple to confirm that they are still sticking with this position, and had this to say...
"I queried Apple's designated iPhone spokeswoman, Jennifer Bowcock, and asked whether the company's position had evolved since she was quoted in The New York Times over the weekend. ('If the damage was due to use of an unauthorized software application, voiding their warranty, they should purchase a new iPhone.')"
Further complicating this issue, AT&T Wireless, the sole carrier that works with the iPhone has washed its hands of the issue and will not even let you purchase insurance through their mobile phone replacement program for the iPhone. I'm not sure what legal issues are involved here, but there may be some cause for action. If you buy a "computer", which the iPhone certainly is, and you want to write you own software to run on it, it would seem that you should be able to do so without fear of the manufacturer intentionally breaking the device because you did it. I can see them taking the position that they won't repair problems that such an application caused, but software has historically been just that... soft. If you load a "bad" program on your laptop and it causes a problem, in most cases you can always go back and restore the laptop to its factory software load and correct the problem. Imagine if you had to have Microsoft or Apple validate any software before you could run it on your laptop. And further imagine that if you went to load an operating system patch (something that is a near daily event with Windows), and the loader would render your laptop permanently unusable if it found that you had loaded unauthorized software. How would you feel about that?
I think we should all be concerned... especially the PDAPhoneHome core audience. Much of the discussion in our forums is centered around "getting the most" from your PDAPhones. But in order for all these cool applications and work arounds to be developed, someone has to go through the process of developing them. If Apple is successful at what they are attempting to do here, it might give other PDAPhone makers like HTC and Palm reason to take a similar position. This could challenge the very reason you buy a PDAPhone... in order to run lots of software on it. Whether you like the iPhone or not, I think we all need to keep an eye on this one, because this could have a huge impact on the PDAPhone market. Jobs, with the iPhone, has successfully brought PDAPhones to the mainstream this year, and could also kill one of the major reasons we buy them at the same time.
If they can get away with that I can definately see others following suit. Carriers bricking your phone for running anything you dont download and purchase through their Get It Now (or equivalent sites). Say goodbye to pdanet, slingbox, TCMP, third party GPS software, etc.
Just another in a long line of reasons to hate Apple.
im sorry but i cant see this becoming the status quo. its not Palm or HTC who would be in the position to make this happen -- its microsoft. and despite what people say about microsoft, they are the more open company. instead of limiting you to a possibility of some xml applications for your 'revolutionary' pda phone, microsoft designed an operating system to so closely mimic your computer that it is easy to port and easy to write applications for it. thats the strength of windows mobile (because it sure isnt the stability) and that will be its selling point for the foreseeable future.
apple is an arrogant company: you have to use their software on their hardware when they tell you to. you cant just go pick up a piece of hardware and get it to work on the mac, it has to be specifically compatible (im not talking about usb stuff), you cant load the mac os on a machine that is not sold by apple, and now the iPhone debacle.
I would disagree with you on this one... Microsoft has no ability to control the warranty of the devices, and that's what we are talking about. Unlike Apple, who owns the software and the hardware, Microsoft only owns the software. You say that Apple is arrogant... well Microsoft has a sweet deal here, so they can't lose. Regardless of how poor their software is, it really doesn't cost them anything to support it. If the device gets hosed up, its HTC that ultimately has to replace it under warranty, not Microsoft. The issue is that Apple won't warranty bricked machines, which most other makers have always done. Worse, in this case they are intentionally bricking the machines when you go to do a software update... and that part is probably going to end up in a law suite because there has to be something illegal in that I would think. Its one thing to check the machine and tell the customer that they won't repair a problem because its got unauthorized stuff on it... its quite another to permanently break it and then not cover it.
HTC could very well ask Microsoft to add this feature to their devices. There are whole sites that are dedicated to breaking HTC devices and figuring out how to run non-standard ROMs on them. This would all go away for the most part if they went to this approach, because you'd never be able to update your device. And Palm could certainly do it with out anyone but themselves being involved.
Its certainly going to limit what can be done on an iPhone, but it may also contribute to a more reliable software stack.
convergent, thats a good point, but we should also take a look at what apple designed the phone to do. i dont think it was ever in their plans to make a device that people could build on, but instead just a flashy ipod/phone with a touch screen and web browser. HTC would realize that if they did anything like this, not only would they get the bad publicity apple is getting now, but they would also lose all those cutting edge customers who buy the device just to tinker with it.
however on the grounds of legality, i bet that its in the EULA that apple is not responsible for third party software messing your phone up, whether it does it immediately or in conjunction with supported updates. they might reverse their decision only because of bad publicity, but i dont know.
Well if you think about how many, many devices there are out there that you can load stuff on, hack, etc. I think that probably there are very few that don't have some statement in their terms of service that say that it would void the warranty, or at least be unsupported, if you load unauthorized software onto it. But, I have never ever heard of a company building into a software update a check, that would brick the device if you did it. Most of them will just tell you when you come to get support that the warranty is voided. It would be the same as a hardware maker replacing that little sticker over the case screws that says "if you open it, it will void the warranty", with a tiny internal charge that would fry the components up you touched the screws.... Mission Impossible style. No company has ever done something like this, and I think that there could be legal implications. They are breaking something that wasn't already broken. Even if they caused it to warn you, and even prevent the device from working until you corrected the problem... that would be annoying, but wouldn't cost you several hundred dollars. My understanding is that you unknowingly load the update, and then it just finds the stuff and bricks the device on you without any opportunity to fix it.
are you genuinely afraid that other companies will follow this example? or do you think if apple wins a court battle over this situation then the market will migrate towards this ultimate control over its products?
i dont want to make it seem like i support this position or am not outraged, i think apple is disgusting for doing this, but i, personally, dont see any long term detrimental effects for the PDAPhone market, or gadgets in general. after all, you paid to purchase it, not rent it, so you should be able to do whatever you want with it. thats just not the mentality of apple.
EDIT: and yes i agree that this a lot different from not honoring the warranty, and that they will most likely get sued and deserve to.
Last edited by mrsyeltzin : 10-04-2007 at 12:57 PM.
I'm not laying awake at night worrying about it if that's what you mean, but I am concerned. A lot of things happen from precedence. Whether they do anything about it or not, I don't believe that HTC likes to see their devices having untested ROMs loaded on them all over the place. This adds tremendously to the "cost" of supporting these devices. The carriers are certainly interested in the support costs. If Apple gets away with this and can legally establish it as an "ok" way of doing business, then I believe other companies will be looking at it. Apple, more than anyone, has a chance of doing it and getting away with it. The reason is that they have a big enough brand that probably can take a number of public relations blows like this in a niche space, and not really be strategically effected by it. Other companies like Palm and HTC might not be able to take that risk, but if its already established by someone else... and the carriers start getting juiced up at the idea that their support costs might go down... who knows?
Apple has always been a "NIH" company. If they COULD have closed the MAC so it could only run apple software they would have. But nobody would buy it then.
I mean, come ON people. They STILL DON"T MAKE it so you can change the battery in the Ipods!
i work for att. there's always been a way to insure your pda phones. better than the coverage any cell phone company would cover. att, sprint, verizon. for instance state farm would cover a pda phone for $30 a yr, and no deductable and you get the full value of the phone. so you never get a "refurbished" phone that clearly is not refurbished. i actually had this cust who told me that she had the s/n or imei of her first phone written down. and the third phone replacement she recieved was the first phone she replaced. in any case, thats a tip for you people complaining about insurance w/ pda phones.
secondly. I have never been an apple fan. essentially apple has its perks... great w/ editing vids and such. but c'mon... apple used to be some cool open source group who was just like lynux. but then they lost money and so they started proprietoring their stuff. so if you go to an apple store the cheapest programs they have was like 399... or averaging out to $500 a program. you can't blame a company to try and make money.
w/ bricking phones... there is always a loophole, and apple will find it.
but then this is technology... just as psp hackers found a way to unbrick a psp... (program called pandora's battery) the "L337" will find a way to unbrick and prevent updates w/ iphones. all you need is a backup phone and time if this actually happens to you. and seriously... it only took 50hrs for a 17 year old to hack the iphone's subsidy lock. how long would it take an elite?
so don't sweat it... and when in doubt... the new tilt or the touch is the other way to go. and verizon is releasing LG's (who actually first came up w/ iphone's touch screen technology, or so I've heard.) voyager and venus.
Last edited by knewBee4lyfe : 10-08-2007 at 06:06 AM.
I used to be an Amiga fan. Amiga's were great, the best out there, but the way Commode-or would treat the customers was unbelievable. Pure crap. Apple has garnered that segment of the market. People who want cool stuff and don't mind being treated shabbily.
I was wondering if the iPhone was going to be the next Segway, and it looks like Jobs is doing his level best to make that happen. Bricking a phone? That's gotta be illegal. The phone was purchased, not leased. Apple needs to pay a ball-busting punitive lawsuit as a warning to other would-be fascists.
And Jobs needs to spend a week listening to Yoko-Ono records.
Interestingly, my iPhone had "unauthorized" software on it (two apps - iPhoneringtonemaker ringtones and AppTapp Installer) yet the 1.1.1 update did not brick it. It simply restored the iPhone to a "factory" state. I have a feeling that the subsidy unlock is a much greater issue for Apple/AT&T than the applications, but it may also be the much harder one to control, as noted by a previous poster with the reference to the 17-year-old who cracked the carrier unlock. It is probably this element of fear that will help Apple keep their users "in line."
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