iPhone Experiences.

[Mac Medic]

I have used a lot of wireless communications devices, I have about 6 of them at the moment. Windows Mobile, Palm Treo, S60 Smartphones and a BB device, my most recent purchase being an iPhone. Here are my experiences...

I'm a fan of Apple products... their ease of use and for the lack of a better term "elegance" are second to none, but "elegance" is only a small part of the equation.

I was officially a hold out on the iPhone, it was release on June 29th and I waited until July 2nd to buy mine, so I did fairly good!. The interface was fantastic, the easiest and most intuitive smartphone OS I have ever seen, but it soon became apparent just how limiting the iPhone was. No custom ringtones, no 3rd party apps and even the most basic functionality was missing (copy/paste for example). Luckily it wasn't long before the iPhone was "opened up" by developers and I was soon installing SSH on the phone and copying (rather overwriting) files with files of my choosing from within the terminal on my Mac. First some ringtones and custom system sounds, then a few custom skins for the UI, then some new 3rd party applications etc... The phone was fast becoming a promising platform rivaling some of my other phones.

All of a sudden "hacking" the iPhone became childs play, almost overnight apps started popping up that made customizing the phone a breeze for almost anyone. The first GUI tool I used was a beta of iFuntastic. It took all the terminal work I was having to perform and made it a click and drag proposition. Jailbreak was a single click, skinning was drag and drop, ringtones were a button press away, and things just got better and better.

Nullrive introduced their AppTapp Installer. A single click program that jailbroke the phone, Installed itself on the phone and gave you 1 click access to tons of programs on the iPhone that would download over the EDGE network (which BTW isn't awful, I have maxed at just over 200kbps and have never dropped below 100kbps) and install themselves on the phone. Before I knew it i had a full BSD Subsystem, a full terminal, OpenSSH, a proxy server (for tethering) some great games and some very good system tools for skinning/customizing etc...

Apple seemed to be taking a back seat, letting development progress, issuing 2 firmware updates that deleted the 3rd party stuff but allowed for it to be reinstalled. Jozwiak even issued a statement the Apple wouldn't intentionally break the development that was progressing.

Then came the Holy Grail, the software unlock! No more being tied to the empire that is AT&T, and boy did prople jump at the chance. Unlocking all over the world, freeing the iPhone from it's bonds and did Apple ever do a quick about face!. They announced the the impending 1.1.1 firmware could possible render unlocked iPhones permanently unusable. They weren't lying. Bricked iPhones everywhere! Fair warning was given mind you, I personally didn't flash my firmware because my experience with Apple has been to listen to what they say and trust that your phone WILL be permanently inoperable. Unfortunately though, In addition to bricking unlocked phones Apple has blocked all ringtones and 3rd party applications, purposely going back on what they had stated prior to the software unlock.

3rd party development continues and new applications are being release almost daily. Some really great programs at that, all developed without the benefit of an SDK. So thats why i'll stick with firmware 1.0.2, I cancelled AT&T, got my ETF waived for diminished responsibility and took my unlocked iPhone back to t-mobile (I kept my t-mobile service for this reason!) where I will enjoy my 3rd party apps, ringtones and themes and duly ignore any future Apple iPhone updates.

Summary... If you want a phone you can have control over, do not get an iPhone.

If you want a simple, intuitive smartphone with a great browser and excellent iPod (and don't mind AT&T) get an iPhone.

But remember that with the new 1.1.1 firmware you will not get both.