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I wonder what Steve Jobs & Apple would prefer… really. They don’t seem to want anyone unlocking or hacking the iPhone, but wouldn’t they miss the buzz if we stopped? They’re threatening that the new software update coming in a few days may "Brick" a hacked iPhone… rendering it useless.

I understand where they’re coming from… I’ve used two iPhones for nearly 90 days now, beat on them pretty badly, and they run solid. Let’s not forget… that’s one of the things we’ve loved about Apple hardware & software. They don’t want us all installing a bunch of shareware on their beautiful little sensation, under warranty, do they?

Still… look at what’s going on now… so many great ideas for iPhone apps, although many don’t really work well at all yet. But so many folks want to push this device, to see what it can do. I mostly like mine the way they are, because again… Safari apps and upcoming e-mail features on your phone are plenty of fun for me for now. I have to admit though, of the things I miss on the iPhone, lack of a simple voice recorder leaves the biggest hole, so I’ll probably continue testing those (like the iPhone Voice Recorder by Erica Sadun). I think that Apple will, though, come thru with a good recorder on the phone, very soon. A no brainer for them.

Or as the momentum grows, and now internationally, should Apple
simply charge a fee to restore a hacked iPhone? Go ahead, install a
bunch of stuff, have a ball! Then when you mess it up, get a full
firmware restore via iTunes for $29. Sounds fair, and they’d probably
make a fortune. It would certainly encourage more experimentation. I’d
be working on a voice recorder myself, if I knew I could do that.

This great article by Jason Chen at Engaget captures the broad strokes. Jason notes that "if anything, the unlocking cat and mouse game should push Apple to make a lot more innovation, and quicker.

About the upcoming update… It will be interesting how many more
downloads Apple sells from iTunes, once you can use your account from
the iPhone. Even if we all just try it once. And the Starbucks
downloads were bound to happen. This was, not too long ago, a fun
projection from mobile entrepreneurs like myself… the internet
actually bringing consumers into brick and mortar establishments, just
to see what will happen, or what they’ll receive, on their cell phone
when they arrive.

Regarding our "Bricks"… would Apple intentionally leave all those
iPhone fanatics with a ruined iPhone? I’m betting not. With all the
hacking and unlocking going on, they have to have some type of
disclaimer out there. And, of course, they want users to update the
software, cementing the relationship.