Apple limits iPhone service to AT&T account holders

Yes, that's why the post following the one you mention said "Oops - make that Chevy".

While I enjoy this mindless banter on TUAW, I must say, the comment system sucketh. You can't even select the page you want to view. Geez. I think I'll take a page from the hipsters and file a lawsuit against TUAW. I WANT MY FREEDOM, MAN!!! DOWN WITH THE MAN!!!

Wow.

I can't wait to see what happens after a lot of folks here install 10.5 heheh.

I too like the non-Erica feed. Her articles are, well, dull. I don't care about hacking my iPhone, iPod, or any other device. Jailbreaking, basebands, bricking are, to me, just boring topics.

I am pretty computer literate, technology-savvy, etc. but her posts often don't even make sense. They're quickly written, have no context, and are more of a train-of-thought presentation of her hackerdom than any presentation of Apple news. It just doesn't fit with the rest of the site!

Can her stuff go on some other blog? Some hacker/cracker/snorter/consorter blog? It certainly doesn't interest me, or, from what I gather, some proportion of your TUAW readership.

(Am I a corporate drone? Maybe, but that's beside the point.)

Kai Cherry - you're right - the story doesn't mention hacking.

Except he canceled his AT&T account but wanted to keep using his iPhone.(?)

And it stopped working "shortly afer". Gasp! Coincidence strikes again....

AND he recorded his phone calls so he could post them for all to hear.

Nah, you're right. No hacking going on here. Poor chap, Apple bent another one over.

You know what would be helpful?

Sticking to the point.

Why does everyone assume that since Erica posted this story, it has something to do with a hacked phone? Have any of you READ THE SOURCE STORY, watched the NEWSCAST or READ THE WARRANTY at all?

I've been an ATT customers for over 5 YEARS, thru 3 changeovers, and know their policies pretty damned good.

One of those policies is that i a customer has consistent poor service, they don't have to be a customer anymore...ATT will release you.

But EVEN THAT doesn't matter. What does matter is the warranty. What it says, what it means and all of the punditry and fanboy action in the world doesn't change ANY of that.

Apple isn't honoring their warranty.

Period.

Being an ATT customer IS NOT IN THE WARRANTY AND NEVER WAS.

P E R I O D.

Any other tangental point of debate is *not relevant*

I hope all these whiney hackers dump their iPhones and go away mad. Good riddance!! The vast and overwhelming majority of iPhone users will be much better off without all the crybabies and whining going on. Go with any other company and stay away from Apple and leave the normal and ordinary users alone. Y'all are a bunch of nitwits and losers...

Hey all,
I'm going to admit it up front that I am an apple fan. Just some notes that I came up with in the 20 minutes that I wasted reading your bickering back and forth saying pretty much the exact same thing.

1st - I agree that apple should honor the warranty. I haven't personally read the warranty but apparently a lot of you have or you are all just making stuff up. Either way, its still their hardware and should be required to fix it. Unless you modify it. Then it is like modding an xbox. Try getting microsoft to fix one of those when it stops working. Or try to get sony to fix a psp with hacked firmware. It won't happen. You were given the terms of the agreement up front: you must use AT&T and no third party apps other than the web-based ones that apple is actually making it easier for you to find. If you didn't want to use AT&T don't buy the phone. It's like buying a car with onstar, if you want to pay for it great. Otherwise you just wasted your money on a system that you can't use.

2nd-The whole freedom to do what you want with what you own. Yes you have that freedom, but no company is going to warranty a product that you modify. They will fix it as long as you use it the way they want you to. That is the only warranty they give you and you agree to it when you buy the product.

I know I'm going to get knocked for backing apple and "Corporate America", but we live in a capitalist society. Thats how it works, if you don't like it move to china or cuba. Then you'll see what having freedom really is. Companies make money selling you a product, if you don't like how they make their product work that is not their fault(as long as they specifically tell you how it works). I would think that if I am going to spend $300-$500 on a phone, I would make damn sure that it does everything I want it to. New phones come out monthly, don't get pissed that you bought in to the "latest and greatest" just to find out that it wasn't as great as you had envisioned. YOU took the chance. YOU paid the money. YOU live with your decision. Nobody said that you had to buy it(another one of those nasty capitalism quirks).

Take some responsibility for your own actions people. It would fix a lot more of our nations problems than you think.

Three words for when Apple doesn't live up to the words of their warranty: small claims court.

I'm with @Frank Furter... Apple clearly spelled out the terms for the iPhone from day one. They make money on the contracts you sign with AT&T. Do you people realize how much R&D went into the iPhone? It was revolutionary, and that was the product of a lot of money and development time. Apple needs to recoup those costs, and even make profit. They are a company, after all.

There are exclusive agreements between wireless companies and phone OEMs everyday. Do you see anyone other than T-Mobile providing a Sidekick in the US market? What's the problem here? You want your iPhone but you like Verizon or Sprint or someone else? Wait until the exclusive agreement is expired and in the meantime, write your provider insisting they get a deal with Apple. Otherwise, start liking AT&T service.

Lets all not forget that this is a phone, not some type of teleporter to the stars.

Iphone=phone
Mac=computer
phone≠computer
Iphone≠MAC