What do you do with your hacked first-gen iPhone?
Adam Turner thinks hacking the iPhone 2.0 software to run on the original iPhone is more important than hacking the new iPhone 3G, but he tries to remember the magic word.
The iPhone 3G is certainly a thing of beauty, but I'm not prepared to pay the horrendous early adopter tax to own one when I've already got a hacked first-gen iPhone in my pocket.
None of Australia's telcos offer decent value for money in their iPhone 3G plans, especially when it comes to data. Right now Optus are the best of a bad bunch, but you'd be a fool to buy the iPhone 3G today - especially when 3's entry into the market next month will put pressure on the other telcos to improve their plans.
Faster downloads and GPS are handy, but not handy enough to tempt me at these prices. Those two features aside, the iPhone 3G has little new to offer in terms of hardware.
To me the really interesting features are in the new iPhone 2.0 software. What I'm looking forward to is access to the Apps Store plus the ability to push email, contacts and calendar appointments to the phone via Exchange or MobileMe.
I don't need the new iPhone 3G for that, I just need someone to hack the iPhone 2.0 software so I can install it on my original iPhone and then unlock it to run on any phone network.
I doubt I'm alone here. Now that the iPhone 3G is available in a lot more countries, and has access to the Apps Store, I'd say there'd be fewer people in need of a hacked iPhone 3G than there were when the first iPhone was released. Of course owners of the first-gen iPhone still want a taste of 2.0 goodness.
Not everyone is taken with Apple's sophomore iPhone. Infamous iPhone hacker Zibri has the following to say about the new iPhone 3G;
I know you people are crazy about the iPhone
but believe me, I am not.
I think the 3g iPhone is not worth even buying
for people who already have the
first generation iPhone.
GPS ? I have a TomTom Go device.
3G data ? I have a 7.2 Mb/s card
in my laptop.
Apps ?
I have my iPhone.
Everything else ?
I have my life !
It looks like Zibri and others like the iPhone Dev Team have the weight of the world on their shoulders as impatient iPhone owners demand a new software hack. I guess I'm adding to that pressure, but I don't mean to. The internet's something-for-nothing culture, combined with basic human nature, means many people seem to think an iPhone hack is their God-given right. It's not.
We take hacking for granted these days and I can't take the moral high ground. I've already published my Australian TiVo hacking wishlist, calling on others to do the work because I've got no idea how to do it myself.
I'm just a doofus, standing humbly before the hacking community's Genius Bar. I forgot to say please, but I'm saying it now. Please hack the TiVo for us. Please hack the iPhone for us.
On behalf of all us ungrateful bastards, thank you.
Other Blog Entries written by Adam Turner:
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
Comments: 2
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bbjai
Jul 17, 2008 9:57 AM
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What a very very interesting point! With the advent of free things on the web its surprising how many people take things like this for granted and neigh even demand it like as if it was their right.
I didn't think something like a hack on a phone would be in heavy demand and people would be quite pushy about it. I've had many experiences on the internet where people just push their unreasonable demands on people who are basically doing things for free and for their enjoyment.
Take fan subbed anime and streaming television that isn't available here (Ahem NBA, Premier League Football....) People come onto the forums or IRC and straight out expect things to be out straight away like as if these people are providing a service as a favour to you not because its their job.
I think all these people with a Apple iPhone should put up and shutup. Its the cost of being an early adopter. You can't hack that you have a inferior phone then don't demand a hack, go buy a new one.
Seriously the internet has spawned a whole new set of high maintenance cry babies. Its like as if everything that comes out should be destroyed, cut, dissected and made for their pleasure. Whatever happened to IP!!!! |
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Spageddie
Jul 21, 2008 9:55 PM
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I wouldn't have waste hard earned $$$ on a useless, over hyped gadget. |