Apple’s Latest OS Hacked.. So What?
Posted on Friday, September 10th, 2010 in platyBlog | No Comments »
By: Kyle McCormick
Articles have been hammering the internet about the jailbreaking of the new iPhone operating system. For those who may not know, jailbreaking is a term used when a user “hacks” into the operating system on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad in order to install third-party applications that have not been authorized by Apple. Jailbreaking allows users to customize their device for things ranging from wallpaper to a different cellular network. It seems that all of the effort put forth by Apple to protect their latest operating system, iOS 4.1, was blind-sided as hackers found a hole in the boot ROMs of both the iPhone and iPod Touch.
To date, an estimated 10% of all iPhones have been jail-broken. Is this number large enough for Apple to care? Furthermore, is it that big of a deal? The actual benefit of jailbreaking an iPhone is essentially that it becomes more customizable to the user. However, doing this presents a risk to the user as it voids Apple’s warranty.
This also makes me wonder if perhaps Apple’s “exclusivity” appeal is starting to backfire on them. There are already reports on the Internet saying Apple is losing customers due to bad service with AT&T. If Apple were to start cracking down on jailbroken iPhones, they could run the risk of losing even more customers. If a customer deems that a jailbreak is necessary to fit their needs, and if Apple does not adhere to this, I’m sure there’s another company out there that will. It all comes down to what is more important- a business model or the potential for a user to harm their own device. Android, are you listening?
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