Let’s call a spade, a spade. Apple makes beautiful devices. They are easy to use, the ease only matched with the sheer delight of using them. But then, what *exactly* is wrong?
Having just got off *another* ‘argument’ with a friend regarding the Android v/s apple saga, I can’t help but wonder about what exactly an Android lover hates about the apple iPhone. It’s sleek, sophisticated, the interface feels like a dream made of cotton candy and cheese and, oh yea… the app store limitations.
My question being only one. In a country as mine (India), where the iphone 4 retails at about $900 (yes, $900!!), why is every other person strutting about on their apple iphones *if* app store limitations were such a nuisance?
One word answer: JAILBREAKING.
That’s it. And unless you’ve been living under a rock all this while pretending to be a tiny little bug, you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
For the little bugs though:
Jailbreaking, simply put, is a process that allows the phone to run third-party unsigned code by opening the operating system up. This process is done primarily to open up the iOS platform so that one can customise and download to their own will. The options are innumerable and quite frankly, liberating.
Since jailbreaking programs are absolutely free; all one needs, is a little time, (the mental strength to not cry *if* you do something wrong and consequently brick, i.e wreck your phone permanently), and some imagination.
Cydia installer founder Jay Freeman estimates that over 10% of all iPhones are Jailbroken. So, by that statement: if in a hypothetical world, only 100 iphones lived and 10% of those iPhones wee Jailbroken: You’d have Apple a profit of $9900 in handset sales running a program that they’re so essentially against. (And which also, interestingly, makes the iPhone so much more exciting.)
My point being: The one thing that makes Apple so likeable and functional is the one thing that Apple is so against. And if the corporation didn’t try *so* hard to limit these phones to a sleek looking brick that does nothing more than be an ipod that makes calls, and actually embraces the idea of accepting Jailbreaking as a routine; they could quite honestly kick any Android’s butt.
Phone or otherwise.
Why the development teams need Apple’s expertise is simple. A Jailbroken iPhone is susceptible to viruses that ordinarily wouldn’t be a hassle for an un-Jailbroken device.
Considering that Jailbreaking is absolutely legal, Apple may be the smartest ones here. The iPhone Dev Team develop software for jailbreaking iPhones to over 1.5 million devices worldwide, and with a Jailbreak for the iPhone 4 already out; Apple better grow up and admit to this massive presence in the software market, and the beautiful things they are doing to Apple sales worldwide.
Oh, and to give us Skyfire after almost all quality video websites have moved to HTML5. Cruel. And yes, stupid.
