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IPhone 3G Jailbreak Released, Paves Way For Open Source Apps
PainMeds writes "iPhone Atlas is reporting that the first jailbreak for the iPhone 3G has been released, and includes the popular Cydia community installer for distributing free games and applications. Since Apple's SDK was released, web sites have criticized Apple for the restrictions placed on both what developers could write and what APIs they were allowed to use. Others have noted the SDK's incompatibility with the GPL. The Cydia installer has provided a distribution channel for both open source software and software that would otherwise be impossible to build using the restricted SDK. A few applications are already out, including MobileTerminal and NES.app, a Nintendo game console emulator. In just over a week, open development is finally here for the iPhone 3G!"
Flamebait? By pointing out the OpenMoko's obvious downsides to the iPhone? Are you kidding me? The overzealous sensitive mods are out in force!
Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of the OpenMoko, but the execution is poor considering the considerable competition. People are developing plenty of apps for the iPhone because it is popular and it does have a very polished user interface. The iPhone has staying power. The OpenMoko? Not so much.
Because they can. Isn't that like the official motto of geeks everywhere?
The reasoning is not very difficult:
1) I like the hardware
2) I don't like the software
If the cost of fixing 2 is less than the value of 1, then you buy the device.
I don't have an iPhone either, but I don't act like people with a different opinion are drooling morons.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
Posting on Slashdot must automatically remove all of your ability to sympathize with other human beings too.
Let's go through why most people don't care about the stuff you raised.
1) Most people don't do anything that's restricted anyway. This is less true of being restricted to a single carrier, but people generally have very little loyalty toward an individual carrier.
2) People really do not feel that it's a big deal to connect their phone to their computer one time in the 2+ years that they will own it.
3) People don't have "many different types of media", they have MP3s. The iPhone plays MP3s.
4) $200 US does not seem overpriced to me. As for overhyped, most people don't have this weird reaction where they feel that they are obligated to dislike anything that's popular.
5) Most people simply don't care about replacing their battery.
6) Most people simply don't care about storage expansion.
Your complains are all legitimate and it's fine that you don't like the thing (I don't own one either), but it's silly to act as though the device has no merit whatsoever.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
Awesome, so you're buying a product and deliberately cutting yourself off from software updates for it.
What could possibly go wrong?
How we know is more important than what we know.