from what i heard, the latest firmware updates can possible cause havoc with an iPod that someone's been modifying to use other carriers...
-------------- Original message -------------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The only reason why I haven't gotten a iPhone (besides it's high price) is the fact you have to get AT&T as a service. And I despise AT&T, but am also too damn lazy (and more than a bit scared to crack open one) to modify an iPhone enough (via various third-party software/hardware add-ons) to use other wireless phone services. Still you have to admit it's a damn good invention-that is the worlds smallest laptop computer that doubles and a phone. -GTW In a message dated 1/11/08 4:16:08 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > The demo was not going well. > > > > Again. > > > > It was a late morning in the fall of 2006. Almost a year earlier, > > Steve > > Jobs had tasked about 200 of Apple's top engineers with creating > > the > > iPhone. Yet here, in Apple's boardroom, it was clear that the > > prototype > > was still a disaster. It wasn't just buggy, it flat-out didn't > > work. The > > phone dropped calls constantly, the battery stopped charging before > > it > > was full, data and applications routinely became corrupted and > > unusable. > > The list of problems seemed endless. At the end of the demo, Jobs > > fixed > > the dozen or so people in the room with a level stare and said, "We > > > > don't have a product yet." > > > > The effect was even more terrifying than one of Jobs' trademark > > tantrums. When the Apple chief screamed at his staff, it was scary > > but > > familiar. This time, his relative calm was unnerving. "It was one > > of the > > few times at Apple when I got a chill," says someone who was in the > > meeting. > > > > The ramifications were serious. The iPhone was to be the > > centerpiece of > > Apple's annual Macworld convention, set to take place in just a few > > > > months. Since his return to Apple in 1997, Jobs had used the event > > as a > > showcase to launch his biggest products, and Apple-watchers were > > expecting another dramatic announcement. Jobs had already admitted > > that > > Leopard ââ¬â the new version of Apple's operating system ââ¬â would > > be > > delayed. If the iPhone wasn't ready in time, Macworld would be a > > dud, > > Jobs' critics would pounce, and Apple's stock price could suffer. > > > > This 4.8-ounce sliver of glass and aluminum is an explosive device > > that > > has forever changed the mobile-phone business, wresting power from > > carriers and giving it to manufacturers, developers, and consumers. > > > > And what would AT&T think? After a year and a half of secret > > meetings, > > Jobs had finally negotiated terms with the wireless division of the > > > > telecom giant (Cingular at the time) to be the iPhone's carrier. In > > > > return for five years of exclusivity, roughly 10 percent of iPhone > > sales > > in AT&T stores, and a thin slice of Apple's iTunes revenue, AT&T > > had > > granted Jobs unprecedented power. He had cajoled AT&T into spending > > > > millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours to create a new > > feature, > > so-called visual voicemail, and to reinvent the time-consuming > > in-store > > sign-up process. He'd also wrangled a unique revenue-sharing > > arrangement, garnering roughly $10 a month from every iPhone > > customer's > > AT&T bill. On top of all that, Apple retained complete control over > > the > > design, manufacturing, and marketing of the iPhone. Jobs had done > > the > > unthinkable: squeezed a good deal out of one of the largest players > > in > > the entrenched wireless industry. Now, the least he could do was > > meet > > his deadlines. > > > > For those working on the iPhone, the next three months would be the > > most > > stressful of their careers. Screaming matches broke out routinely > > in the > > hallways. Engineers, frazzled from all-night coding sessions, quit, > > only > > to rejoin days later after catching up on their sleep. A product > > manager > > slammed the door to her office so hard that the handle bent and > > locked > > her in; it took colleagues more than an hour and some well-placed > > whacks > > with an aluminum bat to free her. > > > > But by the end of the push, just weeks before Macworld, Jobs had a > > prototype to show to the suits at AT&T. In mid-December 2006, he > > met > > wireless boss Stan Sigman at a suite in the Four Seasons hotel in > > Las > > Vegas. He showed off the iPhone's brilliant screen, its powerful > > Web > > browser, its engaging user interface. Sigman, a taciturn Texan > > steeped > > in the conservative engineering traditions that permeate America's > > big > > phone companies, was uncharacteristically effusive, calling the > > iPhone > > "the best device I have ever seen." (Details of this and other key > > moments in the making of the iPhone were provided by people with > > knowledge of the events. Apple and AT&T would not discuss these > > meetings > > or the specific terms of the relationship.) > > > > Six months later, on June 29, 2007, the iPhone went on sale. At > > press > > time, analysts were speculating that customers would snap up about > > 3 > > million units by the end of 2007, making it the fastest-selling > > smartphone of all time. It is also arguably Apple's most profitable > > > > device. The company nets an estimated $80 for every $399 iPhone it > > sells, and that's not counting the $240 it makes from every > > two-year > > AT&T contract an iPhone customer signs. Meanwhile, about 40 percent > > of > > iPhone buyers are new to AT&T's rolls, and the iPhone has tripled > > the > > carrier's volume of data traffic in cities like New York and San > > Francisco. > > > > But as important as the iPhone has been to the fortunes of Apple > > and > > AT&T, its real impact is on the structure of the $11 billion-a-year > > US > > mobile phone industry. For decades, wireless carriers have treated > > manufacturers like serfs, using access to their networks as > > leverage to > > dictate what phones will get made, how much they will cost, and > > what > > features will be available on them. Handsets were viewed largely as > > > > cheap, disposable lures, massively subsidized to snare subscribers > > and > > lock them into using the carriers' proprietary services. But the > > iPhone > > upsets that balance of power. Carriers are learning that the right > > phone > > ââ¬â even a pricey one ââ¬â can win customers and bring in revenue. > > Now, in > > the pursuit of an Apple-like contract, every manufacturer is racing > > to > > create a phone that consumers will love, instead of one that the > > carriers approve of. "The iPhone is already changing the way > > carriers > > and manufacturers behave," says Michael Olson, a securities analyst > > at > > Piper Jaffray. > > > > In 2002, shortly after the first iPod was released, Jobs started > > thinking about developing a phone. He saw millions of Americans > > lugging > > separate phones, BlackBerrys, and ââ¬â now ââ¬â MP3 players; > > naturally, > > consumers would prefer just one device. He also saw a future in > > which > > cell phones and mobile email devices would amass ever more > > features, > > eventually challenging the iPod's dominance as a music player. To > > protect his new product line, Jobs knew he would eventually need to > > > > venture into the wireless world. > > > > If the idea was obvious, so were the obstacles. Data networks were > > sluggish and not ready for a full-blown handheld Internet device. > > An > > iPhone would require Apple to create a completely new operating > > system; > > the iPod's OS wasn't sophisticated enough to manage complicated > > networking or graphics, and even a scaled-down version of OS X > > would be > > too much for a cell phone chip to handle. Apple would be facing > > strong > > competition, too: In 2003, consumers had flocked to the Palm Treo > > 600, > > which merged a phone, PDA, and BlackBerry into one slick package. > > That > > proved there was demand for a so-called convergence device, but it > > also > > raised the bar for Apple's engineers. > > > > Then there were the wireless carriers. Jobs knew they dictated what > > to > > build and how to build it, and that they treated the hardware as > > little > > more than a vehicle to get users onto their networks. Jobs, a > > notorious > > control freak himself, wasn't about to let a group of suits ââ¬â > > whom he > > would later call "orifices" ââ¬â tell him how to design his phone. > > > > By 2004 Apple's iPod business had become more important, and more > > vulnerable, than ever. The iPod accounted for 16 percent of company > > > > > === message truncated === > ************** Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! 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