That it has, Keith. My niece got the 4GB Nano for her birthday, and she got the first available update. It locked her iPod up completely for two weeks. I've been avoiding the updates religiously ever since.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 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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