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5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

The 5 real reasons to avoid iPhone 3G:
[img=right]http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/imag ... design.jpg[/img]

• iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can't be on everyone's phones.
• iPhone endorses and supports Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology.
• iPhone exposes your whereabouts and provides ways for others to track you without your knowledge.
• iPhone won't play patent- and DRM-free formats like Ogg Vorbis and Theora.
• iPhone is not the only option. There are better alternatives on the horizon that respect your freedom, don't spy on you, play free media formats, and let you use free software -- like the FreeRunner.

"This is the phone that has changed phones forever," Mr. Jobs said.

We agree. A snake oil salesman not satisfied with his business of pushing proprietary software and Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology into your home, Jobs has set his sights on getting DRM and proprietary software into your pocket as well.

There is a reason so much emphasis was put on the visual design of the iPhone. There is a reason that Apple is so concerned about unsightly seams that they won't even let you change the battery in your own phone.

Apple, through its marketing and visual design techniques, is manufacturing an illusion that merely buying an Apple makes you part of an alternative community. But the technology they use is explicitly chosen to divide people into separate digital cells, and to position Apple as sole warden. When your business depends on people paying for the privilege of being locked up, the prison better look and feel luxurious, and the bars better not be too visible.
Wait, locked up? Prison? It's a phone. Aren't we being a little extreme?

Unfortunately, we are not. The extreme here is represented by Jobs and Apple. The iPhone is an attack on very old and fundamental values -- the value of people having control over their stuff rather than their stuff having control over them, the right to freely communicate and share with others, and the importance of privacy.

The iPhone does make phone calls, but it is not just a phone. It is a general-purpose computer, more powerful in terms of hardware than the ones we might have had sitting on our desks just a few years ago. It's also a tracking device, and like other proprietary GPS-enabled phones, can transmit your location without your knowledge.

As of November 2007, 3.3 billion people in the world had mobile telephones, and the number continues to rise rapidly. For many of these people, phones are becoming the most important computers they own. They are vital to their communications and they are with them all the time. Of all the technology people use that could be turned against them, this is one of the most frightening possibilities.

But there is an important difference between the iPhone and prior general-purpose computers: The iPhone is broken, on purpose. It is in theory capable of running many different kinds of programs, but software applications and media will be limited via Apple's ironically named Digital Restrictions Management technology -- "FairPlay".
FoulPlay

Apple's DRM system monitors your activities and tells you what you are and are not allowed to do. What you are not allowed to do is install any software that Apple doesn't like. This restriction prevents you from installing free software -- software whose authors want you to freely share, copy and modify their work.

Free software has given us many exciting things on the desktop -- the GNU/Linux operating system, the Firefox web browser, the OpenOffice.org suite, the Apache webserver that runs most of the web sites on the internet. Why would we want to buy a computer that goes out of its way to obstruct the freedom of such creators?

This system is not Apple's only FoulPlay. iPhones can now also only be activated in stores -- despite the fact that in the U.S., the Register of Copyrights ruled that consumers have the right to unlock their phones and switch to a different carrier.
Fingerpointing (and we don't mean the touch screen)

Jobs would have us believe that all of these restrictions are necessary. He nods and agrees when we complain about them, and says that he doesn't like them either. He claims that Apple is forced to include them for our own good -- for the safety of the whole telephone network, and to allow access to all the movies and music we want.

But it's been a year and a half since Jobs, under pressure from the public, spoke out strongly against DRM and in favor of freedom. With great hesitation, he allowed a handful of files to go DRM-free on iTunes, but kept in place the requirement that they be purchased using the proprietary, DRM-infected iTunes software. Since then, he has done absolutely nothing to act on those words. In his movie and video ventures, he has continued to push DRM. And now he's bringing it to mobile software applications as well. It's become clear that those words were a ploy to defuse opposition.

The truth is that there are thousands of software, music, and media creators who want to share their work more freely. It's funny -- as in reprehensible -- because Apple's OS X operating system was in fact largely built on software written by people who voluntarily made their work free to others for further copying, modification and improvement. When people have the freedom to tinker, create, and innovate, they make exciting and useful creations. People have already been writing their own free software to run mobile platforms. The telephone network is still standing.

We know Jobs is afraid of competition, and is manufacturing threats and excuses. This is simply a business decision, and it's a kind of business we shouldn't support. Jobs wants the iPhone to restrict you because he wants your money and increased control is a means to that -- he wants to take as much from you as possible, give you back as little as possible, and keep his costs at the absolute minimum. He's trying to make sure that nobody writes software for the iPhone to do things that he doesn't want the iPhone to be able to do -- such software might make FoulPlay less foul, play alternative media formats, show the user exactly what's being communicated from the phone to the people monitoring it, or even disable transmission of that information.

Apple is not the real enemy of open source

The real enemy of open source remains what it has always been.

Not Apple Inc. The copyright industries.

Music companies. Movie companies. TV companies. Radio companies. Book companies. Magazine companies. Newspaper companies. (Often, now, the same company.)

Media has feared the Web since the day it was spun. The DMCA and No Electronic Theft Act were aimed at the Internet.

Turned out they were aimed at open source as well. Open source is a child of the Internet.

The copyright industries have demanded for a decade that before their content is released it must carry a Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme. The other media treat this as a given, as obvious, as a necessity.

Of course it’s nothing of the sort. The success of Apple’s iTunes proved that the insistance on a DRM was counter-productive. Rather than assuring that people pay for each song, clip or pageview, it cemented Apple’s control of the music channel.

Despite a rush away from DRM by the music industry, it’s too late. Meanwhile, the video industries are demanding the same treatment. So you have Viacom’s suit against Google and the MPAA’s attempts to bankrupt BitTorrent users.

This has split the community. FOSS advocates refuse to accept the need for DRMs, so media won’t play on FOSS boxes. Open source companies give in reluctantly. The result is that Linux is a virtual content-free zone.

This is changing, slowly, but now resistance comes from the Linux user side of the divide. Many Linux users obey the FOSS imperative and resist DRMs. Right or wrong is not the question here. It’s just the reality.

Apple has used that reality to its advantage.

Apple embraces DRMs, and any other restrictions the copyright industries want. This is at the heart of its power. Its alliance with the copyright industries has brought Apple from the brink of irrelevance to dominance of the handheld Internet and gadget markets in this decade.

But don’t forget who gave Apple that power. If the battle with Apple is open source’s Vietnam, just remember it’s the copyright industries who began this Cold War.

Last week, we announced 5 reasons to avoid the iPhone. This has been met with a lot of excitement and some great feedback.

Some important questions were raised in this feedback. So, here is an opportunity to have some fun and get answers, straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

In every Apple retail store is a so-called "Genius Bar" -- a technical support station, the purpose of which is to offer help and support for Apple products.

You can use Apple's helpful online booking system (no registration required) to reserve time slots at the Genius Bar. There are currently 217 Apple stores in seven countries, giving us plenty of slots to book. We want as many people as possible to book slots this Friday and Saturday. Why not book more than one? Having lots of slots booked will get Apple's attention and ensure that the Geniuses have done their homework.
Take these three easy steps to give Apple our iPhone Challenge:

1) Book a 10-minute slot now!

Book online: USA, Australia, Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom.

2) Let us know which stores you have booked using our online counter.

3) Digg this to encourage others to participate

At the Genius Bar....

Print out our handy questionnaire and information about how iPhone 3G restricts your freedom. If you have access to a color printer, you can also print out some of our snazzy iPhone flyers (Letter, A4) to hand out to people outside the store when you're done. There are also black-and-white versions: (Letter, A4).

Head over to your local Apple Store at your designated time. Be sure to get a business card from your Genius first and then politely ask them the questions. For each question, give them a score between 1 and 32, with 1 being a really bad answer, and 32 being an answer that really showed insight into the restrictive practices of the iPhone.

The total score will be out of 160 -- the IQ level of Einstein, a certified genius. Rate your Genius's iQ to the same score, and if they get over 130, they're a genius -- any lower than that, and they're screwed. Glory and infamy awaits!

If you feel your Genius did particularly well, or particularly badly, please let us know their name, email address, and the store address -- it'll be on their business card. We'll send prizes and information accordingly.
Questions

Start by introducing yourself to your Genius.

"I'm from the DRM elimination crew at DefectiveByDesign.org -- I'd like to ask you a few questions about the defects Apple has designed into the iPhone 3G."

1.

Why do all developers have to submit their applications to Apple before they can be loaded onto an iPhone?

Most smartphones, including those by OpenMoko, Nokia, RIM, Palm and even Microsoft, allow applications to come from a variety of sources, including free software developers. Free "as in freedom" software development requires that users and developers be able to share and modify the source code for programs they use. iPhone users are not permitted by Apple to share or load modified versions of programs distributed through the App Store -- even when a program's developer wants users to be able to do this! Apple markets itself as empowering, alternative technology -- How does Apple plan to support free software development?
2.

Why does iTunes still contain so much DRM-laden music?

Services like Amazon, eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody, Play.com and 7digital are all selling music without DRM. A typical response to this might be that Apple has no option to sell media without DRM, but this is simply untrue. Jobs is the largest individual shareholder at Disney, and he could insist that its films be DRM-free. Apple should be leading the way to promote DRM-free music, but instead is lagging behind. What is Apple doing to fix this? If it really is the RIAA's fault, can you tell me specifically what the RIAA said to Jobs when he asked for the ability to sell DRM-free music?
3.

The iPhone 3G has GPS support. How can users be sure that the GPS cannot be used to track their position, without their permission?

When the only thing preventing the GPS from being used is software, and the software in question is known only to Apple, why should iPhone users trust Apple? There is a privacy agreement, but how would I ever know that the agreement was violated?
4.

In 'Thoughts on Music', Steve Jobs said, "it is useful to remember that all iPods play music that is free of any DRM and encoded in 'open' licensable formats such as MP3 and AAC".

If Jobs really wants to see open formats, why doesn't the iPhone play Ogg Vorbis, Ogg Theora video and FLAC? These formats require no licensing costs, and are not encumbered by patents. How does Apple plan to support these formats in the future? Will Apple approve applications for the App Store that support these formats?
5.

Last question. Why can the iPhone 3G only be activated by Apple and AT&T?

In the United States, the Register of Copyrights has ruled that consumers have the right to unlock their phones and switch to a different carrier. How does Apple plan to remedy this discrepancy?

Next steps

Give your Genius their score, your contact information (if you want) and your handout, along with any additional feedback you have about the defects in iPhone 3G. Thank them for their time, and quickly and politely leave the store. Outside the store, distribute some of the flyers and spend some time talking to people about these issues.

Let us know how it went by sending an email to info@defectivebydesign.org with your Genius's information, score, and your comments.

oh no it won't play Theora lol

At least the second article actually takes an adult perspective on the whole environment Apple works in to be so cross-market; dealing with telecom companies, record companies, all out to protect themselves.

It just makes me giggle like a little child to hear pouting, foot stomping nerds complain about FOULPLAY when, say, a PSP restricts what you can use it for, too. So does a regular GPS system. Manufacturers even include lockdowns in updates and re-designs to prevent 'free' installation of whatever you want. I just can't work up any outrage over this; the only thing that would concern me is the 'ZOMG JOBZ KNOS WHAR U LIVE' thing, but that's true of most nav systems to my knowledge, and the article doesn't actually explain what this vulnerability is beyond' oh noez they could find you!!!!!'

Of course, it goes without saying that most consumers don't give a flying fuck about any of this shit, so profit-wise it probably doesn't make a difference. Needs more impotent fuming nerd bloggers, like the one I read the other day who was so stupid and intentionally failing he couldn't even install iTunes without problems. Laughing

Stark wrote:oh no it won't play Theora lol

At least the second article actually takes an adult perspective on the whole environment Apple works in to be so cross-market; dealing with telecom companies, record companies, all out to protect themselves.

It just makes me giggle like a little child to hear pouting, foot stomping nerds complain about FOULPLAY when, say, a PSP restricts what you can use it for, too. So does a regular GPS system. Manufacturers even include lockdowns in updates and re-designs to prevent 'free' installation of whatever you want. I just can't work up any outrage over this; the only thing that would concern me is the 'ZOMG JOBZ KNOS WHAR U LIVE' thing, but that's true of most nav systems to my knowledge, and the article doesn't actually explain what this vulnerability is beyond' oh noez they could find you!!!!!'

Of course, it goes without saying that most consumers don't give a flying fuck about any of this shit, so profit-wise it probably doesn't make a difference. Needs more impotent fuming nerd bloggers, like the one I read the other day who was so stupid and intentionally failing he couldn't even install iTunes without problems.

Stark wrote:Of course, it goes without saying that most consumers don't give a flying fuck about any of this shit, so profit-wise it probably doesn't make a difference. Needs more impotent fuming nerd bloggers, like the one I read the other day who was so stupid and intentionally failing he couldn't even install iTunes without problems.

The iPhone does make phone calls, but it is not just a phone. It is a general-purpose computer, more powerful in terms of hardware than the ones we might have had sitting on our desks just a few years ago. It's also a tracking device, and like other proprietary GPS-enabled phones, can transmit your location without your knowledge.

Stark wrote:Listen, they're such scaremongers that of their 5 original bullet-points, 1 is an ad for nerd-tech silliness and 1 is a statement (you can be tracked) supported by a single sentence in the article (you can be tracked, like with other phones). There's no explanation of how this might work or affect people, or if iPhone's GPS is more or less trackable. I mean, any wireless device can be tracked, and pretty much all GPS systems too, but clearly saying this about iPhone is suddenly inspiring terrror. A single unsupported scaremongering sentence.

Of course, the other bullet points are pretty much nonsense; it doesn't use Format Nobody Uses #22, it 'supports' (ie, 'can play') DRM files (bear in mind this doesn't mean it ONLY plays these files, which it doesn't - they're complaining it even has the ABILITY to play DRM-d files) and you can only install Apple-sanctioned apps that I imagine you pay for.

phongn wrote:I have an iPod Touch running the new software, and the system asks you if you want to allow third-party applications to determine your current location. You can always deny it. And, as you mentioned, of course you can be tracked by the network, and for things like E911 such tracking systems are of course needed.

Developers have to pay $99/year for a license and code signing key to have officially-sanctioned applications. They also take a 30% cut. You can also publish free applications as well if you want to.

Stark wrote:Oh? I assumed Apple had some iron-fist control or standards over it to prevent xyz apps being added to the store at all. Do you know how these terms compare to things like Steam? Do you have to pay the $99/year signing if you want to publish it to the store for free download? You've got me curious now.

Rogue 9 wrote:Well, I say that if I buy the hardware, I should be able to put whatever the fuck I want on it without having to pay the manufacturer of the hardware a dime to do it; I already paid them for what I bought, and I don't want to keep paying them.

Hence, I shall use my free market prerogative and not buy an iPhone. *Shrug* No need for silly stunts like tying up their support lines; they'll learn the error of their ways if their product doesn't sell.

Rogue 9 wrote:Well, I say that if I buy the hardware, I should be able to put whatever the fuck I want on it without having to pay the manufacturer of the hardware a dime to do it; I already paid them for what I bought, and I don't want to keep paying them.

Hence, I shall use my free market prerogative and not buy an iPhone. *Shrug* No need for silly stunts like tying up their support lines; they'll learn the error of their ways if their product doesn't sell.

Stark wrote:Like I said, all kinds of 'consumer' electronics either has similar restrictions OR to do so you need to void warranty or use hacked firmware or whatever.

Rogue 9 wrote: So it's okay because it's the status quo?