The Steve Jobs master plan: iPhone hacking

I completely agree with Don Reisinger’s assessment here… Steve Jobs too smart for it to be anything else - bring it on!

Here’s my prediction: the iPhone unlock will be simple enough for both casual and hard-core users alike to use their new device anywhere. From there, those who are not yet Apple fans will realize the ease of use that comes with Apple products and they will pick up either an iPod–if the iPhone’s isn’t enough–or a Mac, if it is. Much like the iPod, the iPhone will prove to be a substantial long-term revenue-getter for Apple that will far exceed the lost revenue from the AT&T contract. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Mac notebook and desktop sales exploded in the next quarter because of this unlock.

When Steve Jobs and company first envisaged the iPhone, a few things surely came to mind. First, Apple wanted a phone with an appealing design and advanced functionality. In essence, the company wanted a device that was nothing like its predecessors. And while it achieved this feat, Apple was still in need of a carrier. It went to Verizon and others, but it was AT&T that was able to offer it what it wanted: revenue sharing on activations and service plans. Basically, Apple was able to sell the device, make a profit and even capitalize on the iPhone’s popularity through AT&T”

Was it Steve Jobs plan all along?
Prior to its release, the iPhone was being hailed as a landmark device which, unlike most other GSM phones, was locked down to one carrier. After all, it made sense: Apple entered into an exclusivity deal with AT&T (albeit begrudgingly) and was forced to make the device as “unhackable” as possible. But as we all know, nothing is unhackable.

Steve Jobs did his part–he locked the iPhone down quite well and kept saying that he was all for AT&T. He even talked up the fact that the BlackBerry does quite well on AT&T’s service just to maintain the iPhone’s significant buzz.

But Steve Jobs is not a dumb man. He knew that by making the iPhone exclusive, he was losing out on a significant market of people both home and abroad and his vision for the future of Apple included those that were left out. But alas, the exclusivity deal wasn’t that hard to swallow. He, like all of us, knew that people would immediately start to hack the iPhone and unlock it for use on T-Mobile and other services abroad. And once that happened, the benefits could far outweigh the costs of such a hack.

Posted by Don Reisinger - see original article here.