A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To Unlocked iPhone Service
A CTO-friend of mine is the most gadget-happy chappy I have ever met. If its new, shiny and can be hacked, then he's in nerd-vana. The latest toy is his wee iPhone. When I saw him last week, he couldn't wait to show me a screen saver he put on it that looks like a busily scuttling ant farm. He was also bragging about loading Apache server, Oracle, and allsortsofstufflikethatthere onto it. However, his face almost split from the smile he gave while telling me about his 'hack':
he had hacked the iPhone, so that it was unlocked, and working on (his) T-Mobile account, "...and, isn't that just too bad for old AT&T. Ha!"
AT&T is getting the last laugh...
Over the past week, it takes about 10 tries to get his T-Mobile voicemail (you can't get him directly, at all). The first 9 times you call his iPhone on T-Mobile, AT&T voicemail will answer and ask for the 10-digit mailbox you're trying to leave mail for. He is desperately trying to eliminate this 'glitch', and his hacker status is taking a daily thrashing. Whoops...the Empire Strikes Back!
Ramblings on Networks, Unlocked Phones and My Future With the Palm OS
While I thoroughly applaud Apple's brilliant industrial design (more like art), and innovation, I despise their proprietary philosophy. I find no difference between Apple trying to force you to buy their products by leveraging iTunes, then Microsoft bundling Media Player into Windows. Its all monopolistic nonsense. However, I had really believed that Apple would use their clout to force a more open attitude out of wireless vendors. Instead, its more of the same-old, same-old.
I like Sprint a lot, because they make things fairly easy for me. As an example, I am going on a 1-week trip to Vancouver at the end of October. I was sure I was going to have to get another phone to work up there; but, Sprint Canada has me covered. For a mere $4, I'll have my unlimited data and my voice plan working on my Treo. However, despite my Sprint-satisfaction, I am only buying unlocked devices from now on; and, will never let myself be locked to a phone company again. I plan on replacing my Treo 700p in another 6-9 months, and will not make any further investment in Garnet OS. As it will be (at least) a year from that time before there is a 'new' Palm OS (and it will only be the first iteration), I'm likely headed elsewhere, and will be asking AT&T and Sprint to start sending me non-Palm smartphones for test and review.
I kind of like the unlocked Sprint Blackberry 8800-series. It works on both EvDO, and has a SIM card. I have also heard rumors that Sprint and Verizon are going to move away from CDMA/ EvDO, and to the G4 international standard. Now, there's a direction I can lock onto!