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starman · Jul 17, 2008, 08:32 PM

http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/5...void-iphone-3g

Chongo · Jul 17, 2008, 08:37 PM

Verizon would have really crippled the iPhone, that is why Apple went with AT&T. They disabled the Blackberry's internal GPS in order to force customers to use their VZ Navigator, with a monthly charge of course.

lpkmckenna · Jul 17, 2008, 09:13 PM

The fsf aren't lying about the iPhone. They're just free software zealots. You can't please them anyway.

krove · Jul 17, 2008, 09:20 PM

This point is clearly false:

iPhone exposes your whereabouts and provides ways for others to track you without your knowledge.

The iPhone clearly asks the owner if he/she would like the provide the location to the software.

The other points are simply facts of life that I'd like compared to the likes of Verizon, Sprint, Blackberry and other carriers/phone manufacturers who to date have clearly stonewalled any advancement in software, features, and availability of 3rd party applications to consumers. Forget all this idillic nonsense about DRM and lack of open codecs, as those have been the least of our problems. To date, we've been trying to crack open the wireless nut, and the industry has tried its hardest to keep that nut closed.

The iPhone represents change. Granted, there are some sticky points, but I hardly think taking an all-or-none approach of high-minded idealism will get us anywhere. The only thing it will get you is back to your old pre-iPhone phone, likely some POS.

msuper69 · Jul 17, 2008, 10:09 PM

Did you see the crappy piece of junk they are espousing as a better phone?

What a friggin joke. They have absolutely no sense of style (nor substance for that matter).

What a bunch of morons.

mduell · Jul 17, 2008, 10:14 PM

The iPhone pretty much maintains and extends the anti-freedom (as in libre, not as in free beer) parts of the pre-iPhone status quo... I'm not surprised to see the FSF against it.

The FreeRunner is a joke; all it has is a nice display (3x the areal resolution of the iPhone!).

Simon · 10:32 AM

I really couldn't care less about these kinds of articles.

Look, at the end of the day you've enjoyed life with your iPhone. They have fiddled around with whatever cheap POS phone they prefer. Isn't that satisfaction enough? It's like Windows. Who cares if many users don't get it? We get to enjoy OS X and they will continue to deal with all the irrational nonsense Windows gets you into. Whatever. Their problem. Enjoy your quality stuff. End of story.

starman · Jul 18, 2008, 09:40 AM

I especially don't like the "developer tax". When are people going to realize that digital certs COST MONEY?

64stang06 · Jul 18, 2008, 10:30 AM

This point is clearly false:

iPhone exposes your whereabouts and provides ways for others to track you without your knowledge.

The iPhone clearly asks the owner if he/she would like the provide the location to the software.

Not only that, but you can turn off the location services by going to Settings-->General-->Location Services.

Chuckit · Jul 18, 2008, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by starman

I especially don't like the "developer tax". When are people going to realize that digital certs COST MONEY?

Money equal to 30% of the total yearly cash flow through the App Store? Not bloody likely. And anyway, the iPhone costs money as well, so it's not like they'd be losing on the deal. It isn't like Apple doesn't already have a digital cert — the App Store is basically printing money.

And I agree with some of what the FSF is saying, although as usual they're completely off their rocker. I like how they rhetorically ask the question, "Don't you think you're being a little bit dramatic?" Yes, yes you are.