[luriel]

Apple controls what I can install or not install on hardware that I already bought and which is mine, Apple does all it can (which is a lot) to make it close to impossible for me to run any software I have not got from them on hardware I own.

Even if I write the software myself I'm supposed to pay Apple for the privilege of running software I wrote on hardware I own!

If that is not insanely outrageous, I don't know what is.

[ryanhuff]

Apple doesn't block what you can install. They control what you can download and sell using THEIR store. I have shared apps that I have written with other people without having to deal with THEIR appstore.

Yes, Apple sells their developer program. They are a for-profit corporation.

If you really are an iPhone user, I find it hard to believe that you weren't aware of these issues before you bought your iPhone.

[drbawb]

The thing that bugged me the other day is _just how far_ they seem to think their ownership extends.

I plugged my iPhone into my MacBook, just to charge. -- This MacBook knows of my iPhone because they are both linked to one Apple ID. However this laptop is _not_ my primary sync agent. In fact, this computer doesn't have any backups for my iPhone, nor does it have _any_ of my music library, photo library, etc.

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So Apple thought it'd be a great idea to go ahead and start downloading iOS 6 for my _jailbroken 5.1_ iPhone.

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Now a few things anger me regarding this "reasonable" default:

(1) This is a major OS upgrade. Windows has never even _asked_ me to move from XP to Vista, Vista to 7, and so on...

For that matter: Apple doesn't do major upgrades without user confirmation, either.

Even major upgrades of the same family (MS' service packs) usually require confirmation or an explicit download.

So why is it OK to do this on my phone? [Which, by the way, has auto-updating explicitly turned off. Rather, auto-updating is turned off on my main machine. Why this setting is stored on a per-iTunes-install basis, rather than a flag on the phone, escapes me.]

(2) This hardly constitutes an OS upgrade. This is a firmware update; an important distinction. There is now a non-zero risk that you are about to _brick my phone._

Leaving the OS itself, or possibly just the baseband, corrupt and unusable.

Thanks Apple, I'm sure you had my best interests at heart when you [could have] left me stranded at a customer site, unable to call for directions, looking like a buffoon as I realize I left my maps in my personal vehicle!

Why? Because I _plugged my phone in so it could fucking charge._

(3) As I mentioned: this computer doesn't even have any of my iPhone's content. You'd think there'd be a sanity check here, but no, I have no doubt Apple would've happily deleted gigabytes of data in their quest to have every user on the same, crippled version of their mobile OS.

Why? Because they've _wiped my devices in the past._

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Given how they execute their update, it does not make sense for it to be an _automatic_ action.

With all that aside: my phone being upgraded would've made it inherently worthless to me. A non-jailbroken iPhone is basically unusable in my daily routine.

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I can't stand these companies parading around like they own my hardware. I wish I could say it's limited to Apple, but this behavior has swept the industry. I've owned a number of PVR/DVR devices that have similar restrictions. Sony's PSP is another community where the jailbroken experience is a _major_ usability enhancement, yet Sony fights the homebrew community at every available opportunity (read: FW update).