The "Jailbreak" Mentality

I’m a BIG fan of jailbreaking my iPhone and iPod Touch.  I mainly like monkeying around with the GUI on the devices but there are tons of apps available through Cydia, Rock and Icy that, for whatever reason, are not “blessed” by the overlords at Apple.  I’ve found most of these to be reliable and safe, but there’s always the exception and I install them at my own risk.  I’ve been jailbreaking since the first jailbreak was available for the first-gen iPod Touch and have successfully jailbroken every iDevice I’ve owned including first and second generation iPod Touches, the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.  Every device I own is now jailbroken running the latest OS, 3.1.2.

I find I can do so much more with a jailbroken device that it is always a quandary when Apple releases an OS update.  I have to decide if Apple’s new features outweigh the features I enjoy with a jailbroken device.  I usually wait until a jailbreak is available before upgrading, but it is still a pain in the ass.  Call me stubborn, but I have a big problem with Apple’s attitude.  After all, I paid for these devices (which are really computers) and I don’t like anybody telling me what I can and can’t do with them.

I love my Macs, but I can’t imagine a scenario where I would even consider buying one if Apple were as onerous with them as they are with the iPhone and iPod touch.  All you Mac owners out there:  Can you imagine a world where you couldn’t even change the wallpaper on your computer?  Or browse for files?  How f*%^ked-up is that?  Apple will void the warranty on my iPod Touch if I jailbreak it.  I get that.  They shouldn’t be responsible for things out of their control.  But what if my device is out of warranty or I choose to tell Apple to shove their warranty?  I paid for this damned thing.  Why can’t I install whatever I want on it?  ITS MY COMPUTER!

Obviously, I’m not alone.  The jailbreak community is alive and well with new, quality software released every day.  My iPhone has a cool theme complete with custom rotating wallpaper, a five-icon dock and a bunch of cool sounds to replace the tired offerings from Apple.  Oh yeah, they don’t let you change them either.  A^#holes.

The word from GeoHot is jailbreaking is getting tougher with each OS release.  It has gotten to the point that the latest devices require tethering to reboot after they’re jailbroken.  That sucks.  Thankfully, even my 3GS (purchased in early July) is not in that group or I’d seriously consider towing the Apple line like a good little sheep.  As much as I love jailbreaking my iPhone, an un-jailbroken iPhone is still better than any other smartphone available.  That won’t be the case for long.  These new Android devices are looking mighty tasty.  I admit to being somewhat of an Apple fanboy but I don’t live under anybody’s boot!  I strongly suspect there are many others who share my opinion.  It will be interesting to see if Apple can continue putting up phenomenal numbers when the iPhone isn’t the only smartphone game in town.

The Apple Stores are Finally Cleansed (No Mo Win Mo)

Apple used the need Windows to sell Apple gearAccording to TUAW, our beloved Apple stores are getting some slight revamps for the holiday season.  No more color-coded “T”s for the employees.  (Does anyone know what the colors meant?)  Apple salespeople will now be able to accept cash and last but not least: No more Windows Mobile handheld point-of-sale devices.  Apple will be changing over to iPod Touches running POS software with some sort of scanner/printer attachment.  I always thought it strange that the entire Apple retail [store] enterprise was run on Windows POS systems.  I would always needle the store employees whenever they rang me up using one of those crappy Windows Mobile handhelds.

I mentioned this a while back and the comments were very defensive.  Now, the Apple apologists have nothing to apologize for.  Their beloved “Geniuses” will no longer soil their hands with Windows.

Simplest iPhone/iPod Touch Jailbreak Ever: blackra1n

I love my iPhone and iPod Touch.  They’re terrific right out of the box, but spending $20-30 on a few productivity and travel apps have made them a nearly indispensable part of my daily workflow.  I’m one to never be satisfied though.  The geek in me recognized early on just how powerful the underlying technology is and the Texan in me got really pissed when Apple wouldn’t let me use it to its fullest potential.  Jailbreaking my devices has been the norm since two weeks after I purchased my first-gen iPod Touch.  The thought of some California vegan telling me how I can and can’t use my computer is enough to make me want to hack my devices even if jailbreaking had no other benefit whatsoever.  Shove the warranty if necessary, I just want to do things my way.  But I’m not here to discuss philosophies.

I’ve been playing the cat and mouse game with Cupertino since version 1.0 of the iPhone OS and never have I jailbroken any iPhone as easily and quickly as I did with blackra1n.  I was going to post instructions, but that is really a waste of time.  If you can click one button while your iPhone or iPod Touch is attached to either a Mac or Windows machine, you can jailbreak your device in about two seconds.  No big downloads, no time-consuming restores, just reboot your device and the blackra1n app is installed.  Tapping it gives you the opportunity to install Cydia, Icy, Rock and other app repositories of your choosing.  From there, its the wild west; freedom from Apple repression.  Sick it to the man!

I know, it’s a little melodramatic, but fun nevertheless.

So far I’ve used blackra1n to jailbreak my iPhone 3Gs, my iPod Touch 2G, iPod Touch 1G and my daughter’s iPhone 3G.  None were jailbroken at the time and all were running the 3.1.2 OS.  Now, all my idevices belong to me again.  By the way, I donated $25 for the great tool.  If you like it, you should too.