Teen Trades Hacked iPhone for Car

I personally think it's ridiculous that the iphone is only carried by one provider. Is it the phone, or the 'service' that's truly spectacular? I wouldn't switch from my current carrier on sheer principle. The "exclusivity" of the iphone is what truly turns me off about the whole thing. It's just marketing bullshit that these companies expect us to believe. What this kid did is take the look-what-we-have-it-can-be-yours-if-you-join-our-club philosophy and turned it on its ear. Everyone should be able to pay for and receive this phone without having to switch carriers!

who realy gives a s--t

i think what this person has done, though cool, is immoral and unfair to AT&T and Apple. Rumors have been surfacing that Apple along with AT&T are considering to press charges for illegal software/hardware alterations, and i dont blame them. i mean how would you like it if some took something you worked hard on and f'd it up and changed its design.

I opened up my iphone and changed some wires... it isn't working now? Did I do something wrong? The tech support person for AT&T said I voided the warranty...now what Mr. Hotz.

I don't think he jumped the gun at all. He posted the steps online on how exactly to hack the phone, though some people not familiar with that type of technology may not have understood it. With this being done, Apple could have studied the steps, and found a way to prevent the hack from working. If he held out too long, and never cashed in, and Apple fixed this error, he would have gotten...nothing. Apple is a huge corporation, before sitting down and negotiating with a 17 year old kid, they would have tried to fix the problem. I feel he did the right thing in taking a nice, comfortable but lucrative offer.

What the heck, Apple ripped thier name off of the Beatles (recording label.) So why sould we give a sh_t if they get ripped off. Be real.

Which is more unethical? Locking the device to an overpriced contract with a single carrier... or proving that the device can be ported to cheaper service elsewhere?

I don't buy into the i-Tard mentality of paying more for less... then locking myself into proprietary formats and overpriced services.

Americans discard BILLIONS of dollars worth of "locked" technology every year... because they can't afford overpriced services, replace their own batteries or find local, cheaper technicians to fix simple problems.

This kid is doing us all a favor by showing us that the "magic little chips" can do more than what the makers will admit to.

I think that some people are up set because they did'nt unlock it frist.So what's it to you if that's all he settled for.I dont think he did it for money or to see how much stuff he can bargan for.For some people,fame and fortune is not what it's all about.There are probably other reason that he felt were more important to him then money.ACOMPLISHMENT,DETERMINATION,PERSONAL ACHIVEMENT.Who konw's forsure.What i do know is that in this day an age,it's hard to make ends meet, and we need every break we can get.I for one would not be greety, take what you can and be happy.Sounds like to me this 17 year old kid
has got it made,oh...maybe that's why you redicule him?...LIGHTIN UP MAN !

I love some people are claiming "cheating" and "thievery" because of what happened to the iphone, but I don't see any comments toward cell phone companies raping and pillaging with their ridiculous charges and plans!! God AT&T, stop having your employees post messages here before we have that Wiki tracker application modified in order to expose you!!

When I had AT&T service on my cell phone, it was a nightmare. Every single month that I had it, I spent no less than 5 hours on the phone arguing with AT&T about the hundreds of dollars of charges that they mysteriously errored -and added to my bill. They even insisted that I do all the math, to straighten out -their errors. AT&T's service is the worst on earth and they were loosing business by the minuite. It was always out of service range and dropped half the calls I made. I paid $200 to GET OUT of their contract and regained my sanity after switching. Apple makes EXCELLANT products, and AT&T saw the iPhone as their salvation- from going out of business. I want an iPhone— but asking me to use AT&T service is like asking me to take a barrium ennema every month. -OUCH! I expect that the iPhone will bomb, not because it's not cool, but because of the AT&T monster attached to it. On the day that any other carrier— offers iPhone, is the day I'll buy one.

the kid gave out too easy