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The Fight For Freedom - Unlocking iPhones

When the 2G iPhone was released, fans immediately fell in love with the design and features of the phone. The designs are sleek, so it's not hard to fall in love with the iPhone. Apple always have a throng of loyal fans, waiting to lap up any new product that they release. The business developers at Apple are aware of this. And they were confident that the iPhone would win the hearts of the consumers.

Well, they guessed correctly. Fans were waiting in anticipation for the release of the iPhone, and when it was finally released, people were rushing to part with several hundred dollars for a set of iPhone.

However, many quickly realized that they have to overcome one challenge. You see, Apple had an exclusive contract with AT&T that allows only AT&T customers to use the iPhone. In other words, if you are not a customer of AT&T, the iPhone would be of no use to you. This is programmed into the iPhone, so you can't use it to connect with any other carrier.

Everyone may be a big fan of the iPhone, but unfortunately, not everyone is a customer of AT&T. And some are so loyal to their carrier that they are reluctant to make a change. Others may have existing contracts that have not yet expired. To these people, it seems like the end of the world - no iPhone because of the exclusive contract.

Some users were enraged over this issue. They argued that since they bought the iPhone, they therefore own the hardware and should be allowed to configure their own iPhones. What they are really saying is that they want to be able to use their iPhone freely with any carrier, and in all parts of the world. It's similar like buying your own personal computer and wanting to use it any way you like.

To make things worse, the restriction prevents iPhone users from installing third party applications. There are many third party iPhone applications available for download on the Internet. And fans want to get rid of the restriction so that these applications can work seamlessly with their mobile gadget.

Within weeks, a teenager released a video on YouTube, showing everyone that there is a way to unlock the iPhone. However, the process was cumbersome, and requires the owner to disassemble the iPhone. But the video sparked a lot of interest in the iPhone community, and showed everyone that it is in fact, possible to unlock the iPhone.

Shortly afterwards, developers came up with a cleaner solution - using special software to unlock the 2G iPhone.

When the 3G iPhone was released, everyone was expecting the same type of unlocking solution. However, everyone was surprised when someone released yet another video, showing that the 3G iPhone can be unlocked. But this time round, it's through the use of hardware.

A small card is to the SIM card of the iPhone, fooling the phone to believing that it is connected to the right carrier when it is actually not.

The fight for freedom in the iPhone community is an ongoing one. It reflects an underlying desire by the fans to use the iPhone as they deem fit. Will they win this fight? Your guess is as good as mine.