Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone
Apple looks out for my best interests
Today, Apple released iTunes 7.4.2. Apple kindly fixed that small problem where people inadvertently installed custom ringtones on their systems. Thank you, Apple.
In related news, Apple momentarily blocked accidental Linux use. But then, as with the newt from Monty Python, Linux got better.
Apple also looks out for iPod Touch users. Its new firmware transfer scheme protects users from themselves. You won't accidentally install custom software on the iTouch or access the underlying OS, at least for some time to come. Unfortunately, Apple forgot to protect the public Media partition from read/write access so tools such as Ecamm's iPhoneDrive still work with both the iPhone and iTouch. For now.
Will the iPhone remain so dangerously open? Probably not for long. I give it until the next firmware update. I'll be delighted to be proved wrong.
So where does that leave you? Do you want to tread those dangerous waters and not be protected from yourself? Right now, the realm of social networking seems strongest: Call and write Apple and let them know what you think. Ask them for a public SDK. Ask them to open the iTouch and keep the iPhone open. Otherwise? Welcome to the padded walls and your shiny white straightjacket.
Update: Just to clarify: SendSong still works. All my custom ringtones are gone from iTunes. Renaming to m4r and using Cleverboy's metadata hack did not work. iToner should still work as well as any other solution that writes directly to the iPhone without going through iTunes.
Update 2: I totally forgot about the new authentication chips for video. Thanks everyone who reminded me.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Nate True said 7:47PM on 9-17-2007
I agree, Apple is being way too reactive and controlling with the iPods and iPhones. It feels like Apple would come up with a way to embrace the third party development instead of locking down their platforms like they're doing.
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Andrew Harrison said 7:52PM on 9-17-2007
can we please stop calling it the iTouch.
it's akin to Ipod and I-pod and iPOD.
we're not calling them iClassics or iNanos or iShuffles.
iPod touch. not that difficult.
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Ian Klier said 7:54PM on 9-17-2007
I think the one thing that will kill the iPhone and future generations, is if Apple locks down the devices; like the ever so retarded cellular companies. I mean yes, it may simplify support calls to Apple, but if the person has modified the software and is now having technical issues, tell them to restore it an call it a day.
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Iain said 7:54PM on 9-17-2007
I will NEVER pay for ringtones. Not Apple, not my cellular provider and certainly not the RIAA. It is as a matter of principle. I have paid you once and that is that!
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doyouflip said 7:56PM on 9-17-2007
Hasn't this (breaking custom tones) already been proven to not be the case? I read on another popular blog that Apple changed some things, but it's still very easy to get custom ringtones onto the iPhone.
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Johnny Dangerously said 7:58PM on 9-17-2007
Really, this is getting ridiculous. Erica, you seem to be under the impression that you have some sort of "right" to hack your iPhone, install apps on your iPod Touch, and circumvent the ringtone process in iTunes. You do not.
First, you agreed to the user terms when you first opened iTunes. Second, you agreed to the terms and conditions of your iPhone service contract. And finally, you accepted the usage terms of the iTunes ringtone service.
You have the privelige -- not the right -- to use your Apple hardware and software. Apple has the right -- under patent and copyright law -- to protect their physical and intellectual property from misuse, abuse, theft, and hackery.
Go play with your Linux box.
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mentalsticks said 7:59PM on 9-17-2007
Crippleware, that's what it is.
Apple is on a losing streak. They better shape up.
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mentalsticks said 8:01PM on 9-17-2007
"You have the privelige -- not the right -- to use your Apple hardware and software."
Excuse me?
Wow, you are one corporate drone.
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Dave Jansen said 8:09PM on 9-17-2007
You know, you could just as easily *not* upgrade to the lastest firmware/iTunes. Those updates are not required at all. And in due time, when they've found yet another way around Apple's hopeless battle (You'd think that with Sony as their big example with the PSP, they'd know better), you can upgrade.
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Brady J. Frey said 8:05PM on 9-17-2007
Eh, this is getting old Apple. You're angering your base - and I'm the sign off for over 100K in business to your company a year, I fit in there somewhere I think.
Johnny's right, I should go find a Linux box to play with.
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Jason Hung said 8:07PM on 9-17-2007
Apple has been sucking lately, and it's not like them to lock down a device, cripple vital features like ringtones, require activation (like Vista), multiple product editions (iPhone Ultimate, iPhone Basic). What they did with iPod Touch shows that they're intent on locking down the device. I hope things change for the better.
The iPhone could have been a fantastic device. Right now, I don't know if my next phone will still be an iPhone if this trend continues...
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aj_robins said 8:07PM on 9-17-2007
The macrumors forums has a thread where someone has a modified method for getting ringtones back onto the iPhone (warning: requires serious command-line-fu):
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=356551
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Clay said 8:14PM on 9-17-2007
It's sad to see folks like Johnny above take such closed-minded, authoritarian views on technology.
Of course Erica, (as well as any of us) has a right to hack a device she has paid for as long as all applicable laws are followed.
IANAL, but: Breaking a EULA, if you want to call it a contract (some courts have and some have not), is most certainly NOT a breach of criminal law, as some folks would like to think. At worst, one could end up with a civil suit from Apple for breach of contract, but... there's no precedent for that.
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Johnny Dangerously said 8:14PM on 9-17-2007
@mentalsticks...
"Wow, you are one corportate drone." I'm sorry, it's called reality, my friend. I guess you'd also like to think you have the "right" to walk into an Apple Retail Store. Guess what? That's a privelige, too! Modifying or attempting to modify system files, applications, the UI, or any other software on the phone is in violation of the copyright laws you agreed to when you just clicked "Accept" in your first giddy minutes of owning the iPhone. *WHY* do people think it's their duty / right / God's calling to hack the iPhone?
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Me said 8:20PM on 9-17-2007
Does anyone remember that Apple pulled a bunch of people off Leopard to finish the iPhone? Does anyone think that there was a reason for that? Does anyone imagine that Leopard may have more things to do with the iPhone? Accessing your Macs via "Back to My Mac"? Notes syncing with e-mail notes? In the words of Wilson Phillips "Hold on for one more day (month)".
STOP WHINING!
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Brian said 8:22PM on 9-17-2007
Whine. Whine. Whine. Come, Erica. I used to enjoy your posts. Now you're just coming across was a spoiler little brat. Boo hoo. Apple is mean. Boo hoo. Please. 99.9% of iPhone users don't know how and wouldn't care about hacking their iPhone and running 3rd party apps.
You want to hack, please wipe OSX off your Mac and install Linux on it. Oh, and buy one of those open source iPhone clones that run Linux. That sounds like what you really want.
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c0caine said 8:30PM on 9-17-2007
Well maybe because I bought the friggin thing and want to be able to use it whatever way I want it to. I can tune my car to whatever degree I want without BMW or whatever being able to stop me, why cant I modify my iPod?
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MacBook Pro User said 8:26PM on 9-17-2007
I am very frustrated by this whole development. Forget the iPhone - just wait for the Google Phone!
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tnkgrl said 8:28PM on 9-17-2007
@Johnny,
Troll.
@Erica,
I'm really starting to get pissed off with Apple lately, and I'm a shareholder...
First, the locked iPhone. Then, the missing SDK. Now, this ringtone crap!
What happened to supporting open standards? USB mass storage, MMS, MP3 ringtones?
My Nokia N95 (and many other phones) all support this.
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Aron Trimble said 8:28PM on 9-17-2007
Johnny, you're a moron - you basically just said that it doesn't matter whether a consumer purchases a product; that consumer can only do with it what the producer says they can.
Don't be a commie - grow a pair and, I don't know, do what you want with the products you purchase. I FEAR a society in which making a purchase does not grant me the RIGHT to do what I please with my own belongings.
Let me know if you're happy when you're not allowed to put a new stereo in your car because that would be in effect violation of the copyright laws when you agreed to purchase the car.
Seriously, I can't believe there are actually people who would so gladly give up their right to ownership simply because the mother ship said so... I imagine you are a strong supporter of the patriot act, and any other legislature that signs your rights away to those more intelligent, er.. excuse me "capable" then you.
As Ben Franklin once said, “Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security”
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