The Mobile Decision
For most people, the purchase of a consumer electronics product is not a decision to be heavily contemplated. I’m not like most people. I could care less about the clothes I wear or the food I eat, but when I invest in any electronic device, wether it be a computer, mobile phone or home appliance, I think long and hard about my decision. In the world of technology I’m both very technically knowledgeable and very brand conscious, a combination which I recently realized can make certain decisions more difficult than others.
Since 2003 I’ve been using Apple computers. I love Apple computers. I love the design of their hardware, the reliability of their software and the creative community of people who use them. When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, I was shocked. The phone and its operating system were amazing, but what shocked me the most was the approach Apple had taken in how they would sell the phone. The phone would be sold subsidized and locked to one GSM operator, AT&T, and would require subscription to specific AT&T services for as long as the phone was in use. This business model was alien to me and I was disappointed in Apple for not offering the device unlocked, but the iPhone’s software was so amazing that I decided to ditch my Nokia N90, switch operators and give up the freedom I had in order to buy one.
As the months rolled by the iPhone’s user base increased and it’s software evolved, but I began to have mixed feelings about my purchase. On my summer and winter trips to Finland, I had to unlock my iphone using a complex and risky software procedure, which was quickly broken by Apple’s software updates on many occasions, in which case I resorted to using a $20 bear-bones Nokia. It was disturbing to me that I had to hack my $600 phone for it to gain the capabilities of a $20 (unsubsidized) phone. I put up with the locked nature of my device though, as the iPhone’s software was just so amazing and always getting better. In 2008, after a long summer of repeated unlocking and SIM swapping in Finland, I was again seduced by Apple’s clever marketing and bought the new, impossibly cheap iPhone 3G.
Through the remainder of 2008 though, my bitter feelings towards Apple regarding the iPhone’s locked nature turned into mixed hatred. I was getting increasingly frustrated with the fact that Apple was controlling what I could do with the device that I owned. I hated Apple for not letting me use my device as I chose, but at the same time I love the iPhone’s abilities and didn’t want to give it up. The release of the iPhone 3GS a few weeks ago was the last straw for me, clearly showing Apple’s direction toward an increasingly unfair business model for the iPhone. I decided then that I could no longer put up with the iPhone and Apple’s attitude toward it’s users. I would no longer support the sale of a product which tricked people into giving up there fundamental rights as consumers. I would buy a new phone and never look back.
I still love my Apple computers and everything about them, but my iPhone will be replaced by a new Nokia N97 in a week or two (once they’re available here in Finland). I’ve made a tough decision, as I’ll be using an inferior operating system on a less advanced device, but I think its worth it. Once again I’ll be able to use my phone in the US and Finland without a problem, run Skype and tethering applications without anyone knowing, and have single digit phone bills. I’ll also no longer be a hypocrite in my campaign for mobile rights in America. I can’t wait to get my hands on the N97!
Mobile rights for all!!
