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iPhone's Release Prompts Code-Cracking Frenzy
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MELISSA BLOCK, host:
We're not sure about in space, but here on Earth for many people this has been the week of the iPhone. And some enterprising tech geeks are already going where Apple sure doesn't them to go. They're breaking into and hacking the company's latest must-have device.
Apple has made the iPhone available only to consumers who sign up for AT&T mobile phone service. It is also charging $85 to replace the iPhone's battery. And Apple won't give you a blueprint for the iPhone's insides so could replace the battery yourself.
But one week after the iPhone's debut, we've decided to check in with some gadget freaks to find out how far they have gotten in cracking the iPhone's codes.
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Mr. KYLE WIENS (CEO, iFixit): We sent somebody to the East Coast. I was sitting in California with a videoconference watching him take it apart and then writing text to tell people how we did it.
BLOCK: Kyle Wiens is with iFixit, a California company that repairs iBooks, iPods and now, iPhones. A few hours after the iPhone went on sale, the folks at IFixit had bought one, disassembled it completely, and published pictures on the Internet. Soon, they'll have instructions for replacing a battery.
Now, here is one word you'll want to know if you start tooling around with an iPhone, hacktivation. That's when an iPhone owner gets an iPhone to work while avoiding the mandatory AT&T contract.
Ryan Block is with the tech Web site Engadget.com.
Mr. RYAN BLOCK (Managing Editor, Engadget.com): It has happened. There are a number of means that one can use to hacktivate or surreptitiously activate their iPhone. But none of them yet will allow you to actually use the iPhone on another cell phone network. So I can kind of turn it on and start using it for its iPod features, but I can't actually use it on T-Mobile.
BLOCK: Tech geeks often cast themselves as rebels sticking it to mean corporations. But iFixit's Kyle Wiens admits there is at least one selfish motive for breaking apart that iPhone. He wants to find out who manufactures the component parts and take that information to Wall Street.
Mr. WIENS: Sure. I bought a couple of bucks of stock in some of the different companies but it was mostly out of curiosity.
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BLOCK: So far, he says, stock prices are up slightly.
This is NPR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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